History and Culture of TaoYuan 桃園歷史與文化

http://www.tycg.gov.tw/site/index.aspx?site_id=123&site_content_sn=433

History

Throughout the reign of the Qianlong Emperor during the Qing Dynasty, a number of people from Fujian, a coastal province on Mainland China, began to immigrate into present-day Taoyuan for development. They planted lots of peach trees, and when fully blossomed in spring, the scene was so beautiful that the people named this place "Taoziyuan", which in Chinese means "Peach Garden". Taoyuan City was appointed as the capital of Taoyuan County on April 21st, 1971.

In the early years, Taoyuan was home for the Pingpu aboriginal tribe. Before the history of written language, the Ketagalan Tribe of the Pingpu aboriginal tribe settled in Nankan. Nankan Stream is the headwaters of Nankan River and written records started when the Han people arrived and developed this place. It was originally called "HumaoZhuang". However, it was later renamed as "Taozaiyuan" due to abundant planting of peach trees. Whenever they blossomed, the ground was covered in pink like a red cloud covering the ground. In addition, river streams mainly covered the land; therefore the Han tribe built forts for defense. For this reason, it was renamed as "Taochienbo." According to historical records, Cheng Ko-Shuang defeated Chen and stationed him in Nankan Ditch to defend against enemies in 1680. In 1694, Minnan people expanded Nankan through spreading to the rivers and plains in Taoyuan. These were the earliest records of entry by Han people into Taoyuan County. 


In 1727, Kao Tienkuang of Changchou visited Taiwan, expanded Dayuan, Zhuwei till Danshui, Parrigon. Later in 1733, highways were built to connect Taipei and Taoyuan (running through Guilun Mountain path, which is now the location for Taiwan Provincial Road No. 1). The following year, Xinzhuang, Jiulukeng, Taozaiyuan were expanded as far as Zhonglixin Road. At that time, people from south started to move up to north to develop the land, and some of these people settled in Takuham (Ta Han) and Yuanshulin. Taoyuan’s transportation to Taipei was primarily based on the Tamshui River. Nankan Port and Xucuogang were depended on as the major ports to China, which later developed into sea transportation. 


In the early years during colonization by the Dutch, Spanish, and Cheng He of the Ming Dynasty, there were no large-scale cultivation or industrial activities. During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, people from Guangdong province and Fujian province gradually migrated to Taoyuan and developed settlements. They excavated land and built irrigation channels, making Taoyuan developed into a well-equipped city in terms of its functions and constitution. In the reign of the sixth year of Qianlong, water channels of rivers were connected and both Xiaoli and Dazun were excavated. Taoyuan’s water resources were provided through the convergence of the ponds. This was an important achievement to Taoyuan as the development of several hundred miles of rivers provided sufficient water resources during the Japanese occupation and American Aid. 



During the Japanese occupation, under the staged migration policy of the Japanese government, Taoyuan City had been developed into a city with various cultures. For instance, the temples and worshipping paths (currently Martyrs' Shrine on Chenggong Road) symbolized cultural systems. Wude Temple (which has been torn down, the original site has been reconstructed as a business building) was used to represent military systems, and the old Taoyuan City Office for signifying political systems. Taoyuan, at the edge of the Greater Taipei Region, made some structural and life-style changes within its society. Due to trade prosperity in recent years and the proliferation of job opportunities, Taoyuan has developed into a major economic district in Northern Taiwan and population has been increasing ever since. Large number of passengers and freight transport has made Taoyuan International Airport the most important gateway of Taiwan to the outside. Also, Taoyuan offers major sea routes to Southeast and Northeast sea transportation. Taoyuan has transformed from an agricultural based city into an economical metropolitan city.