Public opinion behind name change

Although the case for changing the name of Jungong Road (軍功路) in Taipei City to Heping E. Road Sec.4 (和平東路四段) having already been submitted to the city council for review, public opinion is still divided, with a majority wanting the change implemented immediately, but 13 percent objecting to the name changing at all.

In light of this, the city’s Department of Civil Affairs (民政局) said the entire case could not be overturned and would continue public consultations.

The situation is complicated because Jungong Road does not continue directly from Heping E. Road Sec.3, there is part of Wolong Street (臥龍街) as well as the Zhuangjing Tunnel (莊敬隧道) in between, with one suggestion being that these would be changed to become a continuation of Section 3. Following a survey of residents which found 73 percent in support of the changes and 13 percent against, in July 2011 the city council was asked to approve the proposal.

[From an article this week in the Liberty Times (full Chinese-language article here)]

The article doesn’t discuss the motivation behind the name change, but sources cynically suggest to FTTK that it is all about real estate values, with properties located on Heping E. Road—which is associated with the Daan District of Taipei—being worth considerably more than those on Jungong Road, which is in the Muzha area of Wenshan District.

Heping, literally “peace and tranquility” are two of the Confucian “eight virtues” (八德; bade), while Jungong means “military achievements”.

陽明山Yangmingshan Mountain/National Park, Taipei City

Yangmingshan (陽明山; lit. “sunny bright mountain”) was formerly a part of a larger group of hills known collectively as 草山 (Mdn. cao shan; lit. “grass mountain”), which included today’s Datunshan (大屯山), Qixingtan (七星山), Shaomaoshan (紗帽山) and Xiaoguanyinshan (小觀音山).

One explanation for the name “Grass Mountain” is that Qing-dynasty authorities, concerned about thieves hiding among trees and illegally extracting sulphur from the area, regularly set fire to the area’s botanical cover. Grasses best survive fire because they grow from the leaf-base (not tip like other plants) and also are quick to colonize cleared land. These hills became characterized by grasses, therefore, and in particular Miscanthus floridulus.

Yangming Mtn.’s highest peak is 七星山 (Mdn. Qi Xing Shan; lit. “seven star mountain”) at 1,120 metres, while Datunshan (大屯山, lit “big garrison mountain”), part of the earlier Grass Mountain group, rises to 1,093 metres.

In 1950, ROC President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) renamed the southern section as 陽明山 (Mdn.: Yangmingshan), in honour of Ming-dynasty philosopher 王陽明 (Wang Yang-ming). The present national park dates from 1962.



President Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) is best known to the English-speaking world by the Cantonese pronunciation of his style name 蔣介石 (Mdn. Jiang Jie-shi), whereas most Taiwanese citizens know him by his self-chosen name of 蔣中正 (Mdn. Jiang Zhong-zheng), though those who worship him as a deity call him 蔣公 (“Duke Jiang”; see photo right: from a small temple in Danshui).

On information boards at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (see photo left), Chiang’s selection of the name (名) Zhong-zheng (中正; lit. “centrality [and] uprightness”) from ca. 1917/18 onwards (see also Zhongzheng District, Taipei City) is formally explained as referring to the Confucian expression 大中至正 (Mdn.: Da Zhong Zhi Zheng; lit. “great centrality and perfect uprightness”): “This phrase embodies the beliefs and principles by which he lived his life.”

“This accolade … was applied to Wang Yang-ming, a great philosopher in the Ming Dynasty: … ‘Through constant and discriminating inner-reflection in the face of adversity, his achievement of moral self-cultivation has reached that of the great sages.’”

“President Chiang in lecturing about the teaching of The Doctrine of the Mean made the following comments: zhong is the correct course to be pursued by all under Heaven. The ideal of zhong includes six key points:
—possessing the great centrality and the perfect uprightness;
—standing firmly in the middle without inclining to either side;
—persisting without being moved by any circumstances;
—being cautious and mindful in order to achieve sagehood;
—adhering to goodness; and
—holding fast to the middle way.



Text and photos copyright Jiyue Publications 2011

蔣渭水高速公路 Jiang Wei-shui Freeway, Yilan-Taipei

Jiang Wei-shui Freeway (蔣渭水高速公路), is another name for the No.5 Freeway connecting Yilan and Taipei.

It is named after Yilan native Jiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水; 1891-1931), a medical doctor and political activist during the period of Japanese rule (1895-1945). Jiang helped found the Taiwan Cultural Association (台灣文化協會) and Taiwan People’s Party (台灣民眾黨) and was imprisoned frequently during the 1920s for his opposition to the colonial government.

Taipei City has a Weishui Road (渭水路) in Zhongshan District, a Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Park (蔣渭水紀念公園) on Jinxi Street (錦西街), and his burial site near Liuzhangli (see photo). Yilan City and Jiaoxi Township also have Weishui Roads.


In 2010, 50 million NT$10 coins commemorating Chiang were issued.




Text and photos © Jiyue Publications

News Brief: Oh no there isn't

... but 3 months later ...

To show respect for the registered trademark name of Taipei 101 called "台北101" in Chinese and to be consistent with Taipei Arena's Chinese name “台北小巨蛋”, the traditional Chinese character "臺" has been substituted by the simplified Chinese character "台" on the Songshan line's Taipei Arena Station "台北小巨蛋" and the Xinyi line's Taipei 101/World Trade Center Station "台北101/世貿站".

The Taipei City Government's Department of Rapid Transport Systems (DORTS) reported on its website at the end of November.

News Brief: One Country Two System: MRT station names use two versions of the character “Tai” (臺 and 台)

At the end of July, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (台北捷運公司; TRTC) changed the names of four stations on the Songshan and Xinyi lines, the Liberty Times reported in August (full Chinese-language article here).

These included two stations not yet in operation, Taipei 101 (臺北一0一) and Taipei Arena (臺北小巨蛋). By using 臺, they differ from those stations already in operation, which use the simpler version of the character, 台, in names such as Taipei Main Station (台北車站), NTU Hospital (台大醫院) and Taipower Building (台電大樓).

Furthermore, the paper argued, the [former “world tallest”] Taipei 101 building uses the simpler version in its official name, 台北一0一. So the Taipei City Government’s Department of Rapid Transport Systems (捷運局; DORTS), which is responsible for setting names, is neither following precedent nor respecting names already in use.

A spokesperson for Taipei 101 said the company is officially registered as 台北一0一, and uses 台 not 臺 on its signs and publications, so naturally it hopes the naming of the MRT station will accord with the formal name. But if the DORTS insists on using 臺, the company said it would have to respect that.

DORTS said it was taking in to consideration recent government promotion of the use of traditional characters, and so station names would thus use 臺. However, changing the simple character to traditional version in the existing names (Taipei Main Station &c.) would lead to confusion as they had been in use for many years, and the expense would be enormous, so they will not be changed.





Translation copyright Jiyue Publications

Photo: Three Ploughs Park

Taipei City’s Songshan District (松山區) has neighborhoods (里) called 三張 (Sanzhang; lit. “three stretches”) and 三犁 (Sanli; lit. “three ploughs”).

These both derive from the expression 三張犁 (Sanzhangli; lit. “three stretches ploughed”), similar to 六張犁 (Liuzhangli; lit. “six stretches ploughed”), which is more widely known as it has been the name of an MRT station since 1996.

A tenant farmer equipped with a plough was reckoned to be able to cultivate an area of about five jia (甲, ca. hectare), and so the place names三張犁 and 六張犁 referred to farmland of about 15 and 30 jia respectively.

(c.f. 甲 in place names such as 六甲 Liujia, Tainan).



Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011