In particular, the Japanese invasion of Taiwan (1895) compelled Taiwanese intellectuals to write down this unprecedented incident and its impact into the historical records.
For example, Si Tong-tzu and Hung Chi-sheng wrote about the difference in levels of resistance among the Qing bureaucrats and the local gentry at the time of the cession of Taiwan in terms of anger and anxiety, evaluating "who fought bravely and who left without a fight?"
In The General History of Taiwan, the "Independence Era" is used to describe the Republic of Formosa, and the biographies of Chiu Feng-chia, Wu Tang-hsing, Hsu Hsiang, Chiang Shao-tsu, Lin Kun-kang, We Peng-nian, Tang Ching-sung, and Liu Yung-fu.
Wu Tang-hsing, Hsu Hsiang, Chiang Shao-tsu, and Lin Kun-kang, who led locals to fight and eventually perish in battle, are written under a single chronicle.
Wu Peng-nian, a general of the Black Flag Army who died in the battle at Bagua Mountain, is listed in a separate biography.
Tang Jing-song and Liu Yongfu, Qing Dynasty officials and defending commanders who claimed to live and die with Taiwan but abandoned the people, are listed in a combined biography.