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Cihou Fort or Cihou Battery () is a historic fort in
*main rectangular battery with four open emplacements (two facing west, one north and one south) for four Armstrong's 7 inch rifled muzzle-loaders (RML 7-inch 6½-ton), with bunkers for crews. Magazines are located on the lower level. Steep slopes of the Cihou hill served as fort's natural scarps.
Of the 19th-century fortification at the foot of the hill, only remainders are still visible.
Cijin District
Cijin District (; Hokkien POJ: ''Kî-tin-khu'') is a district of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, covering Cijin Island () and islands in the South China Sea. It is the second smallest district in Kaohsiung City after Yancheng District, with an area of ...
, Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
, Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
, formerly guarding northern entrance to Kaohsiung Harbor
The Port of Kaohsiung (POK; ) is the largest harbor in Taiwan, handling approximately 10.26 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) worth of cargo in 2015. The port is located in southern Taiwan, adjacent to Kaohsiung City, and surrounded by t ...
.
History
The first fortifications were built in 1720 when Taiwan wasruled
''Ruled'' is the fifth full-length LP by The Giraffes. Drums, bass and principal guitar tracks recorded at The Bunker in Brooklyn, NY. Vocals and additional guitars recorded at Strangeweather in Brooklyn, NY. Mixed at Studio G in Brooklyn, NY ...
by the Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
-led Qing Empire
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
of China. After Japanese expedition in 1874, the Qing authorities constructed a modern fort, which in 1880 had new Armstrong's guns installed. It played no part in the Sino-French War
The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
; the fighting in Taiwan took place around Keelung and during blockade French ships did not approach the port.
Taiwan was ceded to Japan according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki
The , also known as the Treaty of Maguan () in China and in the period before and during World War II in Japan, was a treaty signed at the , Shimonoseki, Japan on April 17, 1895, between the Empire of Japan and Qing China, ending the Firs ...
in the aftermath of the first Sino-Japanese war
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...
. The local troops, however, fought on. On 12 October 1895, escadre commanded by admiral Arichi Shinanojo (cruisers ''Yoshino'', , , ''Yaeyama'', ''Saien'' (ex Chinese Jiyuan, captured in Weihaiwei
Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea.
Weihai's popula ...
) and corvette ''Hiei'') arrived at Takow (modern-day Kaohsiung) and prompted the foreigners to evacuate, as they would conduct the attack on the next day. The foreigners boarded gunboat HMS Tweed and two tugs and withdrew (only to return once the fight was over). At 7 am, 13 October, Japanese ships "opened fire on the Takow forts at a range of about 6,000 yards. For the first half-hour, the forts responded, but after this their guns were silent...The forts fired twenty four rounds, the best shot being from the 8-inch B.L. Armstrong guns in Apes' Hill fort, which struck the water about 500 yards from the ''Naniwa Kan''." The Japanese troops seized the forts in early afternoon, suffering no casualties (4 Chinese soldiers were killed).
During the Japanese era
The , also known as , is the first of the two elements that identify years in the Japanese era calendar scheme. The second element is a number which indicates the year number within the era (with the first year being ""), followed by the literal ...
the fort was not used.
After World War II
The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era started in late 1945 (when World War II ended) for all countries involved, defined by the decline of all colonial empires and simultaneous rise of two superpowers; the Soviet Union (U ...
the hill was fortified by Chinese army: light gun and machine gun nests cut in the rock can still be found there.
Construction
Planned by British engineer, H. W. Harwood, the fort consists of three parts: * fortifiedbarracks
Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...
, around rectangular square, with close-defence parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
on the roof. Of the two gates, one leads to the battery, the other used to be a main southern gate. It bore a Chinese inscription, which could be translated as "Mighty blow to the South" – the characters for "mighty blow" were shot away by a shell from ''Yoshino''. The rest, still visible, serve as ironic remainder of history.
*central command post
*main rectangular battery with four open emplacements (two facing west, one north and one south) for four Armstrong's 7 inch rifled muzzle-loaders (RML 7-inch 6½-ton), with bunkers for crews. Magazines are located on the lower level. Steep slopes of the Cihou hill served as fort's natural scarps.
Of the 19th-century fortification at the foot of the hill, only remainders are still visible.
See also
*List of tourist attractions in Taiwan
Popular tourist attractions in Taiwan include the following:
Attractions Historical buildings
* Beihai Tunnel, Beigan ()
* Beihai Tunnel, Nangan ()
* Daxi Wude Hall ()
* Ete ...
* North Gate of Xiong Town
The North Gate of Xiong Town or Syongjhen North Gate () is a historical gate in Gushan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
History
The area was built in 1875 by the Chinese military of Qing dynasty as a fort to protect the Takao Harbor. It was built ...
* History of Kaohsiung
The written history of Kaohsiung can be traced back to the early 17th century, though archeological studies have found signs of human activity in the region from as long as 7000 years ago. Prior to the 17th century, the region was inhabited by t ...
References
Bibliography
* {{Forts in Taiwan 1720 establishments in Taiwan Buildings and structures in Kaohsiung Forts in Taiwan History of Taiwan Military installations established in 1720 National monuments of Taiwan Tourist attractions in Kaohsiung