1851
First year of the Xianfeng reign period (Ching dynasty)

Zheng Shang explores the Beinan area.
October, The American merchant Gideon Nye recommends the occupation of the island of Lanyu.

1853
3rd year of the Xianfeng reign period (Ching dynasty)

Pingpu tribesmen in the Ilan area immigrate to Hualien.

1854
4th year of the Xianfeng reign period (Ching dynasty)

The Pingpu inhabitants of Jialiyuan village establish seven villages near the mouth of Meilun creek in the Hualien area.

1858
8th year of the Xianfeng reign period (Ching dynasty)

Thomas Swinhoe, official translator of the British consulate in Amoy, visits the coastal areas of Taiwan. Swinhoe afterwards writes "A Narrative of a Visit to the Island of Formosa" and many articles concerning the people and natural history of Taiwan.

1860
10th year of the Xianfeng reign period (Ching dynasty)

The German Richthofen comes to Taiwan to study of the geology around Tamsui harbor. Marines from the German warship Elbe land and are resisted by the natives.

1866
5th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The Englishman Doob surveys the Oluanpi area, but is attacked by the local inhabitants.

1867
6th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The America ship Rover runs aground during a typhoon in southern Taiwan. The captain and 12 other persons escape to shore, but are murdered by the Guizaijiao tribe. A survey party from the British vessel Comorant is also attacked when it went ashore. The Americans dispatch two warships carrying marines, but cannot defeat the aborigines. First mate Mackenzie dies in combat. The American consul at Amoy, General La Gendre, personally entered aboriginal territory and made a peace treaty with the local chief Tau Ketok. A party from the British warship Sylvia is attacked while performing survey work at Oluanpi.

1868
7th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The Englishman Horn and the German merchant James Milisch make an agreement to illegally fell timber in aboriginal territory near the mouth of Dananao creek in eastern Taiwan. The Komalan tongshi vainly urges them to desist, as do British and German envoys.
Bernard writes "The Laws of the Taiwanese Natives."
The Fengshan Catholic church, the Kaohsiung Presbyterian church, and the Tainan Catholic church are destroyed and their priests flogged.

1869
8th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

Horn leaves Dananao.

1870
9th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The government authorizes coal mining in the Keelung area. A census of aborigines is taken in the Tamsui department. The results show 494 adults in 14 villages. An annual tax of 494 ounces of silver is imposed.

1871
10th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The Mudan village massacre: 54 Japanese from the Ryukyu islands shipwrecked on the east coast of Taiwan are massacred by the aborigines of Mudan village.
The British Presbyterian missionary William Campbell establishes a mission in southern Taiwan.

1872
11th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

February, the Presbyterian Church of Canada sends the missionary Mackay to establish a mission at Tamsui. Mackay later founds the Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei and a theological school and girls' school in Tamsui. Mackay's book "From Far Formosa, the Island, Its People and Missions" is published in 1896.
The Japanese accord Wang Shang-tai of the Ryukyus the title of "King of the Aborigines" as a means of affirming the relationship between Japan and Ryukyu and establishing a basis for the invasion of Taiwan. An attack on Taiwan is advocated using the murder of Ryukyu residents as a pretext.

1873
12th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

The Japanese complain to the Ching court about the treatment of the Ryukyu islanders and reiterate their claim to Ryukyu.
On July 1 the Japanese officer Kabayama visits Taiwan in disguise via Fuzhou. Kabayama tours the island and enters aboriginal areas to assess the sentiments of the natives.

1874
13th year of the Tongzhi reign period (Ching dynasty)

On January the Japanese establish the "Taiwan Aboriginal Affairs Bureau" in Nagasaki. On March 22 Japanese forces under Commander Saigo attack the aboriginal villages of Langchiao bay in southern Taiwan. The Chinese authorities protest this Japanese intrusion.
On June Governor Shen Baozhen takes office and institutes a policy of "treating the aborigines leniently and allowing access to mountainous areas." Commanders Xia Xianlun and Luo Dachun advance along a northern route, while Yuan Wentuo and Zhang Qiguang take a southern route. The Ching authorities announce the repeal of the bans on immigration to Taiwan and settlement of mountain areas. The "General Militia Bureau" is established.