lished a collection of his poems, entitled Ta-ch'ien shan-fang shih-ch'ao (詩鈔), but some scholars aver that these were written by an amanuensis. Four months after the outbreak of the so-called Tientsin Massacre (1870, see under Ch'ung-hou), Liu was summoned to Peking, but the insurrection was quelled before he could leave the capital. At this time he was granted the privilege of memorializing the throne, a concession not ordinarily made to one of his rank. Late in 1870 Liu was ordered to direct the armies in Shensi which were fighting the Tungans and was given command of about twenty thousand men. But he found it impossible to cooperate with Tso Tsung-t'ang [q. v.], governor-general of Shensi and Kansu, and resigning his post on the ground of illness, returned home late in the following year. In 1880, when the Ch'ing authorities were forced to strengthen the defense against Russia (see under Ch'ung-hou and Tsêng Chi-tsê), Liu, by order of the emperor, went to Peking where he memorialized the throne on the importance of constructing a railroad between Ch'ing-chiang-p'u (Huai-yin) and Peking for strategic reasons. His plan, however, was not put into effect owing to the opposition of other officials, especially Liu Hsi-hung (see under Kuo Sung-tao). After stopping at Tientsin to receive optical treatment, he returned home in the following year.
When the Franco-Chinese war broke out in 1884 Liu Ming-ch'uan, invested with the rank of governor of Fukien, was ordered to garrison Formosa. He rushed to the island in July, and after working out a plan of land strategy, in lieu of an adequate naval force, immediately stationed his men at important ports. The French fleet under the command of Sebastian Nicholas Joachin Lespès 李士卑斯 (1828–1897) attacked the port of Kelung (Kīrun) on August 4 and on the following day destroyed the battery, but was driven back by Liu's troops. Early in October the main force of the French Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Amédé Anatole Prosper Courbet 孤拔 (1827–1885), pressed on the port of Tamsui (Tansui), and after a month's fighting, occupied Kelung (November 2). At the same time this fleet blockaded the ports along the west coast making it virtually impossible for Liu to obtain munitions and reinforcements from the mainland. On March 3, 1885 French marines from Kelung advanced to the strategic port of Taipeh (Taihoku) but Liu held the city against them. About two weeks later, owing to a change of policy by the French government, Courbet's main force retired to the Pescadores (Bōko-tō), and with the conclusion of a peace treaty on June 9 (see under Li Hung-chang), all the French forces evacuated Formosa. Liu then returned to Foochow to reassume the post of governor of Fukien to which he had been appointed in 1884.
His achievement in Formosa was not fully appreciated by the government, and a few high officials criticized his tactics. But the Empress Dowager awarded him 3,000 taels silver which, it is said, he distributed entirely among his subordinates. Those Ch'ing authorities, however, who realized the strategic importance of Formosa, created the office of governor of Taiwan (October, 1885), and Liu Ming-ch'uan was appointed the first governor. Two years later the island was declared, by imperial decree, to be an independent province, and Taipeh was made the capital. In reorganizing the military system of the island he established at Taipeh in 1886 an arsenal and a powder-magazine in Western style and commenced in 1887 the construction of batteries at five important ports. During the years 1885–86 he organized a naval force with base of operations in the Pescadores. At the same time he undertook to reform the island's administrative policy towards the savages and to develop the financial resources. In 1887 he established sixteen stations where officials, teachers, physicians and hair-dressers attempted to conciliate the aborigines and gradually civilize them. In 1890 he established at Taipeh a school of higher education for youths of the influential and well-to-do families. But he did not scruple to use armed force in the northeastern regions in order to subdue rebellious tribes. Likewise he reformed the tax system and encouraged industries under government control. The new land tax which he put into effect in 1887 he made more equable by a survey and a census. Though, owing to the opposition of the natives, he was unable to carry out his program entirely, he increased the revenue considerably within a few years. In the hope of developing modern industries in the island he either established or reorganized (1887–88) government bureaus for the control of the principal industries such as camphor, sulphur, salt, gold and coal. Similarly he increased to a marked degree the production of tea for the foreign trade. He thus succeeded in placing the island government on a sound financial basis and relieved the Fukien government of its previous heavy burden.
Liu Ming-ch'uan constructed the capital city of Taipeh in western style, paving the streets (1885) and lighting the city with electricity.
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