Unit 2 Historical Development of Penghu

Author： Yung-Tsai Shu(許永在)    Translator: Nikki Wang(王月玲)

Ⅰ. The Process of Our Forefathers’  Settlement in Penghu

   About five thousand years ago, some of our forefathers often came to Penghu for a short time or a season to gather marine resources in the intertidal areas. Later on, Penghu gradually became the staging post for boats sailing between mainland China and Taiwan, and some of our predecessors were thus brought here to settle down.

    During the Ming and Ching Dynasties, the army was stationed in Penghu and some of the residents who came from across the sea made their homes here and started their businesses here, thus indirectly they brought economic prosperity as well as population growth to the district of Magong.

Ⅱ. The Ethnic Groups of Penghu

    Almost all our ancestors in Penghu immigrated from the southern part of Fukien, so the major Ethnic group of Penghu is Southern Min.

In 1949, a different ethnic group came from mainland China, and they were called “the new residents”. Those new residents did not know how to speak Taiwanese, and most of them lived in the military housing. During the early stage, they seldom had interactions with the Southern Min people here. However, with the passing of time, the two ethnic groups have become assimilated so that they all refer to themselves as “Penghu Ren（澎湖人）”.

    If you are curious about where your ancestors came from, so that you know which ethnic group you belong to, you can inquire your older relatives and check the family tree. You will definitely get some information.

Ⅲ. The Major Developmental Status of Penghu’s Ethnic groups

    Penghu County consists of one city and five townships. Among them, Magong City is the most crowded one and more than half of the population of Penghu live there, working adults also live in Magong, and this has brought about Magong’s prosperity and development.  

    Transportation in Penghu is not well-developed, it also lacks resources, these have always limited its development. For this reason, many young people have headed for other parts of Taiwan to pursue better futures, and it has caused serous emigration.

    Recently, the Penghu government has made every effort to develop local tourism, and perhaps a boom in tourism will help Penghu find a new momentum for its own development.

Ⅳ. In Search of Data

    The internet is full of all kinds of data, therefore, when we key in words such as “Penghu antiquity” in a certain search engine (e.g. Yam, Yahoo) homepage, we can quickly acquire the information we want about Penghu. 

Ⅴ. The Monuments of Penghu

    It has been a long time since Penghu started developing; therefore, the islands have a large number of monuments for the nation as well as the county. For example, Tianhougong, Western Fort and Eastern Fort are class 1 national monuments; Shuncheng Gate and Yuwongdau Lighthouse are class 2 national monuments. There are 8 class 3 monuments for the county; some examples are Guanyinting, Cheng Huang Temple and Erkan Traditional Village. Moreover, there are still ten more monuments for the nation or the county, and there are also 22 registered historical buildings.  All of these show that Penghu islands are full of historical and cultural atmospheres everywhere.

    In addition, Penghu has an important strategic position for military, so in the past, Penghu was occupied or invaded by countries such as Holland, France and Japan; this has deeply influenced the historical development of Penghu itself.

Ⅵ. Origins of the Building of Monuments

    The natural and geographic environments in Penhu were actually quite dangerous; our forefathers who came to Penghu as pioneers had to face many critical challenges. Therefore, they relied on religions to get rid of their sense of uneasiness, and thus temples were built to pray for blessings from the gods. Temples such as Tianhougong, Cheng Huang Temple and Guanyinting have become parts of Penghu’s monuments; moreover, some important military facilities such as Western Fort, Eastern Fort and Shuncheng Gate have also entered the lists of National monuments; as for other monuments, for example, Tsaitinglan Scholar Residence and Erkan Traditional Village, were mostly privately built architectures.

Ⅶ The Archaeological Culture of Penghu

    Research by archaeologists has unearthed some ancient utensils at Cuoye, Suogang, Baisha and Chihkan. This proves that there were already residents around four or five thousand years ago. Among those relics, lots of them were made of china, stone, bone and seashell. Obviously the residents of that period of time were already able to make products such as simple chinaware, striking tools and sharp cutting equipment.    

    Besides, there are rope-like patterns on the china relics. As time went by, the decoration evolved into more delicate fine lines. This shows that our forefathers had already had a sense of beauty.

Ⅷ. Penghu’s Antiques

    The early residents were good at making utensils with materials like bamboo, wood and so on. The varieties of those daily equipments reflect our ancestors’ creativity and wisdom. By observing them and thinking about them carefully, we will better understand the lives of our forefathers. 

Ⅸ. The Outstanding Figures of Penghu

    Although Penghu is in a sense isolated because of its geographical location, a lot of outstanding figures have lived here. They were all outstanding and made great achievements in academic fields as well as in other walks of lives:

1. In academic fields:

l          Jinshih (進士) in Penghu-- Ting-Lan Cai (蔡廷蘭)

l          Jyuren (舉人) in Penghu—Ci-Guang Sin (辛齊光), Bu-Chan Jheng (鄭步蟾), E-Siang Guo (郭鶚翔).

2. In other walks of lives:

    Numerous successful figures were born in Penghu. Mr. Jiang-Jhang Chen (陳江章) is the founder of Southern-East Cement Company; Mr. Rong-Fa Chang (張榮發)established Evergreen Group, including Evergreen Marine Corporation, EVA AIR, etc; Mr. Jia-You Lin (林加由)runs his own businesses in constructional materials, real estate and so on.

    The three of them have one thing in common, and that is they have continued to give back to their hometown by donating to rescue foundations, maintaining temples, offering free baby carriages and other charitable work. For what they have done, they really deserve the name “honors of Penghu”.

Ⅹ. In Memory of Our Forefathers, We Love Penghu

    With the developmental achievements today in Penghu, we should be thankful to every one of our forefather who worked diligently, giving their all to the islands. Being the hopes of Penghu’s future, we should bear in mind our forefathers’ contributions, and above all, we should learn from them the spirit of determination and bravery. We will past on our forefathers’ passion and dedication, and also inherit their expectations for this land. With the same wind blowing, and beneath the same stars in the sky, we will keep struggling for Penghu, so as to bring Penghu to a brighter future.