paiwan

The Tomb of 54 Ryukyuan is located in the alleys off Tongpu Road in Checheng Township, Pingtung County. It mainly serves as a place to remember the death of 54 Ryukyuan fishermen, who were killed by indigenous Paiwan tribe of Gaoshifoshe when they drifted to Bayao Bay due to a storm in 1871.

When the incident happened, the then Japanese Commander Saigo Judo sent troops to attack Taiwan on the grounds of killing the Ryukyuans. The tombstone was originally located at Shuangxikou in Shimen. Later, with the help from local residents Lin Ah-Jiu, Yang You-Wang and Zhang Mei-Po, Commander  Saigo Judo moved the tomb to the current location and erected a tombstone. Later, Lin Ah-Jiu was commissioned to convene the villagers to worship the tomb twice a year in spring and autumn.

Today, the three Japanese characters that read “Empire of Japan'' on the front of the tombstone have been smeared, and the inscription on the back is weathered and blurred, making it difficult to identify.

The Yitun Hamlet is located by the Nanhui Road on the south bank of Fenggang River and its tributary Caopuhou River in Shizi Township, Pingtung County.  It is about 3 km east of the Danlu Hamlet.

Yitun Hamlet was formed by the migrations of residents who originally lived in the upper reaches of Fangshan River, and eventually settled here. In the middle of the Japanese occupation, there were already tribesmen of Mudanlushe migrated and slowly formed a hamlet. Later, the tribesmen of Tjurusalis'she, Litjukutjuku'she, and Badjuku'she moved there. The origin of the hamlet name, Itonzan, is unknown, and was transliterated into Yitun after the war.

Fenglin Hamlet is located on a gentle sloping ground along the south bank of the Fenggang Creek tributary in Shizi Township, Pingtung County. It is about 2.5 kilometers away from Fenggang, and was established 1941 when former residents of Neimaribashe and Achameixueshe moved here. The houses and laneways are neatly arranged, belonging to the Paiwan tribe of the Neiwen group. Before the end of the Japanese occupation, there was no distribution of tribes in this area. After the group relocation project was completed, the Governor-General in Taiwan set up a police post here and named the hamlet Fengshe. In the early post-war period, the National Government moved the township office from Shizi Village to this place and renamed it Fenglin. The origin of the place name should have been the same as that of Fenggang, because of the strong downhill wind in winter.

Fenggang is located on the south bank of the Fenggang River near the shore in Fangshan Township, Pingtung County. As it is located in the month of Fenggang River, it was named after the strong downhill wind in winter. In the past, Fenggang was the junction where indigenous peoples and Han Chinese traded.  It was the traditional territory of the Paiwan from Shebulishe. It was also the starting point of Fenggang Beinan Historic Trail when it was excavated during the Qing period. During the Japanese occupation period, the Governor-General in Taiwan set up a police post to monitor the operation between people from the mountains and people from the plains, and to manage the security of the Fenggang area. Today, the Fenggang Police Post is transferred into a Biker Rest Stop for cyclists and tourists.

The Caopu Hamlet is located in the upper reaches of Fenggang River in Shizi Township, Pingtung County.  It was formed by the migration of residents from Caopuhoushe and Qulieyoushe at the end of the Japanese occupation. Due to the limited flat living space, the houses dispersed everywhere, divided into Upper and Lower Caopu. The current Caopu Elementary School was moved from Caopuhoushe to its current location in 1940.

Shouqia is located at a small mountain pass at the end of the Central Mountain Range, about 500 meters above sea level, at the junction of Shizi Township in Pingtung County and Daren Township in Taitung County. Not only is it located on the Fenggang Beinan Historic Trail,  it is also where the Nanhui Road passes through today. In fact, Fenggang Beinan Historic Trail was built under the policy of excavating mountains to manage indigenes during the Qing period. The excavation mainly went along the river heading north-east from Fenggang. It does not overlap with Nanhui Road but runs alongside the tribal passage all the way to Shouqia. Finally, arriving at Dawu from Rumulu River.

Jinlun Hamlet is located on the alluvial plain on the north bank of the Jinlun River estuary in Taimali Township, Taitung County. The traditional Paiwan name for the place is Kanaron, which was named after the abundant rosary pea plants there. It can also be called Hanzilun or Jiazinan. Jinlun hamlet existed as early as the Dutch colonial period, and once participated in the Eastern Local Conference held in Beinan in 1655. Due to its ideal location at the mouth of Jinlun River, it was an important place to dispatch coastal defense troops to garrison during the Qing period. During the Japanese occupation, police post, education center, and trade center were also set up there.

Liqiu Hamlet, located in Jinfeng Township, Taitung County, was formed by the amalgamation of three settlements: Rulakes’she, Chushuiposhe, and Jiajiaduowanshe. At the end of the Japanese occupation, the Government-General in Taiwan enforced a collective migration into Rulakes’she. After the war, the National Government re-named the hamlet to Liqiu, which became the largest hamlet in Jinfeng Township.

Zhuyege Hamlet is located in Jinfeng Township, Taitung County. The hamlet sits on the gentle slope of the Dalili Mountain ridge, about 525 meters above sea level. At the end of the Qing period, due to the farming of the land in the Zhuyegeshe, some of the tribesmen moved to the southern side on the right bank of Nabao River and built a new hamlet near Huangshe. Later, the tribesmen migrated away from the hamlet and formed Daoweilaoshe and Nabaoshe. In the early days of Japanese rule, the tribes of Zhuyegeshe moved to the vicinity of Huangshe. In the early post-war period, the National Government moved all the tribesmen near Huangshe to the mountain reservation land in Beili Village, Taimali Township. The hamlet was rebuilt and its name was changed to Xinxing Village.

Yilin Hamlet is located on the gentle slope of the foothills where the Dahou River and Neishe River meet in Laiyi Township, Pingtung County. In the early post-war period, the Paiwan tribe of Laiyishe collectively relocated their village to a new area. However, due to limited space, some people migrated here, forming Yilin Hamlet. The traditional Paiwan name of the place is Chianashia.

Today, due to the Morakot disaster in 2009 and Typhoon Fanapi in 2010, which caused severe damages to Laiyi Township, some residents of the Yilin Hamlet have moved to live in the Xinlaiyi Hamlet in Xinpi Township, Pingtung County. However, since the Xinlaiyi hamlet consists of different tribes, it still belongs to Laiyi Township rather than Xinpi Township.