History

Early History

Taiwanese aborigines, including the Babuza people, populated the plains that make up modern Taichung City. They were originally hunter gatherers who later lived by cultivating millet and taro. Several local names in central Taiwan, including Shalu Township and Lukang Township in Changhua County contain the word for “deer.”

Lecheng Temple, built during the Qing Dynasty Chishan Gate, built during the Qing Dynasty Qing Dynasty

In 1682, the Qing Dynasty wrested control of western Taiwan from the Cheng family. Taichung was founded in 1705 as a part of Changhua County with the name of Dadun (ch: 大墩; p: Dàdūn; w: Ta-tun; lit. "large mound"). To strengthen Qing control, a garrison was established in 1721 near the site of present-day Taichung Park by Lan Ting-chen.

All was not peaceful for Qing authorities in central Taiwan. North of the city, on the Dajia River, an aboriginal revolt broke out in 1731 after Chinese officials had moved in and compelled them to provide labor. The revolt spread as far south as the county seat of Changhua in May 1732 before the rebels were chased into the mountains by Qing forces.

In 1786, another rebellion against the Qing authorities had its roots in the distriction of Dali. Led by Lin Shuang-wen, it began as an attempt to overthrow the Manchu government and restore the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, as the rebels moved northward, they turned to slaughter and looting. They were eventually defeated by a coalition of Qing forces, Hakka, Quanzhou Fujianese descendants, and Aboriginal volunteers.

Taiwan became a province of Qing-dynasty China in 1885, and the city, named Dadun at the time, was designated as the capital of the Taiwan Prefecture, one of three prefectures in the newly created Taiwan Province. Dadun was also initially designated as the provincial capital, and Qing official Liu Ming-chuan received the authority from the Guangxu Emperor to oversee development of the area. However, four years later, Liu was forced to “retire” by Empress Dowager Cixi, and the provincial capital was moved to what is now known as Taipei.

Japanese Colonial Rule

After China lost the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The Japanese changed the name of the city from Dadun to 台中 (Taichū in Japanese). Many rebels, who had accepted a Qing amnesty following a rebellion in 1895, now turned to anti-Japanese activities. On May 25, 1902, some 360 rebels and their families accepted invitations to surrender and receive amnesty and rewards. Instead they were trapped and murdered by the Japanese.

The Japanese sought to develop the city to make it the first “modern” area of Taiwan. The Japanese administration invested in roads, dams and levees. Taichung Park was completed in 1903. The old north gate, one of the few Liu-era structures to survive the Japanese reconstruction of the city, was moved to the new park. To this day, Taichung Park is one of the most popular places in the city for people to relax. The first market in Taichū was built in 1908, along the JiGuang Road between the ZhongZheng and ChengGong Roads and it is still in use today. The Japanese undertook a north-south island railway project. Taichung Train Station was completed and began operation in 1917, and still operates today. Taichung was officially designated as a city by Japanese Imperial authorities in 1920, and Taichung City Hall was completed in 1924 after eleven years of construction.

Taichung's historic city hall Shinto Shrine to Japan's WWII soldiers fighting overseas

Taichung Middle School (now known as Taichung First Senior High School) was founded in 1913 by Lin Hsien-tang and his brother Lin Lie-tang, two wealthy Taiwanese intellectuals of the era. This was in an effort to teach children the Culture of Taiwan and to foster the spirit of the Taiwanese localization movement. A Taiwanese cultural association founded in 1921 in Taipei by Lin Hsien-tang was moved to Taichū in 1927. Most of the members of this association were from Taichung and the surrounding area. The city became a center of Taiwanese culture and nationalism.

The new-found prosperity of Taichung was eventually squandered by the Japanese war effort (1937–45). When World War II ended in 1945, Taiwan’s economy, like Japan’s, was in a very poor state.

Post-War Era (1945-1996) Shrine to the martyrs of the Republic of China

At the end of the war, Republic of China (ROC) forces crossed the Strait of Taiwan on U.S. ships and accepted the Japanese surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers on 25 October 1945.

The early post-war era was one of transition and turmoil for Taiwan. Taiwanese nationalists had divided into three groups, one of which was known as the 'Taichung Clique'. These were men who had enjoyed relatively high social standing during the Japanese era, such as Lin Hsien-t’ang, Yang Chao-chia, Yeh Jung-chung, and others. They attempted to take what they believed to be their rightful place as the new political leaders of the island. However, the ROC administrator of the island, Chen Yi, opposed this group as it contained many people, especially merchants and landlords, who were opposed to ROC policies.

Upon losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists, the Kuomintang (KMT), relocated the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan. Taichung was declared a special municipality in 1949 by the ROC government. Since then the city has grown as a center of higher education, commerce and culture, where 70% of employees worked in service industries. The surrounding county developed manufacturing, which employed 48% of the workforce, and focused so successfully on precision machinery, from machine tools to bicycles, that it was nicknamed the “Mechanical Kingdom.” In 2010 the city was merged with the surrounding county to create a municipality of 2.65 million people spread across 2,214 square kilometres (850 sq. mi.).