Using Household Registration Records for Historical Research: Intersections of Social History and Ethnic Relations

Date & Time: Sunday, July 27, 2025 | 9:30–11:30 a.m.

Venue: Google Meet (Online)

Speaker: Pan Hsien-Yang
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures, National Dong Hwa University
Chairperson, Taiwan Luoshanfeng Association for Culture and Education

Lecture Overview

Mr. Pan Hsien-Yang, a member of the Paiwan community from Manzhou Township, co-authored the book The Rover Incident: The Beginning of Global Expansion and the Contraction of Local Lifeworlds (2024) with Yu-Ping Chen and Ming-Te Tseng. Drawing on household registration records from the Japanese colonial period together with ethnographic fieldwork, the book examines the historical transformation of the Kua-tsu-lu (龜仔甪) community, revealing its regional characteristics and patterns of social interaction before and during the colonial era.

Previously, in Professor Kao-Hua Yeh's Sociological Research Methods course offered by our department, students learned how to apply for household registration records, interpret historical documents, and construct family genealogies through hands-on exercises. Building upon this foundation, Mr. Pan's work demonstrates how historical household registration records can be integrated with ethnographic research, geography, and social history through extensive field investigation.

Through this lecture, participants will gain insight into how documentary sources can be connected with fieldwork to trace local histories, reconstruct community memories, and deepen our understanding of Indigenous peoples and ethnic relations.

Registration

Registration Form: https://forms.gle/H5B7RLMekHzuHmV4A

Registration Deadline: Thursday, July 24, 2025, 11:55 p.m.