Nantou County: The Only County Not Bordering the Sea, Where the Epicenter of the 921 Earthquake Lies at Its Center

30-Second Overview: At 1:47:15 AM on September 21, 1999, the Chelungpu Fault moved for 102 seconds at a depth of 8 kilometers beneath Jiji Township¹. Magnitude 7.3 (Richter). 2,415 people died across Taiwan, 29 went missing, and 51,711 houses were completely destroyed; Nantou County alone accounted for 886 deaths and 23,127 completely destroyed households. Over 90% of buildings in Zhongliao Township were damaged; the Jiufen'er Mountain landslide covered 180 hectares, burying 41 people alive, with 22 still missing². On October 27, 1930, Seediq Mahepu tribe chief Mona Rudao led 6 tribes in a surprise attack during the flag-raising ceremony at Wushe Public School, killing 134 Japanese civilians. Half a year later, during the Second Wushe Incident, the Dadez group night-attacked the reception centers, resulting in 216 tribal deaths or suicides³. In 1934, the Wugui Dam raised the water level of Sun Moon Lake by 18.18 meters, submerging the Shao tribe's sacred site, Lalu Island; in 1957, Zhongxing New Village was completed as the temporary office of the Provincial Government, but the 1998 'Provincialization' emptied its functions, leaving only the Coconut Avenue⁴. In 2016, Lushan Hot Springs officially disappeared from the tourism map. 470,000 people live in this county that rises from 100 meters in Nantou City to 3,952 meters at Yushan, where the Seediq, Bunan, Shao, and Tsou tribes coexist with Han Chinese. Taiwan's deepest wounds are here.

At 1:47 AM, the Tables in Jiji Township Bounced Up

September 21, 1999, at 1:47:15.9 AM.

8 kilometers beneath Jiji Township, the Chelungpu Fault moved upward. The surface rupture zone stretched from Zhuolan in Miaoli to Tutou in Nantou, spanning 100 kilometers, with a maximum horizontal displacement of 9 meters and a vertical displacement of 6 meters¹. The entire earthquake lasted approximately 102 seconds. Magnitude 7.3 (Richter). The USGS measured the Moment Magnitude at 7.6 to 7.7.

In the central mountainous area, just before 2 AM, everyone was asleep.

In just those 102 seconds, 2,415 people in Taiwan passed away². ⚠️ There are two versions of the death toll from different sources: The official statistics from the Ministry of the Interior's Fire Agency are 2,415 (adopted by the Central Weather Bureau and the Chinese Wikipedia); the Reporter's in-depth report 921 Earthquake 20th Anniversary uses 2,454, including subsequent deaths from severe injuries⁵. This article uses the official figure of 2,415. Additionally, 29 people went missing, 11,305 were injured, 51,711 houses were completely destroyed, and 53,768 were partially destroyed.

How many did Nantou County account for? The verbatim record from the Chinese Wikipedia: "Nantou County death toll: 886 people, 678 severely injured, 23,127 completely destroyed households, 16,792 partially destroyed households" ². Nantou County combined with Taichung City and Taichung County accounted for "approximately 95% of the total damaged households in Taiwan" ².

The epicenter was in Jiji Township, 9.2 kilometers west-southwest of Sun Moon Lake.

✦ "A strong earthquake is more terrifying than war." (Quote from a Zhongliao resident, Taiwan Panorama 921 Special Issue ⁶)

The Reporter later tracked the total disaster damage: "The 921 disaster cost was over 360 billion NTD; the government allocated over 260 billion NTD in reconstruction funds, and the public donated another 34 billion NTD" ⁵. On the 3rd day after the disaster, reporters entered Nantou: "Passing the bare Jiujiu Peaks, seeing Puli Yu Ying Junior High School reduced to a pile of rubble, and Puli High School piled with relief supplies. The next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival; as evening fell, the entire Guosheng Old Street was without lights, and residents stood blankly under the undamaged eaves by the roadside" ⁵.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was 4 days after 921. The moon shone on the mountain city without electricity.

The Only County Not Bordering the Sea, Rising from 100 Meters to 3,952 Meters

Sun Moon Lake at twilight. Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Nantou is the only county not bordering the sea among Taiwan's 22 counties and cities.

