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Abstract
In 1697, a traveler YU Yonghe from China a Chinese traveller, Yu Yonghe, arrived in Taiwan to mine sulfur. Yu then travelled northward from Tainan to Beitou where he collected sulfur. During the journey Yu carefully recorded everything he witnessed and experienced and the memoir subsequently became the book “The Small Sea Travel Records”, which provides the first-hand account of the historical developments of Taiwan in the seventeenth century. According to the book, Hsinchu was uncultivated and inhabited by wildlife with a scatter of aboriginal tribes. Later, Chinese arrived and established the first irrigation canal, which allowed them to cultivate and build villages on a large scale.
The complex of irrigation canals in Hsinchu City was founded by Wang Shi-Jie family in 1718 in the reign of Emperor Kangxi of The dynasty. With the canals, the plain between Touqian River and Keya River was cultivated, which boosted the agricultural development and population. A city as then formed due to the accumulation of residents. The canals which built for cultivation gradually became the important sources of irrigation and domestic water. As a result, the canals became constructions that should not be damaged in city developments.
After 1895, Taiwan was under the ruling of Japan. In order to enhance agricultural development, the Japanese colonial government gradually nationalized the privately-built irrigation canals and put them under central management and regular maintenance. Due to the poor hygiene of Taiwan at that time, city walls were demolished, roads were re-directed or straightened, and districts were re-designed. This renewal affected the original waterways of canals inside and outside the old walls, and the new planning of the city had to take into account the modification of these canals. New constructions in the city also caused changes to the canals. Furthermore, in addition to the original agricultural use, some of the canals were converted to industrial use with the rising of industry such as sugar production and liquor factory.
The main study methods of this thesis includes collecting relevant literature and conducting on-site field research, in order to analyze how the irrigation canals in Hsinchu City were varied over time. In addition to exploring the layout of the canals built in the Qing-ruling period, this thesis also examine new canals constructed during the Japanese-ruling period and the modifications done for city developments. It is expected that the changes of the canals can be understood and in the future the present canals could coexist with city landscape and become the “Blue Ribbon Network” of the city.
Keywords: Irrigation canal, Long-En Canal of Hsinchu, City Planning
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