Foreign Wells: Japanese Well Drilling in Beijing, 1900-10

Following the conclusion of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, drinking water in Beijing underwent a revolution with the introduction of Japanese well-drilling technology. Based on the sources housed in Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, and the United States, this article investigates Japanese well-drilling technology and how it was economically, socially, and culturally indigenized in Beijing, both in the Tartar City and Chinese City, by placing the technology transfer within the complex picture of accommodation and compromise among the state, foreign powers, and the society. I contend that in the Tartar City, the state patronized well drilling by establishing the Institute of Well Drilling, while in the Chinese City, merchants and water carriers became patrons of the new technology, reflecting a deep dichotomy between the Tartar City and Chinese City, segregated by ethnicity since the 1640s.