In Taijian, quite a few places assume a name ending in “-liao”, “-gu”, and “-fen”. Ancient maps display the toponyms associated with industries, e.g., “Yancheng (salt yard)”, “Yanchang (salt field)”, “Wunan (fish farm banks)”, “Yanyuchang (fish farm)”, and “Keliao (oyster hut)”. Migrants also brought the toponyms of their hometown, e.g., “Huweiliao” and “Shifenwun”. To further understand the association of toponyms with the geographical environment and industries, Taijian Administration entrusted Liu Cheng-yuan and Wu Ling-ching, two scholars from National Kaohsiung Normal University, to compile the “Walk through Taijian in Search of Toponyms for History”, a monograph on toponyms. Going forward, this article will take the view of the monograph when examining and exploring how the toponyms derived from geographical changes and how migration exhibits the relationship between a place’s spatial cognition and its social/historical/cultural context.
The term “Taijian” carries a definition that is closely associated with volatile changes in history, culture, and natural environment. What does “Taijian” mean indeed? The term can be found in local chronicles in the Qing dynasty, quote, “Sitting outside the west gate of Yizhi, Taijian is the confluence where rivers meet the sea; its waters vast enough for berthing a thousand ships. It stretches to Seven Kunshen in the south, and to Jhuluo Soulangh and Maogangwei in the north. To the south it takes waters in from creeks running from the various mountains; to the outer side it swallows the sea.” Once a vast inland sea during the reign of Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing dynasty, Taijian spanned across an area of about 15,000 hectares, and served as a general toponym. It sailed not only small ferries, but even the ships from China en route to Dajingtou of the Tainan Castle Town. That’s why the local chronicles stated that “Taijian is the confluence where rivers meet the sea; its waters vast enough for berthing a thousand ships.” However, several factors came into play, including the development by those who immigrated due to population density pressure, and the damage done by heavy wind and torrential rain to downstream land over time, making the inland sea gradually silt up and become the fish farms and salt fields that we see nowadays.
After successive development, the vast recovered sediment land became home to many settlements. During the Japanese reign, the toponyms already existing in the Qing dynasty remained in use, and there were several characteristics added to toponyms. Taking Annan and Qigu as an example: (1) Toponyms ending in “-liao” multiplied, indicating steady increase in immigration and settlements; (2) Toponyms comprising “-lun” increased in the 20th century, e.g., Shalunjiao and Qingcaolun, suggesting changes in land form as a result of changes in the waterway of Tseng-Wen River; (3) Toponyms comprising “-wun” increased in percentage terms; and (4) Toponyms comprising “-gu (share)” or “-fen (share)” reflected the joint ventures during the development process. For instance, “Sangu (three shareholders)” (located in Qigu of Tainan; developed agriculturally and acquaculturally at the end of the Qing dynasty by Huang Tang, Huang Chi, and Huang Wo) was the place where the three major shareholders started development. These newly formed lands drew crowds in, who came to open up the virgin soil, jointly with others, typically by forming a “joint venture” (i.e., raising capital and jointly running the business). From the toponyms, we can tell that Taijian embodies a characteristic that is rarely seen in Taiwan - second migration, that is, the historical process of large-scale reclamation of wasteland from north to south, and east to west.
Another interesting discovery is that Taijian has some toponyms that are associated with “shan (mountains)”, e.g., “Hanliaoshanzai” and “Dingshanzailiao” in Dingshan village of Qigu and “Xiashanzailiao” in Longshan, all of which are settlements near the coast. Even staring into the distance, one still sees no mountains. Where do those “shan (mountains)” come from indeed? Running an investigation into the toponyms, we find that “Shanding (mountain top)” is a phrase that commonly existed among residents in the southwest coastal regions. Liu Cheng-yuan, one of the authors, wrote, “During the interview, a female elder told me that she had come from “Shanding” to get married here.” Chen Ho-chuan, an elder and the head of Daitian Temple, said during the interview, “This place used to sit right in front of the sea. Looking inland, you see hills. But if you look from the sea, this place looks like a ‘Shan (mountain)’. If a place is higher than where we stand, we call it ‘Shan (mountain)’.” Another local person mentioned in the monograph also told Teacher Liu, “’Shanding’ is a pet phrase. If we want to go to Jiali from here, we say we are going to ‘Shanding’. This place is by the seaside, but if we want to go inland, we say we are going to ‘Shanding’.”
As mentioned above, the reason locals call a place “Shanding (mountain top)” or call somebody “Shandingren (folks living on the mountain top)” is because the land looks like a little mountain when the fishermen look inland from the sea. This is a good explanation as to why a place is assigned a name comprising “Shan (mountain)” when there is no mountain in sight. The evidence indicating the same explanation is also available in “Taiwan Toponym Dictionary, Volume 7, Tainan County”: “For fishermen, mountains mean land. This is why fishermen call those non-fishermen ‘folks living on the mountain top’.” If inferred from this saying, and from the locals’ idea about “Shan (mountain)” as indicated in the field survey, we can tell that those migrants who settled in the place were probably fishermen in origin who later changed their jobs because they found the place suitable for clam farming and fishing; despite so, they still saw mountains from the perspective of fishermen. That is why they instinctively assigned “Shan (mountain)” to a toponym even after they had built a hut and settled in the place.
The book “Storytelling of Place names in Taijian Area” also gathers some local micro-toponyms. Each toponym carries the history of a place. To spread the knowledge of these rarely known local toponyms, compiling a book is the best way, and the most important way to disseminate local knowledge. As such, after publication, the books were delivered to the library of elementary schools and junior high schools in Taijian, to hopefully let them serve as a teaching material for local education, and to construct the knowledge about local places. We recommend that you follow the two teachers’ journey and read this book to learn about the association of toponyms with the people, industry, society, and spatial cognition of Taijian; to see the artificial development situation in early years as well as current situations; to know this land; and to remember its names.