keelung

Keelung

shih (municipality), northern Taiwan, and the principal port of Taipei, 16 mi (26 km) southwest. The municipality has an area of 51 sq mi (133 sq km). Chi-lung first became known by that name, said to have been a corruption of Ketangalan, the name of a tribe of aboriginal peoples who lived in the district, in the 17th century. The location was occupied in 1626 by the Spanish, who built a fort on the island of Ho-p'ing at the mouth of the harbour, and then in 1642 was occupied by the Dutch, who again occupied it from 1664 to 1668. After the incorporation of Taiwan as part of the Chinese sheng (province) of Fukien in 1638, the settlement of northern Taiwan began in earnest. Most of the immigrants to the area around Chi-lung were from Chang-chou in southern Fukien. The settlement of Chi-lung itself began in 1723, and a small township grew up in the late 18th century. In 1800 a road was opened up to I-lan, on the east coast to the south, and by 1840 Chi-lung had grown into a small port with about 700 households. In the mid-19th century, foreign ships began to call there. Chi-lung has an excellent natural harbour, surrounded by mountains and free of silt. Coal, moreover, was discovered in the vicinity. In 1860 Chi-lung was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port, and its trade began to expand rapidly. In 1875 it became a subordinate division of the prefectural administration at Taipei. The Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1911) government made some attempt to fortify the port, but the fortifications were never completed. In 1883-85, during the Sino-French War, the port was occupied by French troops. Later, a reformist governor of Taiwan, Liu Ming-chuan, refortified the port and further developed the coal-mining industry. It was, however, during the Japanese occupation (1895-1945) that Chi-lung grew into a large, modern city. Its growth was helped by the fact that the administration of Taiwan, formerly centred in T'ai-nan, had been transferred to Taipei in 1891. At the same time, Tan-shui, Taipei's traditional port, had fallen into decline when its harbour had silted up. The completion of the railway system based on Chi-lung ensured the latter's dominance.

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