From the border of Changhua County in the west to Hualien County in the east, Nantou is 95 kilometers long north-south and 72 kilometers wide east-west, covering an area of 4,106 square kilometers, making it Taiwan's second-largest county, second only to Hualien⁷. Elevation starts at approximately 100 to 150 meters in Nantou City and climbs all the way to Yushan Main Peak at 3,952 meters. Mountainous areas account for 83% of the county, with very few plains. Among the 13 townships and cities, Xinyi and Ren'ai are mountain townships, and Yuchi is a flat indigenous township.

The Zhuoshui River is Taiwan's longest river, 186.4 kilometers long, originating from the 'Zuokouan Saddle' (elevation 3,220 meters) between the main peak and east peak of Hehuanshan. It flows down through 8 townships in Nantou⁷. Route 14-甲 climbs to the saddle between the main peak and east peak of Hehuanshan at 3,275 meters, called Wuling, which is the highest point on Taiwan's road network.

470,000 people live in this county (2025 figures)⁷. The population aged 65 and over is 22.51%, making it the third-oldest county in Taiwan. Young people in the mountains have long been flowing out.

📝 Curator's Note: "Not bordering the sea" sounds like a defect. But in 1957, the Nationalist Government selected Zhongxing New Village as the temporary office of the Provincial Government, partly because it was inland enough: if the cross-strait war affected Taipei, the Provincial Government would not be destroyed along with the central government. Inland is backup, it is safety. Then, at 1:47 AM on September 21, 1999, Taiwan's deepest internal wound after the war burst out from the center of this "most inland" county. The physical meaning of inland was redefined within 102 seconds: you thought being far from war meant being far from disaster, but the Chelungpu Fault does not pick borders.

The history of this county is arranged by altitude. The Bacao Canal on the plains, Wushe on the mountainside, Lalu Island under the lake, Yushan at 3,952 meters—every altitude layer presses a story.

Hehuanshan Landscape. Photo: Chewy3326, CC BY 2.5. via Wikimedia Commons.

The Water of Bacao Canal Flows from the Kangxi Era to Mingjian Township

In the 48th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1709), Shi Shibang began construction⁸.

The Zhuoshui River has large water volume and much silt. Whoever can divert it from upstream controls the lifeline of the Changhua Plain. Shi Shibang was from Quanzhou, in his thirties at the time, betting his family business on this canal. He dug for several years without success, with collapses in certain spots. Legend has it that an old man calling himself "Mr. Lin" came to him, gave him a water conservancy map, and said to follow the map to dig through. Shi Shibang did so, and the canal opened. The old man refused reward and left without revealing his name; later generations built the "Mr. Lin Temple" at the head of the Ershui Canal to commemorate him⁸.

⚠️ The story of Mr. Lin is a retelling of folklore, not a primary document from the Qing occupation. However, Shi Shibang truly existed (1671–1743), and the completion time of Bacao Canal in the 58th year of Kangxi (1719) is confirmed by three sources⁸, taking a full 10 years to dig. It is one of Taiwan's three oldest ponds/canals (the other two are Tainan's Tongfu Canal and Hsinchu's Long'en Canal). Today, Mingjian Township in Nantou is an important irrigation area for Bacao Canal; Shi Shibang's starting point was near the Nantou County border upstream of the Zhuoshui River.

Every year in the 6th lunar month, Ershui Township in Changhua holds the "Running Water Festival" to commemorate Shi Shibang, Mr. Lin, and Huang Shiqing, the three people meritorious in building the canal.

This is the first layer of Nantou's history during the Qing occupation: the water conservancy system brought in by Han people from the western plains. In 1709, even Yongzheng had not yet ascended the throne. In this only county not bordering the sea, the earliest story is water coming down from the mountains.

In the 1st year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1723), Changhua County was established, and Nantou was attached to it. In the 24th year of the Qianlong reign (1759), Changhua County established a County Assistant (Xiancheng) in Nantou, "this marks the beginning of political and educational administration in Nantou County" ⁹. In the 1st year of the Guangxu reign (1875), Nantou Prefecture was established. In 1895, the Japanese abolished Qing Miaoli County and changed Nantou Prefecture; in 1920, it was attached to Taichung Prefecture.

The name and territory of Nantou County did not officially appear until after the war in 1945.

At the Moment of Flag-Raising at Wushe Public School, Mona Rudao Led 6 Tribes Charging In

It was the morning of a sports meet.

On the morning of October 27, 1930 (Showa 5), Wushe Public School (now Nantou County Ren'ai Township Wushe Elementary School) was holding a joint sports meet. Japanese police, teachers, and families were all present; the Japanese flag was being raised on the field, and the national anthem was being sung¹⁰.

Over 300 tribal members charged in.

