Shanhua District (Chinese: 善化區; pinyin: Shànhuà Qū; Wade–Giles: Shan-hua; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Siān-hoà-khu; lit. 'amelioration') is a suburban district of Tainan, Taiwan. Until 25 December 2010, it was an urban township in the dissolved Tainan County, which is now merged with the original Tainan City to form a single special municipality.
History
Shanhua was inhabited by the Taiwanese aboriginal tribe of Siraya, who called it Bakaloan (transliterated into Chinese: 目加溜灣; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ba̍k-ka-liù-oan) (see also Anding, bordering to the southwest). It was one of the four major towns established by the tribe.
In 1625, the Dutch East India Company was driven back by the aborigines while trying to collect bamboo. The Dutch, however, were able to conquer the town in 1635, and started setting up schools and churches in the area, calling the place Tevoran[1] (see modern-day Yujing). They encouraged Han settlers to cultivate the place.
In the Siege of Fort Zeelandia, Koxinga drove the Europeans out of Taiwan. Under the Kingdom of Tungning, Bakaloan was governed as Sian-hoa Village (善化里; Siān-hoà-lí) of Tien-hsing County (天興縣). According to the Shanhua Urban Plan Total Review Report, the old name for the region is Oanli (灣里街; Oan-lí-ke)[2] before it was changed back again to Shanhua (Japanese: 善化, Hepburn: Zenka) under Japanese rule in 1920.[3] In 1940, the village was upgraded to Zenka Town (善化街), Shinka District (新化郡), Tainan Prefecture.
Until 25 December 2010, the chief executive of Shanhua Township was the popularly elected magistrate (Chinese: 鎮長). The township also had a council (Chinese: 善化鎮民代表會) consisting of councillors elected from the township.
Since the current administrative arrangement came into effect on the above date, a director (Chinese: 區長) appointed by the mayor of Tainan City is in charge of the administration of the newly created district.
Administrative divisions
The district consists of Tungguan, Zuojia, Guangwen, Wenchang, Nanguan, Wenzheng, Hujia, Hucuo, Shinai, Ximei, Liufen, Liude, Tianliao, Niuzhuang, Jiabei, Jianan, Xiaoxin, Dingjie, Changlong and Liantan Village.[4]
In 1973, the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) was co-established by eleven nations including the United States, Japan, and the Republic of China (Taiwan). It has the goal to improve agricultural techniques. The headquarters of the organization is located in the southern part of Shanhua and is the first and only headquarters of an international organization located in Taiwan.
