義竹鄉 Yizhu Township, Chiayi County

Yizhu (義竹; lit. “righteous bamboo”) Township was formerly a 屯田 (Mdn. tun-tian; “garrison [troops engaged in] farming”) called 二竹圍庄 (Mdn: Erzhuwei Zhuang; lit. “two bamboo encircled village(s)”) during the Zheng-Ming period (1661-83).

二 (Hoklo: jī; “two”) was later changed to the similarly pronounced 義 (Hoklo: gī; “righteous”), the reason for which is not known, although several popular explanations exist.

The 圍 (wei: "to surround") was dropped in 1920 under Japanese rule.










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