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 ...

in southwestern

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

in northern Taiwan. It is famous for the production of

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

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 (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...

Stone), 鷹哥石 (

Eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

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 ...

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 T ...

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 may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

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

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), born Zheng Sen () and better known internationally by his honorific title Koxinga (, from Taiwanese: ''kok sèⁿ iâ''), was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of Chin ...

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-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

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 south-western China and nor ...

. 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, porcela ...

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

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

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 may refer to: * Shulin, Albania * Shulin District Shulin District () is an inner city district in southwestern New Taipei City, Taiwan. History On August 1, 1946, seventeen urban villages () were divided from Yingge Township and ...

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

Taipei County New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

. 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 * Yingge Elementary School

Tourist attractions

New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum The New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum () is a museum presenting ceramic art, 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 ...

— 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 fo ...

, 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 City, New Taipei, Taiwan, operated by . The Danhai light rail, Ankeng light rail, and Circular line (New Taipei Metro), Circular line are currently in operation, while the Sanying line i ...

's Sanying line 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 , meaning "national painting" or "native painting", as opposed to Western styles of art which b ...

, Yongji Park, and Yingtao Fude.

Notable natives

* Chang Jin-fu, Governor of

Taiwan Province Taiwan Province ( zh, t=臺灣省 , p=Táiwān Shěng , poj=Tâi-oân-séng; PFS: ''Thòi-vàn-sén'' or ''Thòi-vân-sén'') is a ''de jure'' administrative division of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Provinces remain a titular division as ...

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

Sister cities

Yingge District has the following

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, 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 ar ...

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

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

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States

References

External links

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