踏溯台南

踏溯台南

文學院 通識教育課程

Badlands and the Mountain City

Route Introduction

  • Traceback The Moon World life from the Tavocan

       Since the Ming and Zheng Dynasties, Han immigrants have been in Tainan's hilly area to develop in the inner mountains. At that time, it is a crucial city to enter the mountainous regions, Tavocan gradually grew. Tavocan means "the path to the mountain" in the Siraya language. Siraya is the earliest recorded ethnic group living in Tainan since the written history of Taiwan. The name of Siraya has appeared in the documents under the Dutch rule period. Siraya grows in this land; it is related closely to the shaping and development of the history and culture of greater Tainan.

       In the Japanese rule period, Tavocan became a vital stronghold to develop inner mountains and renamed "Xin-Hua." The old streets, Civil Office, Butokuden of Xinhua were set up during the Japanese rule period. Therefore, it confirms that Xin-Hua is the primary city to examine Japanese development in Tainan's hilly areas.

       As they went deep into the mountainous areas, the Han people's influence extended to Kaohsiung's Nei-Men area in the early Qing Dynasty. However, due to landform being mudstones, Badlands, barren soil, and the population's mobility, it forms a unique transportation network and lifestyle different from other areas in Taiwan. The mudstones and Badlands are distributed widely across Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Taitung cities. The surface area of more than one thousand square kilometers is the largest tropical limestones Badlands terrain was known to the world. 

       This route will lead students to the hilly and mountainous areas in Tainan. In addition to understanding the influence of Badlands on Tainan culture, Xin-Hua District is a proper location to learn about the mountain city culture. It is different from the port city in Tainan City.