Leading them was Mahepu tribe chief Mona Rudao (Mona Rudao). The Chinese Wikipedia verbatim records this person: "Mona Rudao, who had a reputation for bravery since youth, was one of the few who obtained the position of chief through ability rather than bloodline, a man of both wisdom and courage" ¹⁰. The fuse was the "Toast Incident" on October 7, 1930: Japanese police officer Inspector Yoshimura knocked away the toast cup at Mona Rudao's son Tado Mona's wedding; afterwards, the accumulated dissatisfaction of the Seediq people towards the Japanese police exploded at once.

The 6 communities participating in the uprising (Chinese Wikipedia verbatim) were: "Mahepu (Mhebu), Tarowan (Truwan), Boarung (Boarung), Skuku (Suku), Hogo (Gungu), and Lodufu (Drodux)" ¹⁰.

134 Japanese civilians and teachers were killed, and 215 were injured¹⁰. ⚠️ This is the precise figure adopted by the Chinese Wikipedia (134 Japanese civilians); there were also 2 Han people dressed in Japanese clothing mistakenly killed by the tribesmen; including them, the total Japanese death toll was 136. This article adopts the precise expression of 134 Japanese + 2 Han mixed.

The Japanese side mobilized 5,311 person-times of troops: 1,563 Japanese soldiers, 1,231 police, 1,381 military laborers, plus the pro-Japanese "Weifang Fan" (helper tribes)¹⁰. ⚠️ Multiple sources point out that the Japanese used poison gas in the mountains, but the Chinese Wikipedia marks this entry as a controversial record. The suppression lasted until December 1.

Mona Rudao handed over command to his son, shot his wife, and walked alone into the forest above the rock cave to commit suicide with a gun. His body was not discovered until 1933, was made into a specimen, and transferred to the Department of Anthropology at Taipei Imperial University (later National Taiwan University).

The incident was not over. On the early morning of April 25, 1931, the Second Wushe Incident broke out. Chinese Wikipedia verbatim: "Over 200 able-bodied men from the Dadez group formed a team to night-attack four reception centers located in Lodufu and Xibawu" ¹⁰, "216 people were killed or committed suicide" ¹⁰, leaving only 298 survivors.

Why did the Dadez group go kill their own kin? "The Japanese official government admitted that the stationed police, worried about protection and fearing retaliation from the Fan, prompted the Taowucha tribe to conduct the raid" ¹⁰. Japanese police instigated pro-Japanese tribes to kill anti-Japanese tribes, and afterwards granted them the land of the uprising tribes. The tribal slaughter was the result of Japanese manipulation.

📝 Curator's Note: Reducing the Wushe Incident to a single sentence of "indigenous anti-Japanese resistance" is giving up on understanding. The complete incident contains at least five layers: the long-term accumulation of Seediq resentment towards Japanese police, the trigger of the 1930/10/7 Toast Incident, the 6-tribe uprising at the public school on 10/27, Mona Rudao's suicide in the mountains, and the 1931/4/25 Second Wushe Incident where the Japanese police manipulated tribal slaughter. 134 Japanese civilians died, 216 tribal members died or committed suicide, and 298 survivors were forcibly relocated to the "Chuanchungdao Tribe" (now Qingliu Tribe) in the Beigangxi basin. Writing the Seediq as a neat, anti-Japanese whole misses the layer of history where Japanese police manipulated tribal differentiation. The Wushe Incident is a specific dissection of "how Japanese colonial rule operated in the mountains," and resistance is just one surface face of it.

In 1973, Mona Rudao's remains were transported back from the NTU Department of Anthropology to Wushe for burial. Li Yiyuan, Acting Director of the NTU Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, wrote a letter to the president explaining: "The bones of this martyr should not be kept in a research institution; they should be returned to his hometown for burial" ¹¹. Buried using Han rituals (wreaths, mourning hall, music) behind the Wushe Mountain Fan Anti-Japanese Monument opposite Ren'ai Elementary School in Nantou.

In 2011, Wei De-sheng's Seediq Bale was released, with global box office earnings of 880 million NTD, and 810 million NTD in Taiwan locally¹². The first part, The Sun Flag, premiered on September 9; the second part, The Rainbow Bridge, premiered on September 30. This movie brought the Wushe Incident of 81 years ago back to the awareness of all Taiwan.

But today, going to Wushe, you see a tourist spot: Mona Rudao Memorial Park, the Wushe Incident Monument, Qingliu Tribe. The Seediq's wound has been replaced by a photo-taking landscape route.

