Tainan City is located in the southern Chia-nan Plain. It is relatively flat on the mountainous island of Taiwan. Among all the major cities in Taiwan, Tainan City is perhaps the one most flat and lowest. The terrain of Tainan City gradually descends from southeast toward northwest, and its highest point is only about 30-meter high in altitude. The districts of An-nan and Anping occupy two-thirds of the total areas of Tainan City, and are 3-meter below sea level. Moreover, there are Kuen-shen inland sea and Su-tsao Lake separated by Yen-shui River. Both of them are the remains of ancient Tai-Chiang inland sea, and witness the of time of four hundred years. Tainan City's topography could be divided into four parts from east to west: Ta-wan Lowland, Tainan Plateau, Ying-chiu sand Hill, and Anping Plain (Picture 1). Among them, the main development area in the past was Tainan Plateau, and the convenient sailing on Tai-Chiang inland sea, which is now Anping Plain, attracted lots of immigrants. Ying-chiu Dene combining with southern Tainan Plateau and shoals formed the inland sea. The level difference between east Tainan Plateau and Ta-wan Lowland provided Tainan Prefecture barricade from invasion.

Moonlight Scene at Crucian Pond
The main body of Ta-wan Lowland is located between Yung-kuan and Jen-te in Tainan County, and the east Tainan City, about 10-meter below sea level, which abuts with Jen-te, is only a part of Ta-wan Lowland and neighbors with Tainan Plateau in the west. Ta-wan Lowland was an inland lake in the 17th century which was shown on the "Map of Peng-hu Island and Formosa Island" drew by Johannes Vingboons in 1640. Furthermore, geese and ducks were shown in the lake on "Chih-kan Area Farm and Road Map" drew by Symon Jacobsz Domckens in 1644. Therefore, it might be a habitat for migratory birds. There were also two developed farmlands and houses with roads toward Chih-kan area. This lake should be the "Crucian Pond" in the Ching Dynasty. According to the "Rewrote Taiwan County History" written in Chien-lung 17th year, Crucian Pond was a long and narrow lake with length of 20 miles, lots of crucians living in the deep pond, and fishing taxes were levied by local government. The water of the lake was also used for irrigation at that time, and the lake was also called "Dragon Lake", which was the site for praying for rain during drought seasons. Another name for it was "East Lake" presenting its beautiful scene and greatness for moonlight enjoy. "The moonlight scene at Crucian Pond" was listed among the eight great scenes in Taiwan at that time. "Taiwan Prefecture Survey and Mapping Outline" written in the Tung-chih period recorded that due to the incursions of earthquakes and typhoons , the Hu-tzu mountain in the south of the lake collapsed and the water of the lake changed its way to south. From that time, the amount of water decreased and the lake became land gradually. Nowadays, Chung-shan Highway was built along the west side of Ta-wan Lowland.

A Moon Immersing Half in the Water
Tainan Plateau adjoins west Ta-wan Lowland and reaches Yen-shui River in the north. It expends about 12 kilometers from north to south, and descends from east to west with a width of 4 kilometers. Its mountain ridge is on the east side reaching 40-meter high. From north to south, there are a lot of small hills with heights of 25 meters to 30 meters extruding, and people looking toward west from the lowland can clearly see the precipitous landscape. The west side of the main ridge of Tainan Plateau is flat on the whole only a few small hills and streams existing. These streams are exactly the main rivers in Tainan City today, and from north to south are the Chai-tou-kang River, Te-ching River, Fu-an-keng River, and Ju River. And most of them originate from the middle of Tainan Plateau. Among all, Te-ching River and Fu-an-keng River have been covered by artificial geographic strata along with the urban development. However, the undulant ground surface in old neighborhoods still reveals the existence of the rivers.

Carefully look at the aerial photo made by the Agriculture & Forestry Aerial Survey Institute in 1975 we can find that there were some ponds in Dongning Park on the east side of Linsen Road. On the digital topographic map made in 1998 we can also find these hollow spots from north to south. Chai-tou-kang River originates from this pond, runs toward northwest, and merges into Yen-shui River. The valley it made becomes the natural border between Tainan City and Yung-kang.

