Mainland China (1912–1949)
Following the birth of the Republic of China,the first Scout troop was organized by Reverend Yen Chia-lin in Wuchang on February 25,1912,and the Scouting movement spread rapidly all over the country. [2]
The General Association of the Scouts of China was formally established in Nanking,the former capital of the Republic of China in 1934,and became a member of the International Scout Bureau in 1937. [3] [4] Many Scouts actively participated in the Second Sino-Japanese War from 1937 to 1945.
There were 570,000 registered members in 1941. [2]
Japanese military authorities did not consistently encourage the Scouting movement in occupied territories. Where local conditions were favorable,authorities would permit local Scouting or introduce Japanese-style Scouting,or Shōnendan,and sometimes even made this compulsory. On the other hand,where conditions were not favorable,and anti-Japanese sentiments were likely to be nurtured through Scouting,the authorities would prohibit it entirely. Taiwan was a colony of the Empire of Japan from 1895 until 1945,and Taiwan Boy Scouts/Shōnendan and other forms of pro-Japanese youth education had been introduced. Conversely,a number of Taiwanese boys were formed into a Shōnendan-style boy corps called Taiwan Shaoniantuan from 1939 through the 1940s to assist in Chinese resistance in the Second Sino-Japanese War. [5]
Republic of China (Taiwan) 
