Shanhua District
History
Shanhua was inhabited by the
Taiwanese aboriginal tribe of
Siraya, who called it Bakaloan (transliterated into
Chinese: 目加溜灣;
Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ba̍k-ka-liù-oan) (see also
Anding, bordering to the southwest). It was one of the four major towns
established by the tribe.
In 1625, the
Dutch East India Company was driven back by the aborigines while trying to
collect bamboo. The Dutch, however, were able to conquer the town in 1635, and
started setting up schools and churches in the area, calling the place
Tevoran (see
modern-day
Yujing). They encouraged
Han settlers to cultivate the place.
In the
Siege of Fort Zeelandia,
Koxinga
drove the Europeans out of Taiwan. Under the
Kingdom of Tungning, Bakaloan was governed as Sian-hoa Village (善化里;
Siān-hoà-lí) of Tien-hsing County (天興縣). According to the
Shanhua Urban Plan Total Review Report, the old name for the region is
Oanli (灣里街; Oan-lí-ke)
before it was changed back again to Shanhua
(Japanese:
善化,
Hepburn: Zenka)
under
Japanese rule in 1920.
In 1940, the village was upgraded to Zenka Town
(善化街), Shinka District (新化郡),
Tainan Prefecture.
Republic of China
After the
handover of Taiwan from Japan to the
Republic of China in 1945, Shanhua was organized as an
urban township of
Tainan County. On 25 December 2010, Tainan County was merged with Tainan
City and Shanhua was upgraded to a
district of the
city.
Politics
Until 25 December 2010, the
chief executive of Shanhua Township was the popularly elected
magistrate (Chinese:
鎮長). The township also had a council (Chinese:
善化鎮民代表會) consisting of
councillors elected from the township.
Since the current administrative arrangement came into effect on the above
date, a director (Chinese:
區長) appointed by the mayor of Tainan City is in charge of the administration of
the newly created district.
Administrative divisions
The district consists of Tungguan, Zuojia, Guangwen, Wenchang, Nanguan,
Wenzheng, Hujia, Hucuo, Shinai, Ximei, Liufen, Liude, Tianliao, Niuzhuang,
Jiabei, Jianan, Xiaoxin, Dingjie, Changlong and Liantan Village.
Economy
Shanhua has an agricultural economy. Major products of the township include
rice,
sugarcane,
strawberry, and
watermelon.
In 1973, the
Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) was co-established
by eleven nations including the
United States,
Japan,
and the
Republic of China (Taiwan). It has the goal to improve agricultural
techniques. The
headquarters of the organization is located in the southern part of Shanhua
and is the first and only headquarters of an international organization located
in Taiwan.
The National Science Council of the
Executive Yuan founded the
Tainan Science Park based in
Sinshih. Part of the park lies within Shanhua and brings job opportunities
to local residents.
Notable natives 當地著名人物
-
Shen Guangwen (沈光文) (1612–1688), scholar, poet, educator and the founder
of Taiwanese literature. Also called the Taiwanese Confucius.
-
Huang Ta-chou (黃大洲) (1936) Taiwan politician, The former mayor of
Taipei, chairman of the Chinese Taipei Olympic committee
-
Deng Feng-Zhou (鄧豐洲) (1949), Taiwanese poet, local history writer, Nedan
academics
Tourist attractions
Qing-An Gong
The Qing-An Gong (simplified
Chinese: 庆安宫;
traditional Chinese: 慶安宮;
pinyin:
Qìng-ān gōng) is a temple, which is almost 300 years old, dedicated to
goddess Matsu. According to
oral tradition, the
Dutch set up a Dutch-language school here when they
ruled Taiwan.
Transportation
References
- Tang Te-chien (唐德塹). Local Records of Shanhua Township
(《善化鎮鄉土誌》), 1982
External links
Source: https://en.wikipedia-on-ipfs.org/wiki/Shanhua_District
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