The downstream of Chai-tou-kang River was a part of river bank of Tai-Chiang inland sea during the Netherlands Colonial Period and Ming-Cheng era. It was a sailable river and ships could sail from Chai-tou harbor to Anping or other inner harbors. In 1680, Cheng Ching built "Chen-tien Prefecture Hall" as a family house for him and his mother, Madame Tung. It was also called "North Garden Villa". After Ming-Cheng was destroyed, in 1690 it was renamed "Hai-hui Temple" which meant river merging into sea at this place. It became the first Buddhist temple renovated by the government, and was also known as "Kai-yuan Temple". About ten years ago, standing in front of the temple and overlooking the basin, people could still imagine the scene of the busy harbor in the past. The basin of Chai-tou-kang River is only 10 meters wide, and now there are drainage ditches set on its both sides. Some of residences in Yung-kang and people's representatives even request for covering up the river to build driveways. However, there are plants such as Malay Dwarf Bamboos, Taiwan Paper Mulberries, Tung Trees, and China Berries growing in the part of the valley uncovered by buildings, witnessing Tainan's transformation and becoming an urban ecological corridor (Figure 4). And that is not ignorable.

Before 1980s, on the ground about 2.5 kilometers south from the origin of Chai-toa-kang River, there was a narrow pond named "Dream Lake" among the sugarcane filed. It was the main origin of Ju River in south Tainan. Ju River runs toward northwest from its origin and then changes its direction to south at the intersection of Fu-lien Road and Chien-kang Road. In this area, the valley becomes broader and deeper, the river-bed is about 10 meters above sea level, and its banks are about 20 meters above sea level in average. To the flat Tainan City, this valley is especially precipitous. At last, Ju River runs toward west, crosses through Ying-chiu Hill, and emerges into the inland sea. Ju River is famous for its tortuous courses and flourishing forests. "Ta-yuan and Surroundings Seashore Map" made by Cornelis Jansz Plockhoy in 1652 shows a twisting stream with forests along its upstream. And that should be the portrait for Ju River at that time. On "Anping Map Chinese Edition" made by Lu Chia-Hsing, this forest is named Hagenaars Bosch. In 1970s, along the bank of Dream Lake, the origin of Ju River, lots of trees, ducks and water fowls still could be found there. I myself used to visit this place and see that scene during 1974 and 1977.

The terrain is flat in the whole and gradually descends on the west side of the plateau, transforms to Anping Plain on Park Street, Tzu-chiang Street, and Yung-fu Road, and adjoins with Ying-chiu Dene. The plateau is crescent-shaped in the city and includes the east district, middle district, north district, and the east side of south district. The Big Well, where Han people landed Taiwan in late Ming Dynasty, and Fort Zeelandia developed by the Dutch are both on the west side of Tainan plateau. Therefore, Tainan Plateau is the development center for Tainan City. Fan Shen-hsiung (1991) once wrote: "The east side of the old Tainan City is a plateau, but the west side suddenly descends. It is divided by Tai-Chiang and forms the inland sea along with the sand hills. There are several streams flow from east to west and merge into Tai-Chiang in south and north of the plateau. And Tainan Prefecture is just like a moon Immersing in the water, so called <A Moon Immersing Half in the Water>". It is exactly the description for Tainan Plateau.

The Seven Hills of Tainan Prefecture
"A Moon Immersing Half in the Water" was first used to describe Tainan Prefecture in "Taiwan General History" written by Lien Ya-tang. In the 16th Scroll, "City Wall and Moat', he wrote:"In that year (Chien-lung 53rd year), the construction started on October 27th. The borders remained the same on the east, south and north sides. On the west side, which was close to the seashore, the border shifted about 150 changs (unit of length) toward east. From Petit North Gate to Petit West Gate, the shape of the wall was like a half-moon immersing in water, and therefore the city was called the city of Half-moon. That was the city wall built by Fu-Kang-an after he conquered the armed rebellion by Lin Shuang-wen. The wall was originally designed as a brick wall. However, brick was not available in Taiwan at that time, and rammed earth was used instead. Although that was not as good as a brick wall, it was still better than walls made of bamboo or wood. From that time, Tainan Prefecture was renovated for several times but still remained the same scale. Hence, Lien Ya-tang pointed out that the city wall of Tainan Prefecture restricted by Tai-Chiang seashore was not a round. But the half round city wall reflected in the river was exactly like "A Moon Immersing Half in the water".

Inside the city wall, the land was still belonged to west Tainan Plateau. There were seven hills, including Chih-kan, Chiu-ling, Shen-tzu-wei, Shen-chuan-tai, Lun-tzu-ting, Fu-ting-chin, as well as Chien-shen, extruding from the ground surface in the past time. Although these seven hills were all high points on the west plateau, it was the deep valley and streams made them really like "steep hills".

