From Takow to Kaohsiung

Guting (古亭), Daan District, Taipei CIty.

Guting literally means “old pavilion”, but apparently was originally written with the similar sounding characters 鼓亭 that meant “drum pavilion”.

According to a stele at the local Changqing Temple (長慶廟), which is supported by Abe Akiyoshi (安倍 明義) in his 1938 publication 台灣地名研究 (Studies on Taiwan's Place Names), a tall drum tower was erected by local immigrants from Fujian Province's Quanzhou Prefecture to keep watch for “marauding Aboriginal headhunters,” whose presence would then be announced by beating a drum to assemble local people.

Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications, 2021, 2022