佳里區 Jiali District, Tainan

Jiali (佳里; lit. “fine neighbourhood”) was, until the 20th century, known as 蕭壠 (Hoklo: Siauleng, lit. “reverent ridge-in-paddy”), a 17th-century transliteration of Siraya (西拉雅) Plains aboriginal Saulang—meaning “contracted land”—one of four major Siraya communities.

Under the 1920 Japanese colonial re-organisation of local government, the name Jiali (佳里) was adopted. This derived from another 17th-century name, 佳里興 (Mdn. Jialixing; lit. “fine neighbourhood prosper”), which, in roughly this area, was the administrative centre of 天興縣 (Mdn. Tianxing County; ) during Zheng family rule (鄭; 1662-83), and of 諸羅縣 (Mdn. Zhuluo County) under the succeeding Qing dynasty, until this was transferred to Zhuluo City (now Chiayi) at the beginning of the 18th century.

So why Japan’s name change from 蕭壠 to 佳里? Consistent Japanese practice (similar to Takow to Kaohsiung and many others) would suggest the use of different characters whose Japanese pronunciation matched the Hoklo Taiwanese pronunciation of the original, i.e. Siauleng. But 佳里 is pronounced kari in Japanese.

One possible explanation is the colonial authorities’ desire for a complete break from history, perhaps in light of the Siauleng Incident (蕭壟事件) of 1895 when up to 2,000 local people were massacred as a reprisal for armed resistance against the newly arriving colonizing army as it headed south towards Tainan.

Jiali citizens hold an annual ceremony to honour these antecedents, as well as a Burning of Lord Wang’s Boat (燒王爺船) event (hence the photo).


Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011