Shanhua District () is a suburban

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and also commonly known as the "Capital City" ...

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 ...

. Until 25 December 2010, it was an

urban township An urban township is a designation of a unit of local government in several countries. United States The term is called ''urban township'' Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio and urban town in Wisconsin. Generally, an urban township is afforded more loca ...

in the dissolved

Tainan County Tainan County was a county in southern Taiwan between 1945 and 2010. The county seat was in Sinying City. History Tainan County was established on 7 January 1946 on the territory of Tainan Prefecture () shortly after the end of World War II ...

, which is now merged with the original Tainan City to form a single special municipality.

History

Shanhua was inhabited by the

Taiwanese aboriginal Taiwanese indigenous peoples (formerly Taiwanese aborigines), also known as Formosan people, Austronesian Taiwanese, Yuanzhumin or Gaoshan people, are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, with the nationally recognized subgroups numbering about ...

tribe of Siraya, who called it Bakaloan (transliterated into ) (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 The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

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 Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

settlers to cultivate the place. In the

Siege of Fort Zeelandia The siege of Fort Zeelandia () of 1661–1662 ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island. Prelude From 1623 to 1624 the Dutch had been at war with Ming China over the Pescadore ...

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 ...

drove the Europeans out of Taiwan. Under the

Kingdom of Tungning The Kingdom of Tungning (), also known as Tywan by the British at the time, was a dynastic maritime state that ruled part of southwestern Taiwan and the Penghu islands between 1661 and 1683. It is the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Ta ...

, Bakaloan was governed as Sian-hoa Village () of ''Tien-hsing'' County (). According to the ''Shanhua Urban Plan Total Review Report'', the old name for the region is Oanli () before it was changed back again to under Japanese rule in 1920.Regions and local info: Shanhua Township
'', Tainan County Government'' In 1940, the village was upgraded to , ,

Tainan Prefecture was one of the administrative divisions of Taiwan during the Taiwan under Japanese rule, Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Yunlin County. Population Administrative divisions ...

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the

Republic of China 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 northeast ...

in 1945, Shanhua was organized as an

. On 25 December 2010, Tainan County was merged with Tainan City and Shanhua was upgraded to a

of the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Politics

Until 25 December 2010, the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of Shanhua Township was the popularly elected

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

(). The township also had a council () consisting of

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s elected from the township. Since the current administrative arrangement came into effect on the above date, a director () 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 Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

, and

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

.About Shanhua Township: Industry
'', Shanhua Township Government'' In 1973, the

Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) (), previously known as the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), is an international, nonprofit institute for vegetable research and development. It was founded in 1971 in Shanhua, southe ...

(AVRDC) was co-established by eleven nations including the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and the

(Taiwan). It has the goal to improve agricultural techniques. The

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

of the organization is located in the southern part of Shanhua and is the first and only headquarters of an international organization located in

. The

National Science Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC; ) is a statutory agency of Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) for the promotion and funding of academic research, development of science and technology and science parks. NSTC is ...

of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

founded the

Tainan Science Park Tainan Science Park () of Taiwan is located in Sinshih, Shanhua and Anding Districts of Tainan City with a total area of , and is a part of the Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP). History On 1 July 1993, the Executive Yuan approved the esta ...

based in

Sinshih Sinshih District, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (), alternatively spelled Xinshi, is a rural district in central Tainan, Taiwan, about 11 km north of Fort Provintia. As ''Sincan'', it was one of the most important ...

. Part of the park lies within Shanhua and brings job opportunities to local residents.

Notable natives

* Shen Guangwen (沈光文) (1612–1688), scholar, poet, educator and the founder of Taiwanese literature. Also called the Taiwanese Confucius. *

Huang Ta-chou Huang Ta-chou (; born 7 February 1936), also known as Thomas Huang, is a Taiwanese politician who served as mayor of Taipei between 1990 and 1994. He chaired the Chinese Taipei Olympic committee from 1998 to 2006. Early life Huang was born in ...

(黃大洲) (1936) Taiwan politician, The former mayor of Taipei, chairman of the Chinese Taipei Olympic committee

Tourist attractions

Qing-An Gong

The Qing-An Gong () is a temple, which is almost 300 years old, dedicated to goddess Matsu. According to

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

, the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

set up a Dutch-language school here when they ruled Taiwan.

Transportation

Taiwan Railway Administration Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is a railway operator in Taiwan. It is an agency of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, responsible for managing, maintaining, and running conventional passenger and freight railway services ...

** Shanhua Station * Formosa Freeway ** Shanhua Interchange * Provincial Highway No.1

References

* Tang Te-chien (唐德塹). ''Local Records of Shanhua Township'' (《善化鎮鄉土誌》), 1982

External links

* {{Coord, 23, 08, N, 120, 18, E, display=title, region:TW_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Districts of Tainan