Chiayi

Chiayi (/ˈdʒjɑːˈiː/), officially known as Chiayi City, is a city located in Chianan Plain in southwestern Taiwan, surrounded by Chiayi County with a population of 263,188 inhabitants as of January 2023.

The Hoanya people inhabited present-day Chiayi under its historical name of Tirosen prior to the arrival of Han Chinese in Taiwan and was ruled by the Dutch and the Kingdom of Tungning under various names. During the Qing dynasty, Tirosen was governed as part of Taiwan Prefecture in Fujian under Zhuluo County and the city was renamed Kagee in 1787. The city was renamed Kagi during the Japanese era but an earthquake in 1906 destroyed much of the town. Kagi was administered as part of Tainan Prefecture from 1920 onwards. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Republic of China, who deposed the Qing in 1911, took control of the city (renamed Chiayi City) and administered it as a provincial city of Taiwan Province before being integrated into Chiayi County in 1950 as a county-administered city. The city was restored to its status as a provincial city in 1982. In 1998, Taiwan Province was streamlined and Chiayi City has been governed directly since then by the Executive Yuan.

The city is known for Alishan National Scenic Area and warm humid subtropical climate in the summer months. Left with the landmarks of Japanese colonial rule, Chiayi City has the round-island railway system and Alishan Forest Railway where the city is the starting point along with various Japanese temples.

Like the county, Chiayi City's former Chinese placename was Tsu-lo-san (Chinese: 諸羅山; pinyin: Zhūluóshān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chu-lô-san), a representation of the original Formosan-language name Tirosen. A shortened version, Tsulo, was then used to name Tsulo County, which originally covered the underdeveloped northern two-thirds of the island. In 1704, the county seat was moved to Tsulosan, the site of modern-day Chiayi City. Following the 1723 Zhu Yigui rebellion, the county was reduced in size. In 1787, the county and city were renamed Chiayi (嘉義; lit. 'commended righteousness') by the Qianlong Emperor to acknowledge the citizens' loyalty during the Lin Shuangwen rebellion.

First inhabited by the Hoanya aborigines, the region was named Tirosen (variants Tirocen, Tiracen). With the arrival of Han Chinese immigrants in southwestern Taiwan, the name evolved to become Tsulosan (Chinese: 諸羅山; pinyin: Zhūluóshān; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chu-lô-san) in Hokkien. Eventually, Tsulosan was shortened to simply Tsulo. Because of the choice of the characters, it has been mistakenly suggested that the origin of the name came from the expression "mountains surrounding the east". "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.

Tsulosan was once the foothold to which people from the mainland immigrated. In 1621, Yan Siqi, who came from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Ponkan (modern-day Beigang).

Records from the Dutch era, beginning in 1624, show Tirosen as the usual form of the name; it also occurred as Tirassen, Tirozen, Tilocen, Tilossen, Tilocen, and Thilocen. The place was north of Mattau (modern-day Madou, Tainan) and south of Favorlang (Huwei, Yunlin).

In 1661 (the 15th year of Yung-Li, Ming dynasty), Koxinga defeated the Dutch based in Taiwan and founded the Kingdom of Tungning. He established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu [zh], and two counties, Tien-Hsing [zh] and Wan-Nien [zh], demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River (Chinese: 新港溪, now the Yanshui River). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.