The Wugui Dam Rises 18.18 Meters, the Shao's Lalu Island Becomes a 30-Meter Island

On June 3, 1934, the Sun Moon Lake No. 1 Power Plant (now Daguan Power Plant Daguan No. 1 Plant) was completed. The power generation capacity was 143,500 kilowatts, "the largest in Asia and the seventh largest in the world at that time" ¹³.

From the establishment of the Taiwan Electric Power Corporation in 1919, listing Sun Moon Lake hydropower engineering as the primary plan, to the 1923 Kanto Earthquake causing budget increases and work stoppage, to the 1931 resumption and plan correction, a concrete gravity dam (Wugui Dam, dam height 57.6 meters, dam length 90.91 meters, 6 gates) was built in Wugui, Ren'ai Township, upstream of the Zhuoshui River, and water diversion tunnels were dug to send water into Sun Moon Lake¹³. The largest water conservancy project during the Japanese occupation took 15 years.

In September 1934, the Wugui diversion channel began to release water, raising the Sun Moon Lake water level by 18.18 meters ¹³.

The lake area expanded from 4.55 square kilometers to 7.73 square kilometers. The history page of the Sun Moon Lake Tourism Network verbatim records this impact on the Shao people: "The rising water level submerged the Shao tribe's traditional settlements and farmland; the Japanese moved the Shao people to Dehua She, allocating only 2 fen of land per person, and the Shao population gradually decreased" ¹⁴.

The Shao people originally lived in the Shiin settlement on the east side of Sun Moon Lake, with farmland distributed around the lake. In the year the water level rose, their homes were flooded.

Lalu Island (Lalu) is the small island in the center of Sun Moon Lake, the highest ancestral spirit ground of the Shao people. Lalu means "Holy Island in the Heart" in the Shao language¹⁵. During the Japanese occupation, it was called "Jade Island"; after the war, in 1949, the Kuomintang renamed it "Guanghua Island" (meaning "Shining China"). Shrunk from hundreds of jia of farmland to a 30-meter island after the reservoir project. It took 15 years to turn from a Holy Island into a small island surrounded by tourist boats for photos.

Lalu Island, 2013-08-19. Photo: Ckbun, CC BY-SA 3.0. via Wikimedia Commons.

By 2000, the Shao people fought to rename Guanghua Island back to "Lalu Island"¹⁵. The following year, on August 8, 2001, the Shao people were officially recognized as the 10th indigenous people, moving from the Pingpu category. ⚠️ The Shao population figures vary by year: Ministry of the Interior Household Registration Department 2017 statistics show 776 people; other statistics show around 885 people. This article adopts "over 800 people," making it the third-smallest ethnic group among Taiwan's 16 indigenous peoples¹⁶.

✦ "The rising water level submerged the Shao tribe's traditional settlements and farmland; the Japanese moved the Shao people to Dehua She, allocating only 2 fen of land per person." (Sun Moon Lake Tourism Network History Page ¹⁴)

The lake surface tourists see at Sun Moon Lake today is a "nature" rewritten by engineering that raised the water level by 18.18 meters. The so-called "Sun Moon Lake Tourist Boats" circle the fields flooded by the Shao people 91 years ago.

The Bunan people live on the other side of Nantou: Xinyi Township. Distributed along the Chenyoulan River basin are five communities: Zhuo, Ka, Dan, Luan, and Jun¹⁷. The Zhuo community lives in Jiumei Village (northernmost in Xinyi Township); the Ka community in Dilin Shuanglong; the Dan community upstream of the Chenyoulan River in Dilin Village; the Luan community in Fengqiu Wangxiang Xinxiang; the Jun community in Dongpu Luona. Pasibutbut (Eight-part Harmony) "is only passed down among the Bunan Luan and Jun communities"; the Dan, Ka, and Zhuo communities do not sing¹⁷. ⚠️ General tourism promotion often treats "Eight-part Harmony" as a mark of all Bunan people, but in reality, only two communities sing it. Mingde Tribe (a mix of Luan and Jun communities) is the current tribe able to sing pasibutbut and closest to the earliest ancestral homeland of the Bunan.

The eastern part of Xinyi Township also has the traditional territory of the Tsou people, where Yushan National Park is located. Yushan National Park spans four counties/cities: Nantou County Xinyi Township, Chiayi County Alishan Township, Kaohsiung City Taoyuan District, and Hualien County Zhuoxi Township ¹⁸. ⚠️ General narratives often miss the Hualien Zhuoxi Township part, but the actual park area spans the southeast corner of Hualien. Established on April 10, 1985, with an area of 105,490 hectares, it is Taiwan's largest national park by area.

