T’ai-nan

T’ai-nan, special municipality (chih-hsia shih, or zhizia shi), southwestern Taiwan. In 2010 T’ai-nan municipality and T’ai-nan county surrounding it were combined administratively to form the special municipality, which has the status of a county.

T’ai-nan is one of the oldest urban settlements on the island. The Han Chinese settled there as early as 1590 (some sources say earlier), when it was known as T’ai-yüan (Taiyuan), Ta-yüan (Dayuan), or T’ai-wan (Taiwan)—a name that was later extended to the whole island. The Dutch arrived in the city in 1623 and stayed until they were driven out in 1662 by Zheng Chenggong (Cheng Ch’eng-kung, or Koxinga), a man of mixed Chinese and Japanese ancestry who made T’ai-nan his administrative centre and briefly ruled the island before he died. During the last years of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and after, a great number of Chinese fleeing disorders in China emigrated to southern Taiwan and settled on the southwestern plain.

In 1683, when the Qing (Ch’ing) dynasty (1644–1911/12) reestablished Chinese control over Taiwan, T’ai-nan remained the administrative capital of the island. It was fortified in the 18th century after a series of rebellions. T’ai-nan grew into a prosperous city under Chinese rule during the 19th century—in 1880 it was said to have had 60,000 people—and it became the commercial and educational centre of Taiwan. After the transfer of the capital to Taipei in 1891, T’ai-nan became primarily a commercial city. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895–1945), it was connected to the north and to the port of Kao-hsiung (Gaoxiong) in the south by rail. The old town walls were demolished, and the city limits were greatly expanded. T’ai-nan continued to grow after the Japanese withdrawal and the arrival of Chinese from the mainland after 1945. T’ai-nan also increased dramatically in size with the establishment of the special municipality in 2010.

T’ai-nan is the main market for the produce of the southwestern plain, dealing in sugarcane, rice, fruit, and peanuts (groundnuts). The productivity of the agricultural area north of the city was greatly increased by the construction of the Chia-nan (Jianan) irrigation scheme, which waters some 1,900 square miles (5,000 square km). The system, which includes some 10,868 miles (l7,490 km) of canals and irrigation channels, was designed and constructed by the Japanese between 1920 and 1930 and has since been improved.

The special municipality is also a centre of the coastal salt industry and of fisheries. Other products include textiles, rubber goods, sugar, chemicals, plastics, light-engineering and aluminum products, electrical appliances, and processed foods. T’ai-nan has many traditional handicrafts, notably goldsmithing and silversmithing, and it attracts many tourists. Its traditional outport is An-p’ing (Anping). Area 846 square miles (2,192 square km). Pop. (2015 est.) 1,885,541.