Historically, Changhua city was a base for the Han Chinese when they invaded Taiwan against the Taiwanese aborigines, constructing a fortress built out of bamboo. Changhua has a nickname of "Bamboo Town".
Changhua is best known for its landmark Great Buddha Statue of Baguashan. At 26 metres tall, the statue sits atop Bagua Mountain overlooking the city. The main walkway up to the giant is lined with statues of figures from Buddhist lore. Another site of interest is Taiwan's oldest temple honoring Confucius.
History
Poasoa (transliterated into Chinese: 半線; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pòaⁿ-sòaⁿ) was once a center of settlement for the Babuza people (a plains aboriginal tribe). During the Dutch period, the area was under the administration of Favorlang (modern-day Huwei, Yunlin) and was controlled by the Dutch East India Company. During the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, the area was also one of Koxinga's central defense and attack bases. During the Chinese immigration of the 17th century, Changhua city was one of the four cities that had major immigration; it was one of the oldest Han Chinese settlements.
By 1694, Poasoa Village (半線庄) had been established. During the late 17th to late 19th century the area continued to be one of the major urban settlements in central Taiwan. In 1723, Changhua County was established, following the Zhu Yigui rebellion. Despite that, rebellions and civil wars continued.
Empire of Japan
The origin of the modern Changhua City is attributed to the Japanese administration, as they made the city into the official county seat in 1897 under Taichū Ken (Japanese: 臺中縣). During this era, the Japanese pronunciation Shōka came into use, alongside the "Chinese spellings" of "Changwha, Changhwa, Changhoa, Chanhue, Chan-hua, Tchanghoua".[1]
In 1901, the local administrative unit Shōka Chō (彰化廳) was established,[2] but this merged with Taichū Chō (臺中廳) in 1909. In 1920, Shoka was governed under the new Taichū Prefecture. In 1933, Ōtake Village (大竹庄) and Nankaku Village (南郭庄) were merged with Shōka Town and upgraded to Shōka City.
Changhua city has plenty of flat lands, however, the flat lands are divided in two portions by the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan. One on the South Eastern area and the other on the North Western area. The North Eastern area, although being flat, is often affected by soil erosion caused by typhoons during the summer, thus is not suitable for living.
The temperature of Changhua city on average is 22.4 °C (72.3 °F), annually, with July being the hottest and January being the coolest. Annual rainfall is 1,723.4 mm (67.85 in), June being the wettest and November being the driest. Rainfall decreases westward closer to the coastline.
Climate
Climate data for Changhua (Dacun) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1995–present)
Changhua City is one of the more developed areas of Changhua County, industrialization has been ongoing since the 1970s. This is reflected by an increase of factories in Changhua and decreasing amount of agricultural fields. From a poll in 1992, 43.2% of respondents worked in the service sector, 42.4% in the industrial sector and only 14.4% in either the agricultural or fishing sector.
The earliest school in Changhua dated back to 1726 during the Qing dynasty. The Japanese administration also improved the education system in Changhua City. Changhua City has 15 elementary schools, 7 junior high schools, 7 senior high schools and 2 technical schools/universities.
1 The provinces are merely retained as nominal entities within the constitutional structure, as they have no governing power following the formal dissolution of the provincial administrative organs in 2018. Cities and counties are de facto regarded as the principal constituent divisions of the ROC.
Sarah Shair-Rosenfield (November 2020). "Taiwan Combined"(PDF). The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
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