英文摘要:Before making contact with outsiders, the Pingpu tribe had been leading a nomadic life on the Pingtung Plain relying on hunting and fishing to fulfill their dietary needs. After the Dutch came into Taiwan, they led the army into the Pingtung Plain to conduct their religious and economic expeditions. The Swatelauw succumbed to the Dutch rule on February 4, 1636 under such conditions. During the period of Ming Cheng, the main mission of the government in Taiwan was aimed at "opposing the Ching and to restore the Ming." The vision of the Cheng Dynasty was set on the mainland rather than Taiwan. The introduction of the cultivation system was to prepare “surplus provision for the army," rather than for land development. The Pingtung Plain is located to the east of the Lower Tam Shui River, which at that time was nothing but a place for their replenishment of provisions and collection of exorbitant dues. During early period of the Ching Dynasty rule, Han Chinese moved in and settled in the Pingtung Plain. As the population increased in great numbers, the reclamation area grew larger by the day. However, the Ching Dynasty was unaware of the miserable life in the tribal villages. The local government still charged heavy taxes and demanded slave labor from the Pingpu tribe, which eventually led to the Eight Tribal Community Savages. The Ching Dynasty enforced the Taiwan''s ethnic policy, which was to isolate the three major ethnic groups in Taiwan to form a three-tier population structure, in which they made the civilized tribal villagers to deal with the uncivilized tribal villagers, and on the other hand guarded against Han Chinese. In such situation, the Ching government carried out the ‘defending the pass and promoting villager settlement’ policy. Therefore, tribal villagers of Swatelauw Community started to conform to the Ching’s ethnic policy. During the Chien Lung years, the tribal villagers gradually moved to the tribal settlement areas, most of them relocated to the Ai-liao and Jiou-liao, and Abba-chuen areas. For those villagers still staying in the Swatelauw Community, part of them moved to the eastern region to settle during the Dao Guang years. In the late Ching period, the savage leader led his followers to Jiou Ru Hsiang to settle down, and since then the Swatelauw Community was entirely taken over by Han Chinese. After the Japanese occupied Taiwan, for the effective management of the local inhabitants, Taiwan Governor implemented a political reform by introducing the planning of administrative regions and conducting land survey and population census. Locally, the Japanese used a two-pronged approach, "Japanese to govern Taiwanese" for the police system and the "Bao Jia” household registration system to administer the local people. Swatelauw Community was the sixth Bao in Li Gang Chuang, which is within the jurisdiction of Li Gang Police Station. On the agriculture end, the government improved rice production technology, and guided the farmers to develop high value crops, thus Swatelauw Community became a seeding nursery cooperative and farming cooperative community. In addition, the Lower Tam Shui River Water Conservation Project was completed in the Showa years. But in fact the dike at that time only extended to the north of Swatelauw Community, terminating at the outskirt of the Chao Chu Chuang. For the vast area of the creek upland on the west side of the Swatelauw Community, there was no flood protection, resulting in complete loss of the rice field to the west of the Swatelauw Community during subsequent flooding. On the transportation side, the laying of roads, bridges and construction of sugar production railway provided more convenient ways of transportation. On the education side, the government promoted the national education programs for local inhabitants, and established workshops for those with no chance of receiving formal education in the past, so that they could learn Mandarin during night time. Because of the various construction and policy implementation by the Japanese government, Swatelauw Community was gradually modernized. In post-war Swatelauw Community, the local government elections obviously had created harmony and democracy in the changeover process. From the establishment of the independent Swatelauw Elementary School, it is evident that the tribal villagers have paid emphasis to education for their younger generation. Over the years, Swatelauw Community has produced outstanding talents in all walks of life. The population growth of Swatelauw Community was the result of natural phenomenon, with the majority engaging in the first level industry. In recent years, due to the declining birthrate, and the high percentage of the elderly population, Swatelauw Community has entered the stage of aging tribal community. However, the tribal community is still rather closed due to its geographical location, so even today Swatelauw Community still maintains a very strong tribal orientation. After the re-zoning of agricultural land, transport of produce, and irrigation and drainage system problems were resolved in 1977. Since rectangular-shaped agricultural land is also more convenient for mechanized operations, the traditional rural farming patterns have been gradually adjusted. Originally, rice growing was the main trade for the tribal villagers, but the situation changed under the guidance of government''s rice policy. They have gradually shifted to new industries to make a living. Economic crops such as wax apple and jujube are becoming the bulk produce, while the Thai shrimp aquaculture is thriving. If taking the 3-ping Pioneer Father Temple as the hub of the Swatelauw Community, in terms of utilization of land in Swatelauw Community, it can be observed that the community is extending outward in a three-tier distribution pattern. The first tier is villager settlement; the second tier is the agriculture and animal husbandry; and the third tier is aquaculture and fisheries. In 1982, Swatelauw Community set up the Swatelauw Community Council. After restructuring in 1993, it was formally established as Swatelauw Community Development Association, in charge of promoting the establishment of community groups for villagers and organizing various community activities. So far, the established community groups include the longevity club, community mother’s classroom, community watch ranger team, community volunteers, and so on. Regular and sustained community activities are held at regular intervals all year round, which include organizing community-wide morning walk campaign for villagers, parent-child calligraphy workshops, resource recovery, and the greening and beautifying Ta Gong Yang gutter project. In addition, the passing of the diversified community development program by the Council for Cultural Planning, Executive Yuan, in 2005 enables the community to achieve a comprehensive transformation with the "Six-Star Program.” Starting in 2006 with the old Lebo’s herb garden (health Farm) as the theme of "Six-Star Swatelauw Health Community Plan," the whole project is expected to be completed in three years time. Clearly, Swatelauw Community has changed a great deal and is moving toward a "longevity and health community."