In this only county not bordering the sea, Nantou, live four indigenous peoples: Seediq, Bunan, Shao, and Tsou, along with Han Min and Hakka people. Mountain townships account for 2 of the 13 townships and cities, but the area of these 2 townships is far larger than the other 11 combined.

The Coconut Avenue of Zhongxing New Village Still Stands

Zhongxing New Village Archway. Photo: Wikimedia Commons contributor, CC BY-SA 2.5. via Wikimedia.

In 1956, the Taiwan Provincial Government relocated from Taipei to Nantou, originally named "Yingpankou"¹⁹.

The reason for relocation was the backup logic: to avoid the Provincial Government and the central government being destroyed together if the cross-strait war affected Taipei. The dual-layer governance structure of "Province within the State, State within the Province" required a physical base far from the capital. Nantou is the only county not bordering the sea, inland, the furthest, the safest.

In 1957, the overall urban design of Zhongxing New Village was completed, modeled after London's "New Town" (New Town), creating a pastoral administrative community covering about 200 hectares¹⁹. This was Taiwan's first formal urban planning practice: rain and sewage separated sewers, cul-de-sacs to strengthen community awareness, Garden City concept zoning, and a 500-meter Coconut Avenue as the facade, planted with tall coconut trees on both sides.

At the peak of the Provincial Government, tens of thousands of people lived in Zhongxing New Village. It was a self-sufficient administrative city with civil servant dormitories, schools, markets, and theaters.

In 1994, the first and only direct election of the Taiwan Provincial Government governor took place; Song Chu-yu was elected with 4.8 million votes¹⁹.

In December 1998, the Taiwan Provincial Government underwent 'Provincialization'. ⚠️ Two dates are mixed: 12/20 was Song Chu-yu's resignation day, 12/21 was the official completion day of Provincialization (the Executive Yuan simplified according to the amended Provincial and County Autonomous Law). This article adopts "Provincialization in December 1998," without specifying the exact day.

At the moment of Provincialization, the functions of Zhongxing New Village were emptied. Most bureaus were abolished, the number of civil servants dropped sharply, and the flow of people in dormitories, markets, and schools followed. In 2011, Nantou County Government listed Zhongxing New Village as a "Cultural Landscape." In 2018, the National Development Council established the "Zhongxing New Village Revitalization Project Office," dividing the park into three cores: North (Historical Culture Area), Middle (Leisure Life Area), and South (University City, Nantou Campus of Chung Hsing University)¹⁹.

But the 500-meter Coconut Avenue is still there.

📝 Curator's Note: Zhongxing New Village is an inverted story. General urban decay is houses first, people leaving later. Zhongxing New Village was functions first emptied, people left, houses remained. From 1998 to 2026, nearly 30 years, the coconut trees continued to grow, dormitories remained dormitories (though half empty), market stalls decreased but remained open. It did not become ruins; it became a "specimen of the Provincial Government era." Tourists come here to photograph the Coconut Avenue, photographing the shape left by an era emptied by Provincialization. In 1957, when the Nationalist Government built this new town, they thought "in case of cross-strait war"; in 1998 during Provincialization, they thought "the Provincial Government is redundant and should be cut." From the first motive to the second, in between is the flipping of Taiwan's political structure over forty years. This Coconut Avenue is the physical witness left by that flip.

Zhongxing New Village is the shape of Nantou's Provincial Government era. Wushe is the Seediq's wound. Sun Moon Lake is the lake after the Shao's home was flooded. Bacao Canal is the water that came from the west during the Kangxi era. This only county not bordering the sea presses Taiwan's wounds and ambitions from different eras onto the same inland land.

92% of Houses in Zhongliao Township Fell, Lushan Officially Disappeared from the Tourism Map in 2016

Back to the night of 921.

Zhongliao Township is in central Nantou County, with the Shuangdong Fault passing directly through the township. Taiwan Panorama 921 Special Issue verbatim: "In Zhongliao Township, over 90% of all buildings were damaged; in a village of only 20,000 to 30,000 people, 154 died, and many families were wiped out" ⁶. Completely and partially destroyed houses accounted for 82.6% of the township. The Zhongliao Extra-High Voltage Switching Station's 34 extra-high voltage transformers were all destroyed, causing a statewide blackout that night.

