Yilan County, Taiwan


Yilan, alternately spelled I-lan, is a county in northeastern Taiwan. It has a population of 450,031, and its seat is located in Yilan City.
Before the Han Chinese Wu Sha led his company into large-scale reclamation in today's Yilan in 1787, the area was mainly inhabited by the indigenous Kavalan people. During the Japanese rule, much of the present day Yilan County was part of Japan within its Taihoku Prefecture. When the Republic of China took over Taiwan in 1945, it became part of Taipei County until 10 October 1950 when 12 southeastern townships of Taipei County split off to form the present day Yilan County.

Name

The name Yilan derives from the indigenous Kavalan people. Other former names in reference to this area in the Yilan Plain include Kabalan, Kavalan, Kavaland, kap-a-lan, Yiland and Gilan. Before 2009, the county's official name was transliterated as Ilan.

History

Early history

Since early ages, many people have traveled from far places to Yilan. Indigenous tribes that have settled in Yilan are Kavalan people and Atayal people.
The Kavalan people came by the sea and lived by the river at Yilan Plain since around 1,000 years ago. They mostly speak the Austronesian languages. Their settlements consisted of small villages along rivers with around 40–50 communities scattered around the area with a total population of approximately 10,000 people. The Atayal people came by crossing the Xiyuan Pass and settled in the mountain areas.
The Atayal people arrived in Yilan around 250 years ago and settled along the upper Dazhuoshui River. Later, the tribes crossed the Siyuan Pass to reach the valley upstream of the Zhuoshui River. These people are the current residents of Datong Township. Other parts of the Atayal people headed east to enter and settle along the Nan'ao North River and Heping North River. These groups are now settled in Nan-ao Township.
Around 200 years ago, at the end of the 18th century, the Han Chinese traversed the mountain range and settled in Yilan. Large populations began taming the wilderness, cultivating the fields and building irrigation channels. They used various means to seize lands from the Kavalans. Some Kavalans left their homes while some others migrated southwards to Hualien and Taitung coastlines and established settlements.

Spanish Formosa

The Spaniards began arriving in Taiwan in the 17th century. In 1626, the Spaniards led an invasion under the pretext of ship crews having been slain by Taiwanese barbarians. They then torched harbors and surrounding villages, and even went as far as taking over Su'ao Town and established a city called Saint Lorenzo.

Dutch Formosa

The Spaniards were subsequently ousted by the Dutch who had taken over the southern part of Taiwan and established Dutch Formosa. In 1640, the Dutch began contacting Han Chinese merchants for trade and levying taxes on various commercial goods. The merchants had to pay all company taxes but also enjoyed the right to monopolize trade.

Kingdom of Tungning

During the Kingdom of Tungning era, the previous economy monopoly system developed during the Dutch Formosa continued to be practiced.

Qing dynasty

When the Qing dynasty annexed Taiwan, they established the Kavalan sub-prefecture in Yilan. In 1806, armed conflicts broke out among various ethnic immigrants, followed by pillaging by pirates. The Qing dynasty government subsequently realized that if they continued to disregard the Kavalan people and did not establish rule of law and a system of defense, Yilan would become a haven for criminals and outlaws, a thorn in the side for Taiwan. In 1809, Jiaqing Emperor incorporated Kavalan into the domain of the empire. Troops were dispatched to quell pirate attacks and chart local territory.
Local government systems in Taiwan underwent many changes during the Qing dynasty period. But with regards to administrative levels lower than the county, including local villages, there were no major changes. The earliest organization and planning of Yilan consisted of seven citadels. In 1835, the seven citadels were further divided into 12 citadels based on the needs of the changing population and environment. This arrangement remained unchanged until the end of Qing dynasty rule.
After the Mudan Incident in 1874, Qing rulers changed their passive attitude and took a more ambitious approach in ruling Taiwan. The original aboriginal term Kavalan district was renamed with a more Han-centric Yilan name and the administrative system was also changed accordingly from the original temporary "district" to a formally governed "county". In 1875, the newly created Taipeh Prefecture included modern-day Yilan County.

Empire of Japan

After the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, the Qing government handed over Taiwan to Japan in accordance with the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Modern-day Yilan County covers Giran District, Ratō District, Suō District and Giran City as they existed from 1920 to 1945, all under Taihoku Prefecture, during Japanese rule.

Republic of China

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in October 1945, the present-day area of Yilan County was incorporated under Taipei County. On 10 October 1950, Yilan County was established as a county of Taiwan Province with Yilan City as the county seat. In 1998, the government streamlined Taiwan Province and Yilan County became administered by the Executive Yuan while the remaining institutions of this province have been dissolved in 2018.

Geography

Yilan County sits on the Yilan Plain, a combined alluvial plain created by Lanyang River and other minor streams with a rough shape of triangle. On the three vertices of the triangle sit the Toucheng, Sanxing and Su-ao Townships with a roughly equal distance of 30 km on the three sides. The Xueshan Range sits on the northwest of Yilan County from Toucheng to Sanxing. The county is geographically divided into the cliffs and the plains. The Central Mountain Range sits to the south from Sanxing to Su'ao.
The Upper Lanyang River is steep and the rapid current is highly erosive. Large amount of silt carried by the river have little time to settle because of the high slope of the lands where it flows out of the mountains and valleys. An alluvial fan is formed as a result of scattered sand and gravel settling down. Large amount of gravel accumulate in the shallow stream bed, creating alluvial fans that often forms into web-like pattern. The river tends to change courses after floods caused by heavy rainfall or river overflow. The Lanyang River slows down as it reaches mid and downstream where silt begins to settle.
Yilan County is located in the northeastern Taiwan Island which covers an area of 2,143 km2. The longest distance from east to west is 63 km and from north to south is 74 km. From the mountain areas downwards, the land falls in altitude in the stages of mountains, alleys, alluvial plains, lowlands, swamps, sand hills and finally coastline.
Yilan's Toucheng Township includes Guishan Island and Guiluan Island. The Senkaku Islands, known in Mandarin as the Tiaoyutai Islands, are claimed as part of the township.

Government

Yilan County is administered as a county of Taiwan Province. Yilan City is the county seat which houses the Yilan County Government and Yilan County Council. The county is headed by acting Magistrate Lin Mao-sheng.

Elected magistrates

Yilan County is divided into 1 city, 3 urban townships, 6 rural townships and 2 mountain indigenous townships.
Colors indicate the common language status of Formosan languages within each division.

Politics

Yilan County voted one Democratic Progressive Party legislator out of one seat to be in the Legislative Yuan during the 2016 Republic of China legislative election.

Demographics and culture

Population

Today Han Chinese comprises the majority of the population in Yilan County.

Language

  • Kavalan language
  • Taiwanese: Taiwanese in Yilan and some the northern coastal Taiwan is Zhangzhou dialect predominant
  • Taiwanese Hakka
  • '''Atayal language'''

    Education

Education related affairs in Yilan County is governed by the Education Department of Yilan County Government. The county houses several public and private universities and colleges such as the National Ilan University, National Lan-Yang Girls' Senior High school, National Yilan Senior High School, Lan Yang Institute of Technology and St. Mary's Medicine Nursing and Management College.

Energy

Yilan County has 40 MW renewable energy capacity from an incinerator plant and two hydroelectric power plants. It houses the Qingshui Geothermal Power Plant.

Sports

Yilan County was the host for the 2009 Asian Rowing Championships.

Tourist attractions