十八世紀清朝施行的隘制對臺灣沿山地域社會的影響甚大，學者有關隘制的討論甚多，但對於隘制形成前後的政策演變仍待釐清，本文即依據相關史料，探討此一問題。全文首先整理有關隘制起源的研究史，說明目前學界的研究狀況，其次則分別探討隘制的醞釀與形成。 　　關於隘制的醞釀，筆者認為應從十八世紀清朝臺灣邊防政策演變的脈絡來探討。從康熙末期的立石畫界政策開始，官方即不斷施行各種措施，如多次清釐界址、豎石立碑，進而開溝、堆土牛，頒行各種禁止越渡的律例，希望維持此一界線的權威性。更進一步的政策作為就是派出執法者，最初重用綠營，但兵額有限，所以引進民間武力，隘制即是在這樣的政策脈絡中逐漸醞釀成形。 　　從雍正年間到乾隆初期，官方添設民壯、鄉勇，協助官軍防番。乾隆9年（1744）以後，官方始透過土目、通事，派撥熟番到隘口巡防，乾隆19年（1754）以後，巡防逐漸變為定點守禦，即設立關隘，隘制於此時形成。各地沿山關隘並非同時設立，設立後亦可能廢除或移置。另外，當時隘制主要是以熟番守隘，但亦有漢人鄉勇參與，就長期的沿山邊防政策來看，即為派撥民力，協助邊防。

When the Qing Empire took control of Taiwan in 1683 and then established administrative regions in western Taiwan, the boundaries, especially those near the mountain areas in the east, were not clearly demarcated. Disorder and turmoil of border regions in subsequent decades forced Qing officials to pay attention to border security. Using official records of the eighteenth century, this article examines border management strategies, enforcement policies, and technologies adopted by the Qing Empire for maintaining border security. Moreover, this article focuses on the emergence of “Ai” (隘, local defensive fort), as a case study, in the context of the evolution of Qing Taiwan border policy in the eighteenth century and argues that the Ai system was gradually established after 1754. In the majority of cases, Ai, as frontier defense stations, were guarded by plains aborigines of different villages and had been expanding along the border near the mountain areas for some decades. The Ai system had assumed an important role in Qing border administration in the second half of the eighteenth century, but its effectiveness was still questioned by modern scholars.

隘制;關隘;邊防政策;邊界;平埔族群

Ai System;Frontier Defense Station; Frontier Policy;Borders; Plains Aborigines