"In the early years the understanding of Aborigines and contact with them by the Han Chinese was limited. It was not until the arrival of the Japanese that comprehensive field surveys were conducted," says Wei Te-wen. One American graduate researcher at the time actually got his PhD on the basis of this Japanese report.
「早年漢民族對原住民的了解與接觸有限，一直到日人來台才全面展開田野調查，」魏德文說，當時有位美國研究生就以這套日文報告拿到博士。