Social Governance

The Red Lines on Taiwan's Map Kept Moving for 300 Years — I Read the Provincial Chronicles and Found a Governance Algorithm Being Debugged in Real Time

I was in Wanhua not long ago. Standing in front of Longshan Temple, staring at the old streets, a question hit me: during the Qing dynasty, Taiwan’s administrative center was in Tainan. So why did it end up in Taipei? Most people would say it’s obvious — the north developed, the population grew, it just made sense to upgrade. But after reading the Revised Taiwan Provincial Chronicles: Administrative Evolution, I realized this was anything but “natural.” ...

Why Do Quanzhou People Carry Their Genealogy Everywhere? I Read 33 Local Gazettes and Found the 'Social Operating System' Behind the Clans

I visited Jinjiang, Quanzhou, a while back. Passing through a village, I saw a massive stone tablet at the entrance, covered with hundreds of names carved into it. I asked a local friend what it was. He said: “This is our clan’s honor roll — everyone from our village who passed the imperial exam since the Ming dynasty.” I froze. One village. Hundreds of scholars. Spanning centuries. He added: “Half the village is named Cai. Walk deeper in — there’s a bigger one.” ...