White Gold: How the West Broke Taiwan's Camphor Monopoly

Asianometry

Introduction and Camphor Basics

Camphor: waxy transparent solid with strong smell, etymology from Austronesian "kapoor"
Extracted from camphor tree (evergreen) by chipping wood/leaves, then steaming
Primary uses: medicine, insect repellent (like Salon Pass for muscle soreness)

Beginning 1850s: camphor gained prominence for celluloid production
- Celluloid: probably first man-made plastic
- Used as ivory replacement for billiard balls, ping-pong balls
- Saved elephant lives, saved billiards industry
- Billiard industry offered $200,000 reward for ivory replacement
- John Wesley Hyatt economized celluloid production (reward apparently not claimed)
Film and photography applications:
- Celluloid's flexibility + photographic capability = critical for longer movies
- Made motion picture industry technically viable
- Hollywood growth drove celluloid/camphor demand
Major downside: legendary flammability
- Self-combusts at 150°C+ temperatures
- Problem with movie projectors' hot bulbs
- Fox Corporation's silent film repertoire burned in 1947 vault fire
- MGM fire in 1965
- Celluloid shirt collars dangerous around cigars/flames
- Origin of phrase "don't get too hot under the collar"

Camphor tree native to many locations, but large old-age natural groves extinct/unsuitable
Only remaining suitable location: Taiwan's wild northeast
Taiwanese aboriginals: noticed medicinal properties, unique smell, worshipped trees
Chinese merchants (15th century): observed valuable properties, began mainland exports
Qing possession (1680s): mass conflicts in northeast border areas
- Han Chinese settlers pushed aboriginals from native lands deeper into territories
- Built large stoves to process camphor trees (smelled bad, vulnerable to attack)
- Camphor trade exacerbated clashes

Celluloid discovery drove western merchants to Taiwan
Americans first: received Qing concession for camphor export trade
- Dredged Tainan port, raised lighthouse
- Fought off aboriginal attacks for forest harvesting
- 87 boats filled with camphor wood, rich American industry emerged
Townsend Harris (America's first Japan ambassador): urged US government to acquire Taiwan for camphor supply
- Never seriously considered due to impending Civil War

Japan acquired Taiwan from Qing (1895), sought agricultural/natural resource breadbasket
New ordinance: shuffled camphor monopoly to Bureau of Monopolies (alongside alcohol, tobacco)
Camphor prices doubled after reform
Monopoly reasons:
- Maximize revenue (Japan had Russo-Japanese War debt, Taiwan needed to contribute)
- Regulate harvest (camphor trees need minimum 45 years to grow)
- Government intervention/regulation needed for industry sustainability
Tree planting: 5.6 million new trees planted in 1909 alone

1899: conflicts reached new level as production shifted from small firms to large multinationals
Government protection: 1500 government-funded paramilitary troops stationed at Japanese-indigenous borders
Tribal response: neighboring tribes unified into coordinated fighting force, stepped up guerrilla attacks
Casualty escalation:
- 1896: 62 people died in indigenous raids
- 1898: 557 dead, 134 injured, attacks almost daily
1900: full-scale aboriginal uprising in Dashi district (now Taoyuan)
- Dashi area: had Dahan Creek for transporting harvested trees
- Heavily settled by Atayal people (fierce warriors, head hunting traditions)
- Male fighters got facial tattoos for bringing back heads
- Women got facial tattoos for exemplary weaving skills

Japanese literal army invasion of Atayal lands
Two biggest Atayal groups forged alliance, armed with guns
Battle sequence:
- Japanese invasion force: 400 people marched on large village
- Atayal pincer movement attack forced Japanese retreat
- Next day: Japanese came with artillery, attempted shelling
- 200 Atayal warriors ambushed, forced another retreat
Atayal guerrilla warfare: high altitude attacks continually forced conventional Japanese armies to retreat
Resolution took years: high explosive shelling, economic blockades, transfer payments to pacify relations

High monopoly prices incentivized synthetic/natural alternatives worldwide
Plantation attempts: Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Egypt, Italy, Spain, Australia
US attempts: Florida, Texas, Louisiana, California (little success)
Mauritius experiment: Taiwanese camphor trees brought over
- Trees failed to yield economic amounts
- 10% failed to produce usable camphor
- Native camphor trees produced form unsuitable for industry
Conclusion: suitable natural camphor only found in Taiwan

Pre-WWI breakthrough: synthetic camphor from turpentine chemical precursor "pinene"
- Produced from America's plentiful pine trees
- Early process: complicated, expensive, many steps
- Byproducts couldn't be recycled (environmentally unfriendly)
- Required further refining to separate target camphor chemical
German company: ramped up production to 600 tons/year
- Broke monopoly, forced Japanese price reductions from "nosebleed levels"
- Natural camphor kept foothold, prices stayed high ($3.55/pound)

DuPont + Soviet researchers discovered direct turpentine-to-camphor conversion
Catalyst breakthrough: Fuller's earth (dry clay), later titanium dioxide
Revolutionized synthesis process, disrupted natural camphor industry
New Jersey plant on Delaware River: produced 4.5 million pounds synthetic camphor
Price crash: $0.44/pound in 1944
Taiwanese camphor tree industry collapsed

1960s: film industry switched to acetate film stock, last great celluloid usage ended
1920s: billiard ball industry switched to Bakelite
Today: celluloid mainly for musical instruments (guitar picks)
Camphor still useful as insect repellent, but nowhere near as necessary to modern industry
Early 1930s calculation: Taiwan's camphor forests had 75 years supply left (before synthetic revolution)
Lesson: "Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones" - technological change can end industries forever

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