From Takow to Kaohsiung

Tucheng (土城) District, New Taipei City

Tucheng (土城; lit. "Earthen [City] Wall") derived from exactly what it means, an embankment of earth constructed around a community. In this case, as elsewhere in Taiwan, it was intended to defend immigrant Han-Chinese from aborigines, who presumably were not happy about encroachment into their traditional territories.

Abe Akiyoshi (安倍明義) in his 台灣地名研究 ("Studies on Taiwan's Place Names"; 1938) lists as names deriving from features constructed to protect against attack from aborigines:
i) 土城 (Mdn. tu-cheng; lit. earthen wall");
ii) 土牛 (Mdn. tu-niu; lit. "earthen ox" - because piled up earth looked like a line of oxen sitting down);
iii) 石城 (Mdn. shi-cheng; lit. "stone wall"); see Shicheng (石城), Yilan;
iv) 石圍 (Mdn. shi-wei; lit. "stone enclosure");
v) 木柵 (Mdn. mu-zha; lit. "wooden fence"); see Muzha (木柵), Wenshan District, Taipei City;
vi) 柴城 (Mdn. chai-cheng; lit. "firewood wall", but probably similar to 木柵); see Checheng (車城) Township, Pingtung;
vii) 銃櫃 (Mdn. chong-gui; lit. "gun cabinet"); and
viii) 隘寮 (Mdn. ai-liao; lit. "pass office", which were constructed at each pass where aborigines could enter immigrant areas from the "Barbarian Territories"); see Jiji (集集) Township, Nantou.

The list does not include the very widespread 竹圍 (Mdn. zhu-wei; lit. "bamboo enclosure"), however, which Abe explains as a means of protecting against the wind rather than aborigines.

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