Puli Town had over 181 deaths, over 400 houses collapsed, including the Puli Town Office itself².

Zhushan Town had 118 deaths, 2,711 completely destroyed households, and 2,973 partially destroyed households².

Jiufen'er Mountain is in Nangang Village, Guosheng Township. A mountain peak fell directly down: 180 hectares collapsed, 35 million cubic meters of earth and stone. "At least 40 villagers were buried alive" ²⁰, the subsequent precise figure is 41 people buried alive, 22 still missing. After the whole mountain collapsed, the height decreased by approximately 400 meters.

Jiji Station's wooden station building in Jiji Township (epicenter) was severely tilted; Wuchung Temple, the epicenter building, collapsed. The Jiji Branch Line tracks were severely twisted. The Jiujiu Peaks in Caotun Township, due to the shaking, became instantly bare; in 2000, it was designated as a Natural Reserve.

✦ "Over 2,000 people lost their lives in the rubble, and tens of thousands lost their originally happy and warm homes in the roaring巨响" (Taiwan Panorama 921 Special Issue ⁶)

Building code revisions after 921 occurred in 2003. The government raised the seismic resistance coefficient (approximately from level 3-4 to 5-6), strengthening wall, column, and beam ductility design. "Houses with building permits obtained in 2003 are what meet the new regulations," this became a watershed in how Taiwan's real estate market views house age²¹.

921 Earthquake Education Park, 2024-09-21. Photo: Liu Shu-fu / Office of the President, CC BY 2.0. via Wikimedia Commons.

But some things cannot be rebuilt after 2003.

Lushan Hot Springs in Ren'ai Township was famous since the Japanese occupation as "Fuji Hot Springs" and "Geze Hot Springs," located in the Tarowan River Valley at an elevation of over 400 meters. The spring quality is neutral sodium bicarbonate, water temperature 58 to 98 degrees, formerly known as "The First Hot Spring in the World," with the water source head reaching 87 degrees²².

On the day of 921, Lushan's slope geology was unstable first. Then typhoons came one after another: Typhoon Toraji in 2001 caused Tarowan River to swell, damaging many lodgings; Typhoon Sinlaku on September 12, 2008, was called "Lushan's biggest blow," severely damaging many hotels; Typhoon Sanba in 2010 struck again²².

In June 2011, the Nantou County Government decided on collective relocation to Fuxingli in Puli Town (36 kilometers away).

In 2015, the Water Resources Bureau's Fourth River Bureau completed the demolition of 3.63 hectares within the Lushan Hot Springs river zone line²².

In 2016, after the five legal Lushan Hot Springs operators received 700 million NTD in compensation, they officially closed, and Lushan Hot Springs disappeared from Taiwan's tourism map. ⚠️ Relocation and closure timeline: Relocation and demolition began in 2015, operators completely closed in 2016. A hot spring tourism area with over 80 years of history took 17 years, starting from 921, to complete its disappearance.

PTS Our Island report on Lushan used a sentence: "Water brings wealth, but also disaster. Lushan had infinite business opportunities because of hot springs, but also unpredictable crises because of Tarowan River floods" ²².

Three Tribe Names Grew Back Over 26 Years

Back to that early morning at 1:47.

The Chelungpu Fault beneath Jiji Township moved upward for 102 seconds; 2,415 people left across Taiwan, 886 in Nantou County alone. That was September 21, 1999.

26 years later, 2025.

After those 102 seconds, three things happened, all related to "names growing back."

In 2000, the island in the center of Sun Moon Lake was officially renamed from "Guanghua Island" back to Lalu (Lalu Island), the Shao language's "Holy Island in the Heart"¹⁵. After 51 years of Kuomintang renaming, the Shao people used the attention gap after the 921 disaster to take the island's name back.

On August 8, 2001, the Shao people were officially recognized as the 10th indigenous people, moving from the Pingpu category. That year was exactly 67 years after their ancestors' settlements were flooded by the Wugui Dam in 1934¹⁶. ⚠️ Why could they be recognized: After 921 in 1999, Nantou's post-disaster reconstruction brought the Shao people's plight to the attention of all Taiwan: population dropped to only 800+, sacred site flooded, traditional land turned into tourist spots. Disaster became political capital for the renaming movement.

