Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail

Hengchun is located in the southernmost of Taiwan, on the tip of  Hengchun Peninsula, surrounded by the sea on three sides. Although there have been legends of farming and reclamation since the Ming and Zheng Dynasties, there have also been Fujian and Cantonese Han people and even Pingpu ethnic groups settled there. They lived with the local Seqalu group of the Paiwan people and the Hengchung Amis people who came here earlier. However, as late as the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, it was still a remote place.
 

The South Gate of Hengchun old town is also known as "Mingdu Gate". Hengchun is located at the southernmost tip of the Hengchun Peninsula. In the northeast, there are Laofo Mountain, Menmaluo Mountain and other mountains adjacent to Manzhou Township. The name, Hengchun, came about in December 1874, when the Qing viceroy Shen Baozhen came to Taiwan for the Mudanshe incident. He came and saw the crops stay “green and abundant” year-round, and so he named the area Hengchung (always spring). Since then Hengchung replaced the original name, “Longkjouw”.

The South Gate of Hengchun old town is also known as "Mingdu Gate". Hengchun is located at the southernmost tip of the Hengchun Peninsula. In the northeast, there are Laofo Mountain, Menmaluo Mountain and other mountains adjacent to Manzhou Township. The name, Hengchun, came about in December 1874, when the Qing viceroy Shen Baozhen came to Taiwan for the Mudanshe incident. He came and saw the crops stay “green and abundant” year-round, and so he named the area Hengchung (always spring). Since then Hengchung replaced the original name, “Longkjouw”.

In the past, the East Gate was the only way to Beinan. Under the policy of Kaishan Fufan (Excavate mountains to manage indigenes), Zhou Youji, the first magistrate of Hengchun County, was appointed to officially build Hengchun Beinan Road. From the east gate of Hengchun County, through Shemali and Zhuzhaoshu, along the bank of the port stream. After crossing the watershed, passing through Jiupeng, following the coastline to the north, passing Mudan Bay and Alangyi River, and arriving at Beinan. It was the main route for officials and official documents to and from the front and back mountains in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, there was a delivery station.

Bayao Bay is a large, triangular sandy beach from the south of Gangzai River to Zhonggang River. It is commonly known as Haishanpu. It is about 3 kilometers in length from north to south, and 2 kilometers wide from east to west. There are continuous tall sand dunes and sloping sand-falls. The dune terrain is well-developed. Due to the long-term accumulation of sand in the estuary and the blowing of the northeast monsoons, the sand continues to move with the northeast monsoon, turning into a large area of ​​special terrain like a desert. The ever-changing sand patterns on the sand are quite beautiful, and together with the dead casuarinas, it becomes a unique scenery. As a tourist attraction in Hengchun Peninsula, sand boarding and jeeps rushing down sand-falls are popular and are loved by many tourists who like some thrill.

Xuhai Police Station is located in the east of Xuhai, at the intersection of the end of Pingtug 199A Highway and Taiwan Provincial Highway 26. Because it is located on Hengchun Beinan Road, the junction of Hengchun and Taitung, its location is extremely important. In the early days of the Japanese occupation, the Mudan Bay Police Station was established here. It was moved next to Xuhai Elementary School at the end of the Japanese occupation and was re-established after the war at the current location. To the northeast of the police station is the Donghai Tribe. The Donghai Tribe was originally a working dormitory built for fishing convenience. Later, some people settled down and formed a small settlement. The Amis with the surname Pan and the descendants of Pan Abie are the main ones. In 1976, a new pier was built in the north of the tribe, where boats and rafts can dock. Half of the residents are fishers and half are farmers.

 Xuhai Village was formerly known as macaren, also known as butauwan. It is located in the east of Mudan Township, on the eastern slope of the main ridge of the Central Mountains. As the land is high on the west and low on the east, forming a hilly terrain, short rivers such as Liren, Xuhai and Daliu flow from towards the east into the Pacific Ocean. The alluvial lowlands of river banks and estuaries have become the main settlements and arable land for the people. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the Japanese occupation period, it was designated as a sub-district. It is located on the "Hengchun and Beinan Road in the Qing Dynasty" leading to Taitung in the Hengchun area. Although the developmentof the village was late, the ethnic groups were diverse. The settlement was first established by Pan A-bie, from Seqalu community, who led the people from Manzhou to settle here. There were also Paiwan people, Hakka people, Hokkien people, and people from other provinces. The residents of this village facing the Pacific Ocean are the Amis people who immigrated from Gangzai, Manzhou Township. After the war, an independent village was established, located near the east coast, and named Xuhai as the place where the sun rises. 

