Hsinchu Campaign
The Japanese had hoped that their occupation of Taipei on 8 June 1895 would end the fighting in Taiwan. It did not. The Republic of Formosa tottered on for another five months of existence, as its presidency was assumed by Liu Yung-fu on 26 June in Tainan. Liu's assumption of the presidency stiffened the will of ordinary Formosans to resist the invaders. The result was a perceptible growth in guerrilla activity against the Japanese, and as the month of June wore on it became clear that all the island's main towns would have to be occupied forcibly before opposition to the Japanese invasion collapsed. From now on, the capture of Tainan became a political as well as a strategic imperative for the Japanese. During the next four months the Japanese would direct their efforts towards occupying Tainan and snuffing out the nascent Formosan Republic.
Kingdom of Middag
The kingdom first came into contact with the West after the Dutch East India Company established its Government of Formosa in 1624. David Wright, a Scottish agent of the Company who lived on the island in the 1640s, listed Middag among 11 "shires or provinces" of the plains region, described as follows:
"The third dominion belongs to the king of Middag, and lies against the north-east of Tayouan, southward of the river Patientia. This prince has seventeen towns that obey him, the largest being called Middag, which is also his chief seat and place of residence. Sada, Beodor, Deredonesel, and Goema, are four other of his eminent towns, the last-named being a handsome place, and situated on a plain five miles from Patientia, whereas the others are built on hills. The king of Middag had formerly twenty-seven towns under his jurisdiction, but ten of them threw off his yoke. He keeps up no great state, and has only one or two attendants accompanying him when going abroad. He would never suffer any Christians to dwell in his dominions, allowing them only to travel through it."