On April 23, 2008, the Seediq people were separated from the Atayal and officially recognized as the 14th indigenous people²³. The Seediq people include three language groups: Seediq Tgdaya (Tgdaya group, main participants in the Wushe Incident), Sediq Toda (Toda group), and Sejiq Truku (Truku group). The Truku group had already independently recognized themselves as the 12th tribe under the name "Truku" on January 14, 2004 (this tribe lives in eastern Hualien). 2008 was the completion of recognition for the Tgdaya and Toda groups in western Nantou. The people named "Seediq" at the moment of flag-raising at Wushe Public School on October 27, 1930, took 78 years to return to their own tribe name.

Adding the 1998 Provincialization, 2016 Lushan Hot Springs closure, an inland county not bordering the sea, between the 1934 Wugui Dam, 1957 Zhongxing New Village, 1999 921, 2001 Shao recognition, 2008 Seediq recognition, and 2016 Lushan disappearance, places Taiwan's 80+ years of wounds and repairs on the same map.

If you go to Nantou next time, don't just visit Sun Moon Lake and Qingjing. Try taking Route 14 to Wushe, looking at the anti-Japanese monument behind the Mona Rudao Memorial Park. Then drive to Zhongxing New Village, walking the full 500 meters along the Coconut Avenue. Then loop back to Jiji, looking at the tilted gable wall preserved by Wuchung Temple after the earthquake. Finally, stay a night in Puli. Puli Distillery was established in 1917; in 1949, the Nationalist Government brought in Zhejiang brewing techniques; in 1952, they successfully tested Shaoxing wine using Puli Ailan natural spring water; today it is the center of Taiwan's Shaoxing wine production²⁴.

Then you will remember one thing: Taiwan's deepest wounds are all in this only county not bordering the sea. The epicenter is in Jiji, the Seediq's blood is in Wushe, the Provincial Government's shape is in Zhongxing New Village. The 18.18 meters raised by the Wugui Dam is still under the surface of Sun Moon Lake, turning the Shao's Lalu Island from a sacred site into a 30-meter island; the water of Bacao Canal flows from the Kangxi era to irrigate fields in Mingjian Township, in 1709, even Yongzheng had not yet ascended the throne.

Nantou is Taiwan's deepest internal wound after the war, but it has never left its position. The Seediq tribe name grew back in 2008. The Shao grew back in 2001. Lalu Island grew back in 2000. The 90% collapsed houses in Zhongliao Township were rebuilt; the 22 missing people in Guosheng Township became names on stone tablets.

After those 102 seconds at 1:47 AM, Nantou did not become ruins. It became a county you drive past thinking it is just Sun Moon Lake, Qingjing, Wuling, and Hehuanshan. But underneath it press four wounds of Taiwan's modern history: 1709 Han people digging canals, 1930 Seediq uprising, 1934 Shao home flooded, 1999 Taiwan's deepest earthquake. The act of names growing back is what this county is doing.

Further Reading

• Sun Moon Lake — 1934 Wugui Dam engineering raised the lake surface by 18.18 meters, Asia's largest hydropower plant, complete history of Shao migration
• Yushan — 3,952 meters Taiwan's highest peak, Yushan National Park spans Nantou Xinyi / Chiayi Alishan / Kaohsiung Taoyuan / Hualien Zhuoxi four counties/cities
• History of Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan and Renaming Movement — 2001 Shao 10th tribe, 2004 Truku, 2008 Seediq recognition movement national context
• Eight-part Harmony — Pasibutbut only passed down among Bunan Luan and Jun communities, the truth of Mingde Tribe
• Prehistoric Era and Indigenous Peoples — Timeline of Seediq, Bunan, Shao, and Tsou living in the Central Mountain Range for thousands of years
• Keelung City — 22 Counties Series pilot: 1984 World's 7th Largest Container Port dropped to 2018 113th Port, a county similarly missed by the central narrative
• Miaoli County — 22 Counties Series batch 1 sibling inland county: Hakka stubbornness vs. Doubling County Debt, facing the dual theme of "Mountain Population Outflow + Political Theater" like Nantou

Image Sources

This article uses 5 Wikimedia Commons CC licensed images, hot-linked from Wikimedia upload server:

