Taiwan Village

Taiwan Village

Shangying Village in Zhangcun Town, Dengzhou City is a well-known "Taiwan Village." With a population of over 2,300, about 60% are descendants of Taiwan’s Gaoshan ethnic group who have lived here for more than 300 years. The concentration and long history of Taiwanese compatriots in Dengzhou’s "Taiwan Village" are truly unique on the Chinese mainland.

In the seventh year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1668 AD), General Huang Ting followed Zheng Chenggong to recover Taiwan, then led an army of 100,000 to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. On the way to Beijing, he was ordered to establish settlements along the route, and the last five battalions set up camp in Dengzhou. Five soldiers — Yinasiluo, Dimodao, Andusiqie, Andayilu, and another — settled and farmed there. Each married a local Han woman and adopted the Han surnames Chen, Zhou, Cai, Huang, and Lin respectively. Over the next 300-plus years, the descendants of these five families grew and thrived, but some of their customs remained unchanged, eventually forming today’s "Taiwan Village."

Since the time of Yinasiluo, the Chen family of the Gaoshan ethnic group has been living in Dengzhou for 335 years. Some of the remaining relics of the Chen family include: the Chen family genealogy, the tomb and stele of Yinasiluo, the helmet, portrait, and stone tablet of General Huang Ting. The discovery of this family genealogy is the first of its kind in China and also fills a gap in the written history of the Gaoshan people. It holds significant academic value for studying cross-strait and Taiwan history, especially that of the Gaoshan ethnic group.

In the over 20 years since the Taiwan Village was discovered, media outlets such as CCTV, China National Radio, People’s Daily Overseas Edition, China Construction Magazine, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Newspaper, Workers’ Daily, Taiwan Voice Magazine, and CCTV Channel 4 have all reported on the “Taiwan Village.”

In August 2002, to commemorate the 356th anniversary of the ancestor’s birth, the tombs of ancestors Yinasiluo and his wife were renovated, new tombstones were engraved, and a new memorial archway gate was built at the village entrance inscribed with "Taiwan Village." The Chen family of the Gaoshan ethnic group is now planning to rebuild a Gaoshan cultural park (covering a total of 90 acres, including an Alishan rockery, traditional Tsou dwellings, as well as supporting leisure and entertainment facilities such as a hotel, shops, and parking lot), ancestral hall, Mazu Temple, Huang Yan Temple, steles, and statues of Huang Ting and Yinasiluo, all on the original site.

Shangying Village: Located 5 kilometers south of Zhangcun Town by the Miaogou River, Shangying Village in Zhangcun Town includes 5 natural villages, 12 villager groups, 2,276 residents, and 1,799 mu of cultivated land.

Shangying Village is one of the national settlements of the Gaoshan ethnic group. Over three hundred years ago, Gaoshan ancestors followed Qing Dynasty’s Huang Ting, the Marquis Huang Bo, back to the mainland and settled in Shangying Village through military farming. Currently, there are over 1,300 people from seven surnames: Chen, Zhou, Cai, Lin, Huang, Zhang, and Xu. Many of their lifestyle habits and forms of address (such as calling fathers “dia”) have remained unchanged over the long years. They have worked in all kinds of professions... Detailed information about Shangying Village ++