Yingge District Office Building 20170102

Yingge District () is a district located on the

Dahan River The Dahan River (, also spelled Tahan) is a river in northern Taiwan. It originates in Hsinchu County and then flows through Taoyuan City and New Taipei City for 135 km, before it joins Xindian River in Taipei to form the Tamshui River. The ...

in southwestern

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

in northern Taiwan. It is famous for the production of

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises mainl ...

and an abundance of art studios and shops.

Name

On the northern side of Yingge lies a formation that went by the names of 鸚哥石 (

Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoid ...

Stone), 鷹哥石 (

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

Brother Stone), and 鶯哥石 (

Golden oriole The Eurasian golden oriole (''Oriolus oriolus'') also called the common golden oriole, is the only member of the Old World oriole family of passerine birds breeding in Northern Hemisphere temperate regions. It is a summer migrant in Europe and P ...

Warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

Brother Stone). The last stone is where the current name of the district derives from. The modern name "Yingge" ( 鶯歌) literally means "Warbler Song" in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

. According to legend, the rock formation produced a miasma that disoriented, sickened, and sometimes killed passers-by. One day, General

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...

led his army past the rock. When they were caught in the miasma, he ordered his cannon to fire against the rock. When the neck of the stone eagle was broken, the miasma lifted and the troops could continue on their march.

History

According to legend, by 1684, the Yingge area already had

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

migrants who specialized in cultivating

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

. According to the locals, the history of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s in Yingge began 200 years ago when Wu An (吳鞍) immigrated from

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

to Yingge to become the first potter in the area. Later, Chen Kun (陳昆), a brick maker, moved to the area and the two strived to make Yingge into the centre of Taiwan's ceramics industry. In 1920, Yingge Stone Village (鶯歌石庄) was renamed to Yingge Village (鶯歌庄). In 1940, the village was promoted to Yingge Street (鶯歌街), and in 1945 was changed to Yingge Small Town (鶯歌鎮). On August 1, 1946, seventeen urban villages () were divided from Yingge Township and made into

Shulin Shulin District () is an inner city District (Taiwan), district in southwestern New Taipei City, Taiwan. History On August 1, 1946, seventeen urban villages () were divided from Yingge District, Yingge Township and made into Shulin Townshi ...

Township. In 2010, Yingge Township was upgraded to Yingge District along with the upgrade of

Taipei County New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, be ...

. Today, Yingge is the largest centre for ceramic production in Taiwan, with over 800 ceramic-related businesses in the area.

Education

New Taipei Municipal Yingge Vocational High School The New Taipei Municipal Yingge Vocational High School (YKVS) is a professional school located in Yingge District, New Taipei, Taiwan. It was founded in 1997. The area of the main campus is . As of 2021 the principal was Long-Yuan, Yan. School ...

* Yingge Junior High School

Tourist attractions

New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum The New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum () is a museum presenting ceramics located in Yingge District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History The museum opened on 26 November 2000. In March 2016, the museum signed an agreement with Google to include it ...

— a large museum exhibiting ceramic culture in Taiwan * Yingge Ceramics Old Street (also known as Yingge Old Street, in Chinese: 鶯歌老街) — a pedestrian shopping street specializing in ceramic arts, pottery, porcelain, and other related products * Yingge Rock — the eagle-shaped rock that gives Yingge its name

Transportation

The best mode of transportation for visiting Yingge is the train from Taipei for a half-hour ride which is available every hour. From

Yingge railway station Yingge () is a railway station in Yingge District, New Taipei, Taiwan served by Taiwan Railways. Overview The station has two island platforms and the main station building is located over the tracks. The station accepts EasyCard or TWSC for ...

, easy walking to reach Ceramic Street enables visitors to experience the small town charm and local snacks. Merchants open at 9 am, and it is recommended to arrive at 10am.

New Taipei Metro New Taipei Metro () is a transit system serving New Taipei, Taiwan, operated by . The Danhai light rail is under operation, while the Ankeng light rail and the Sanying line under construction. There are many other lines in various stages of pl ...

Sanying line The Sanying or Light Blue line ( zh, t=三鶯線) (code LB) is a Medium-capacity rail system, light metro line under construction in New Taipei, Taiwan. Approval for the construction of the line was given by the central government on 2 June 2015 ...

will serve the district in the future with five stations: Yingge Station, Ceramics Old Street,

Guohua Chinese painting () is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as ''guó huà'' (), meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western style ...

, Yongji Park, and Yingtao Fude.

Notable natives

Chang Jin-fu Chang Jin-fu (; born 9 March 1948) is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Governor of Taiwan Province from 2009 to 2010. Early life Chang was born in Yingge Township, Taipei County in 1948. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engine ...

, Governor of

Taiwan Province Taiwan Province (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ, PFS: ''Thòi-vàn-sén'' or ''Thòi-vân-sén'') is a nominal Administrative divisions of Taiwan, administrative division of the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). Its definition has remained part of the Constit ...

(2009–2010) * Chen Ding-shinn, hepatologist

Sister cities

Yingge District has the following

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

:"Sister Cities, States, Counties & Ports"
. ''State of Washington''. Retrieved February 28, 2010. *

Kennewick Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the C ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

, United States

References

External links

* {{Districts in Taiwan Districts of New Taipei History of ceramics