"Chih-kan" had been a high land by the east seashore of the inland sea from the Netherlands Colonial period to early Ching Dynasty. Because of its steep topography, Dutch built Fort Provintia, which is known as Chih-kan lou today, at this place. On the digital aerial map made in 1998, the height of Chih-kan is recorded 8 meters above sea level, and the land 100 meters west from Chih-kan is only 4 meters above sea level. It is the clear evidence showing the retreat of the sea. Toward east from Chih-kan, the topography gradually ascends. Chiu-ling is located on the south side and it was the highest point on the busy streets in the past. Today, Chiu-ling, 14 meters above sea level high, is the site for Pei-chi temple and Tainan weather station observatory. Toward northeast from Chih-kan, crossing through Te-ching River, there is "Fu-ting-chin" of 15 meters above sea level high, where Tainan Hospital locates today. From this point toward north, there is "Chien-shen" of 13 meters above sea level high. Both Kai-chi-yu-huang Temple and Tainan arsenal locate here.

Te-ching River should be originated from the ponds in middle Tainan Plateau where Dongning Park locates today. The river runs toward west, passes through the Victory Campus of National Cheng-kung University and National Tainan First Senior High School, continually runs toward north side of the high school, merges into other branches near Chien-feng Street, and keeps flowing toward west. The high land in this area was known as Lung-tzu-ting in the past. It is about 18-20 meters above sea level high, and descends from 18 meters to 14 meters high in Chien-feng Road area. The official residence of Japanese Colonial period was once located on Lung-tzu-ting. It looked down from a height, overlooked streets in the city from west, and looked far away the valley and green hills of the Bamboo Garden Mound from northeast.

"Shen-tzu-wei", where Yen-ping-chun-wang Temple locates, has a height over 17 meters above level, but its height descends to 13 meters on the west side. From the temple toward northeast, the topography ascends gradually, and even reaches 20 meters high above sea level at the Grand East Gate rotation, as known as "Shen-chuan-tai" in the past. From Shen-chuan-tai toward east, the topography is flat on the whole and keeps the height of 19 meters above sea level. But toward west and north, the topography lowers down gradually. From this place toward northeast, there is a belt-shaped high land extending to Lung-tzu-ting.

Today, since modern mid and high rise buildings occupy most of the city, and Fu-an-keng River and Te-ching River are covered to become underground one after another, the seven hills of Tainan Prefecture are hardly be noticed by eyes. Moreover, mobile cars are widely used; only bicyclers may feel the ups and downs of the ground and understand the hard life of pioneers.

Anping Ferries in the Dusk
Anping Plain, west of Tainan Plateau, including the broad An-nan district, Anping district, and parts of north, west and south district, was a part of Tai-Chiang inland sea in the past. Anping and Tainan Prefecture faced each other across the inland sea, and ferries commuted in between. The scenes of fishermen casting nets to catch fish, enjoying the setting sun on the city wall across the river, and viewing the flow-tide coming into Lu-erh-men from Anping, always made people unforgettable. Among the "Eight Scenes of Taiwan", "Anping Ferries in the Dusk", "Fishermen's lights on sand islands", "Spring Tide in Lu-erh-Men", and "Chih-kan Sea View" explain that half of the beautiful scenes in Tainan are in this inland sea area--- the moon is always reflected by rivers and seas.

Due to the gradual development in Tainan costal area and inland of Taiwan, tons of sediments brought by flood from upstream area gradually deposit in the inland sea. In July of Tao-kuang 3rd year (1823), after the pouring rain lasting for a few days, small islands appeared in Tai-Chiang inland sea and Luh Erh Men became useless for its harbor function. In Tao-kuang 22nd year (1842), flow-tide suddenly brought tons of silts and the inland sea was divided to two parts in south and north. Foochow port authority surveyed and mapped "Taiwan Prefecture and Anping Port Graph" in 1875. On that map, the evidence of the geological change could be clearly discovered. The inland sea was filled up, and the moon was no longer reflected by the river.

On the two-dimension map which Foochow port authority made with modern and accurate techniques map, the shape of Tainan Prefecture was not a half circle. Twenty years later, the Japanese Colonial government processed a series of accurate mapping, and for sure, Tainan Prefecture was not described as a half round. Therefore, "A Moon Immersing Half in the Water" has become a beautiful story for literature and an occult science for geomancy.         [translated by Liu Chi-chun]

Fig. 1  Topographyl
Fig. 2  Topographic chart
Fig. 3  The location of places
Fig. 4  Chai-tou-kang River
Fig. 5  Southern Dream Lake
Fig. 6  Ju River Monastery
Fig. 7  Fort Zeelandia (Anping castle)
Fig. 8  Port Provintia (CHin-kan Tower)
Fig. 9  Yen-ping-chun-wang Temple

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