The story of ''the barbarian's house'' is important for the documentation of local social history from the final years of Qing rule over Taiwan. By analyzing the house's occupants, this article provides a platform from which to make sense of the interconnected histories of people and the landscape in which they lived. This overlooked aspect of Taiwan history offers a framework for micro-historical analysis that not only covers a broad thematic element of historical studies but also uses a global approach to the understanding of regional history. KeywordsThe River Tamsui, The Barbarian's House (Fanzailou), John Dodd, Rising Sun Petroleum Company, Charles ShuttleworthAs the mass rapid transit (MRT; Taiwan's variant of a metro system) begins to slow on its approach to Tamsui Station, marking the northernmost point of the line, one can peer out of the left-hand side of the carriage and glance through the banyan and camphor trees at a seemingly unimportant mass of building detritus. Yet this pile of inconspicuous debris is, in a real sense, a remarkable survivor of a landscape that has almost completely changed.Upon arrival at the station, turning south as if to retrace the train's route, one may approach, as have countless others before, a house that for over a century was referred to locally as Fanzailou 番仔樓 or the "Barbarian's House."Before the area became largely part of the Tamsui Seaplane Base [Danshui shuishangfei jichang 淡水水上飛機場], one could also have reached the property via an exclusive jetty that extended into the River Tamsui. This side of the bank, stretching from Fishermen's Wharf [Danshui yuren matou, 淡水漁人碼頭] in the north to an area near the present-day MRT station, was known colloquially, from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century, as the bund. 1 The locale, originally settled

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The Northern Institute of Taiwan Studies (NorITS) was launched in 2018 and relies on the hard work of a team of five experts in the field. In this report we discuss the accomplishments our colleagues have achieved in these three years and the contributions that NorITS has made to Taiwan studies, with the aim to start a conversation on how to frame Taiwan studies against contemporary challenges and opportunities of academia.

This special issue concerns agency and negotiation in the context of the hierarchical relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a global superpower, and Taiwan, a subordinated actor often relegated to a marginal position in contemporary global geopolitics. By exploring how Taiwan opposes, interrupts and re-creates its subordinate position vis-à-vis China, the authors of this special issue will shed light on the complexities of the ongoing Taiwan experience, shaped by different, often opposing, interests, positions and perspectives regarding its relationship with China. Yet, by exploring the experience of Taiwan with reference to its Chinese legacies, this special issue will also allow important reflections on China, not only in its hegemonic role regionally and globally, but also in its weaknesses when it deals with subordinated actors. This is a timely and important piece, which will allow alternative interpretations of contemporary events not only in Taiwan, for instance the recent national elections and related political developments, but also in the region, such as the protests which have been occurring in Hong Kong during the last four months.