From Takow to Kaohsiung

Dahan River (大漢溪) , Northwestern Taiwan

The Dahan River (大漢溪; [MC: perhaps named after the Han dynasty, Han River in China, or Han ethnicity, that is, Han-Chinese poeple]) originates in the Xueshan mountain range and runs for 135km through Hsinchu County, Taoyuan City and New Taipei City, before joining the Xindian River in Taipei to form the Tamshui River.

Since the late 1950s, the Dahan River has been dammed in Taoyuan's Fuxing (復興) District near Daxi (大溪) forming the Shimen Reservoir (石門水庫)

The Dahan River was previously known as 大嵙崁溪 (Takekan River), which is retained today for the upper reaches. Much earlier, it followed a more northerly route, entering the sea about 20 kilometres west of today's Tamsui River estuary, until tectonic movement around 30,000 years ago caused the Taipei Basin to drop in elevation, rerouting the Dahan River into the Tamsui River system [source here]

This drawing of Japanese era Daxi (大溪) Township clearly marks the river at the top as Danshui River (Tamsui; 淡水河) suggesting:
i) this was its name at that time, or
ii) this is a mistake.



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