Houdong Mountain, or Monkey Cave Mountain, is what it used to be called before the current name, Shipai Park. It is located on the west side of Hengchun City. In the park, there are two stone steles. One is the monument of “Weapon Preparation” and the other is in memory of those who died fighting the war. The latter was erected after the 3rd Brigade (Ishihara Brigade) of the 4th Infantry Regiment of the Second Division of Japanese Infantry in February of Meiji 28 (1895), which occupied Hengchun and set up its headquarters in Houdong Mountain to prepare for the suppression of the place. The original text states "Meiji twenty-seventh and eighth year, when the brigade was ordered to occupy Hengchun; on October 31st of the twenty-eighth year, got on two ships of Sedoku and Fukui; on November 1st, landed on the south of Checheng; there were about 300 rebels guarding Hengchun. The battle started at eleven o'clock in the morning. The rebels handed over the guns, the most important task was to defend the battle, but they were unable to fight. At two o’clock in the afternoon the city fell. The brigade set up its quarters here, managed the area around. Because of its greatness, it will be passed on to future generations forever.”

The Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail crosses Hengchun Township in Pingtung County and Taitung City in Taitung County. with a total length of about 98 km. It was an important transportation route between the east and the west of Taiwan during the Japanese occupation, starting from Hengchun in the south and reaching Beinan in the north while passing through Manzhou Township.  Today, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail is commonly known as the Alangyi Historic Trail. Alangyi is the old name of Anshuo Hamlet of the Paiwan ethnic group. Moreover, most parts of the trail have been excavated into Taiwan Provincial Highway No. 26. The only sections that have not been made into a highway are the sections between Xuhai and Guanyinbi, as well as the section to the junction of Taitung County.

Nantian village is located on the right tributary of the upper reaches of Fangshan River in Daren Township, Taitung County. The village was formed by the migration of tribes towards the end of the Japanese occupation. By the early post-war period, 17 households from Donggaoshe moved to the first hamlet in Nantian village. As population grew, the tribesmen from the first hamlet agreed to move to the second hamlet, and Nantian village became a settlement of two hamlets. The name Nantian, which means south fields, was given as it is located at the southern end of Daren Township.   

Located in the Nantian Coast of Daren Township, Taitung County, the coastal landscape of the long pebble beach is still intact due to the undeveloped highway. It is one of the few pristine coastlines, rich in Nantian stones, and was named after the neighboring Nantian Village. The Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail passes through the Nantian coast, traveling north along the coast from Hengchun via Manzhou, then joining other trails from Pingtung, and arriving at Taitung City.  In the middle of the Japanese occupation, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail had long been widened as a designated road for cars. Therefore, the remaining trails that we see today are mostly roads for cars from the Japanese occupation period. Currently the impassable section of the road is in the Guanyinbi area.

The Tawa River Basin in Daren Township, Taitung County, originated from the valley between Mudanxi Mountain and Taihe Mountain, and finally flows into the Pacific Ocean. The Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail, which crosses Hengchun Township in Pingtung County and Taitung City in Taitung County, runs northward along the coast from Hengchun through Manzhou, joining other trails in Pingtung, and then arriving at Taitung City.  In the middle of the Japanese occupation, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail had long been widened as a designated road for cars. Therefore, the remaining trails that we see today are mostly roads for cars during the Japanese occupation period. Currently the impassable section of the road is in the Guanyinbi area.

Guanyinbi is located in Mudan Township, Pingtung County, and is on the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail. The historic trail, which crosses Hengchun Township in Pingtung County and Taitung City in Taitung County, runs from Hengchun via Manzhou, passing through the end of the Central Mountain Range to reach the coast, and then passing through Xuhai and Guanyinbi. Continue walking north along the coast, you will pass by Nantian Hamlet and Anshuo Hamlet, joining other trails that leads to Pingtung, and finally arriving at Taitung City. In the middle of the Japanese occupation, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail had long been widened as a designated road for cars. Therefore, the remaining trails that we see today are mostly roads for cars during the Japanese occupation period. Currently the impassable section of the road is in the Guanyinbi area.

The Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail, which crosses Hengchun Township in Pingtung County and Taitung City in Taitung County, runs from Hengchun via Manzhou, passing through the end of the Central Mountain Range to reach the coast, and then passing through Xuhai and Guanyinbi. Continue walking north along the coast, you will pass by Nantian Hamlet and Anshuo Hamlet, joining other trails that leads to Pingtung, and finally arriving at Taitung City. In the middle of the Japanese occupation, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail had long been widened as a designated road for cars. Therefore, the remaining trails that we see today are mostly roads for cars during the Japanese occupation period. Currently the impassable section of the road is in the Guanyinbi area.

Chuhuo is located outside Hengchun East Gate in Hengchun Township, Pingtung County, and under the Erchongxi Bridge on the 3 km point on the northern side of County Road 200. It is a famous geological landscape in Hengchun Peninsula. The burst of fire on the ground surface is formed by the natural gas stored in the mudstone layer. However, since the location of the fire shifts, the locations of Chuhuo settlement and the Shanhuo bridge are not on the current scenic spots. In fact, the Chuhuo settlement was near Chuhuo Bridge because in the early days of the Japanese occupation, it was probably located on the Chuhuo Riverbank.

Nowadays, people live on the north side of the highway. Although there are not many households there, based on the sacrificial pot that was left there, the place was once inhabited by the Pingpu ethnic group, and was called Pingpufan Cuozhuang.

Manzhou Village is located in the basin of Gangkou River and its tributary Laofo River in Manzhou Township, Pingtung County. In the past, it was the traditional hunting ground for the Wenshuai-Shandingshe of Paiwan ethnic group and the Zhusheng-sushe (Ciljasuak) of Seqalu ethnic group. Later, the Hakka immigrants came here to cultivate. During the Japanese occupation period, Taiwan’s Government-General set up villages, public schools, police posts, telecommunication offices, post offices, and other facilities here, making it the administrative center of Manzhou Township. In 1920, local system corrections were implemented and Wenshuai was re-named to Manzhou. However, as the two characters of “Manzhou” is the same as the Manzhou in north-eastern China, it got opposed by residents and was rewritten to the current name.

Gangzai Village is located at the northernmost of the Manzhou Township in Pingtung County. It is almost mountainous. The riverbanks of Gangzai River and its tributary Jiaoxi, as well as the river valley plain where the stream flows into the ocean are the main farmland for the whole village. In the past, Gangzai Village was the traditional territory of the Gaoshifuoshe of Paiwan ethnic group. Later, Amis people from the Hengchun area also settled here. The village used to be a passing point on the Langjiao Beinan Historic Trail, but today it has been rebuilt as the end of County Road 200, which is remote and inconvenient for transportation.

Bayao Bay is located on the east coast of the Hengchun Peninsula in Manzhou Township, Pingtung County. It is a historical site for the Mudan incident that happened during the Qing period. At that time, the ship Yamahara voyaged from Miyako Island of Ryukyu to Naha to pay the annual tribute. On its return it got blown off course, hit by a typhoon and shipwrecked off the southeastern coast near Bayao Bay. After the sailors on board landed, they were killed by the Paiwan people of the neighboring Gaoshifuoshe. Ryukyu Kingdom was at that time in the sphere of Japanese influence and therefore, Japan used this incident as an excuse to attack Taiwan and the indigenous people in 1874, and eventually annex Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. This Mudan incident was a wake-up call for the Qing government and they began to actively manage the Hengchun Peninsula, and the Taiwanese policy also changed drastically.

Nureng River that flows through to the Xuhai end of the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail is located in Mudan Township in Pingtung County. As rainfall happens in summer, the river turns into a low current in winter and becomes a barren stream. The Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail, which crosses Hengchun Township in Pingtung County and Taitung City in Taitung County, runs northward along the coast from Hengchun through Manzhou, joining other trails in Pingtung, and then arriving at Taitung City.  In the middle of the Japanese occupation period, the Hengchun Beinan Historic Trail had long been widened as a designated road for cars. Therefore, the remainder of the trail that we see today are mostly roads for cars during the Japanese occupation. Currently the impassable section of the road is in the Guanyinbi area.