Introduction of Chiayi City

Geographic location

Chiayi City is situated on the Northern Chianan Plain, close to the tropic of Cancer 22.5*N. It covers a land area of 60.0256 square kilometers with width of 10.5 kilometers and length of 15.8 kilometers. It is adjacent to Chiayi Hsien. Expect some of the eastern parts are belong to hill landforms, most parts of the city are fertile plain. The plain lays westward and descend slowly.

Hydrology

The main streams include Pa-Chang River and Pu-Tzu River. They flow by the southern and northern borders, respectively, forming city's natural borders. since the stratum of Chianan Plain is formed by tiny silts and clays, the groundwater of Chiayi City isn't copious. The Lan Lake and Jen Yi Lake reservoirs gather the water from the Pachang River and become the main water resources.

Climate

Chiayi city is located at latitude 23*29' N and longitude 120*27' E. characterized by the subtropical monsoon climate. The city has an average temperature of 23.3 Celsius; with the hottest in July and the coldest in January. It is mild and comfortable. It is mild and comfortable. Winter is the dry season; blow only the northwest monsoon; summer comes the southwest monsoon and usually thunder rains. Because of location at the main path of typhoon passing, Chiayi was usually attacked between July and September. The average rainfall is 2,000 min. The climate benefits the development of
agriculture; therefore, the Chiayi City development in early stage.
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Brief history

Chuloshan, the ancient name of Chiayi, was given from two sources: one phonetically resembled the tribe name Tirosen, as named by the Dutch, and the other came from a semantic utterance indicating "Mountains surround in the East." "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around current Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.

Chuloshan was once the foothold from which a large scale of people from mainland immigrated in. In 1621, Yen Szu-Chi, who came from Changchou, Fuchien Province, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Penkang(Peikang). In the 15th year of Yung-Li, the Ming Dynasty (1661), Cheng Cheng-Kung expelled the Dutch and recovered Taiwan. Then he established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu, and two counties Tien-Hsing, and Wan-Nien demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River (the Yen-Shui River now). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.

City map of Chu-Lo

In the 23rd year of Kang-Hsi, the Qing Dynasty (1684), Taiwan was established as Taiwan Sub-Province governing three counties, Taiwan and Feng-Shan, which were divided from Wan-Nien County in Ming Dynasty, and Chu-Lo, which was changed from Tien-Hsing County. The county government of Chu-Lo County was in Chia Li Hsing (the current Chia-Li Town of Tainan Hsien). In the 43rd year of Kang-Hsih, the Qing Dynasty (1704), the county government of Chu-Lo County moved from Chia Li Hsing to Chuloshan, the current Chiayi City, with city walls in wood railing. In the 5th year of Yung-Cheng, the county magistrate, Liu Liang-Bi rebuilt the gatehouses and set a gun platform for each gatehouse. The four gatehouses were named: "Chin Shan" for East, "Tai Hai" for West, "Chung Yang" for South, and "Kung Chen" for North. In the 12th year of Yung-Cheng, magistrate Lu-Hung built piercing-bamboo to better protect the city. In the 51st year of Chien-Lung, the Qing Dynasty (1786), Lin,Shuang-Wen headed his people to siege Chuloshan but failed

City map of Chiayi in 1907

because of the assisting defense from the inhabitants. Consequently, on November 3 of the next year, the Qing Emperor made an imperial announcement: awarded the name "Chiayi" to replace "Chuloshan" for praising the citizens' loyalty. In the 11th year of Kuang-Hsiu, Qing Dynasty, Taiwan was approved to be a province. Two years later, the jurisdiction was divided as three sub-provinces, one direct county, eleven counties and three bureaus. Chaiyi belonged to Taiwan sub-province and the hall was still in Chiayi. In 1906, a major earthquake devastated the entire city

wall except the Eastern Gate. The Japanese authorities reconstructed the city and made it the most modem. Industries and trades started to flourish. In 1907, the construction of forest railroad to Alishan(Mt. A1i) was begun. In of Tainan sub-provinces. Chiayi became an autonomy group as Chiayi Town and later (1930) promoted as an autonomy City. 　　 In 1945, when Taiwan was recovered, Chiayi City was elevated to a provincial city under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Province. In 1950, because of the re-allocation of administrative areas in which Taiwan was divided into

Pictograph of bamboo city of Chiayi in 1704

16 counties, 5 provincial cities, and a special bureau, Chiayi City was downgraded to a county-government status. As a result, a shortage of capital largely hindered its development. On July 1, 1982, it was elevated again to a provincial city as a result of pressure from local elites.