Reluctant Porters and Missing Bullets: Logistics in Taiwan During the Sino-French War

In the second half of the nineteenth century, nearly all of Qing China's internal and external frontiers experienced major armed conflicts. These conflicts posed formidable logistical challenges in transporting resources over long distances and raised the critical question of how China supplied its frontlines. The Dan-Xin Archives (Dan-Xin dang'an), which contain county-level records from former Qing jurisdictions in Taiwan, provide a rare local perspective on wartime transportation. During the Sino-French War (1884–1885), county governments in Taiwan relied on the long-established head porter system to transport arms, ammunition, money, and various supplies. The experiences of magistrates, their civilian contractors, and the many parties they interacted with reveal how this system contributed to recruitment, transportation, and reimbursement difficulties and yet, in most cases, ensured deliveries to the front. This county-level effectiveness not only highlights a crucial but understudied aspect of late Qing resilience but also underscores the indispensable role of local logistical networks in sustaining imperial defense.