• Hero (frontmatter): Sun Moon Lake in Twilight — Photo: Tommy.In, CC BY-SA 3.0. Sun Moon Lake at twilight, an artificial lake formed after the Wugui Dam raised the water level by 18.18 meters in 1934.
• Scene §Only County Not Bordering the Sea (Sun Moon Lake): Same as hero — repeated in the text as a geographical base visual anchor.
• Scene §Only County Not Bordering the Sea (Hehuanshan): Hehuanshan Cuesta — Photo: Chewy3326, CC BY 2.5. Hehuanshan Main Peak area, Wuling at 3,275 meters is the highest point on Taiwan's roads.
• Scene §Wugui Dam (Lalu Island): 2013年8月19日拉魯島 — Photo: Ckbun, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Shao sacred island in the center of Sun Moon Lake, officially renamed back to Lalu from "Guanghua Island" in 2000.
• Scene §Zhongxing New Village: Taiwan JhongSing Village Paifang — Zhongxing New Village entrance archway, built in 1957 modeled after the British New Town concept, physical witness of the Provincial Government era. CC BY-SA 2.5.
• Scene §Zhongliao Township (921 Education Park): 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan 2024-09-21 — Photo: Liu Shu-fu / Office of the President, CC BY 2.0. 921 Earthquake Education Park, Chelungpu Fault preservation site at former Guangfu Junior High School in Wufeng, Taichung.

License Terms: CC BY-SA 3.0 / CC BY-SA 4.0 / CC BY 2.0 / CC BY 2.5.

References

1. 921 Great Earthquake — Central Weather Bureau Earthquake Monitoring Center — Central Weather Bureau official earthquake report. 1999 September 21, 1:47:15.9 AM, Magnitude 7.3, epicenter Jiji Township, focal depth 8 km, Chelungpu Fault moved 100 km, max horizontal displacement 9 m vertical displacement 6 m, total duration 102 seconds reverse fault earthquake complete primary record.↩
2. 921 Great Earthquake — Wikipedia — Chinese Wikipedia article, original: "Nantou County death toll 886 people, 678 severely injured, 23,127 completely destroyed households, 16,792 partially destroyed households" + "Nantou County and Taichung City/County completely and partially destroyed households total approximately 95% of Taiwan's damaged households". Includes Zhongliao Township 92.5% completely/partially destroyed, Jiufen'er Mountain 41 buried alive, 22 missing, detailed data for each township.↩
3. Wushe Incident — Wikipedia — Chinese Wikipedia article, 1930/10/27 Public School incident origin (10/7 Toast Incident), 6 tribes list, 134 Japanese civilians died, Second Wushe Incident 1931/04/25 Dadez group night attack 216 deaths or suicides, Qingliu Tribe (Chuanchungdao) forced migration complete event timeline and quotes.↩
4. Zhongxing New Village History — NDC Zhongxing New Village Revitalization Project — National Development Commission Zhongxing New Village Revitalization Project Office official introduction, 1956 relocation, 1957 completion, 1998 Provincialization, 2011 Cultural Landscape listing, 2018 establishment of revitalization project office complete construction and function change record.↩
5. 921 Earthquake 20th Anniversary: Reconstruction and Unfinished Matters — The Reporter — The Reporter 921 20th Anniversary in-depth report. Original verbatim: "921 disaster cost over 360 billion NTD, government allocated over 260 billion NTD in reconstruction funds, public donated another 34 billion NTD" + "3rd day after disaster... passing bare Jiujiu Peaks, seeing Puli Yu Ying Junior High School reduced to a pile of rubble". Death toll another version 2,454 including subsequent deaths from severe injuries.↩
6. 921 Great Earthquake Special Issue: Strong Earthquake is More Terrifying Than War — Taiwan Panorama — Taiwan Panorama 921 disaster area in-depth report. Original verbatim: "In Zhongliao Township, over 90% of all buildings were damaged; in a village of only 20,000 to 30,000 people, 154 died, many families were wiped out" + "Strong earthquake is more terrifying than war" + "Over 2,000 people lost their lives in the rubble" + "In Guosheng Township Nangang Village Jiufen'er Mountain, collapse deepest reached 100 meters".↩
7. Nantou County Overview — Nantou County Government — Nantou County Government official data, area 4,106.436 square kilometers, Taiwan's second-largest county, 95 km north-south 72 km east-west, 13 townships/cities administrative division, mountainous area 83%, 470,000 population (2025), population aged 65+ 22.51%, only county not bordering the sea, Yushan Main Peak 3,952 meters basic geographical and humanistic data.↩
8. Bacao Canal — Wikipedia — Chinese Wikipedia article. Qing Kangxi 48th year (1709) Shi Shibang dug, Kangxi 58th year (1719) completed, Mr. Lin legend, Ershui Running Water Festival, one of Taiwan's three oldest ponds/canals (others: Tainan Tongfu Canal, Hsinchu Long'en Canal) complete water conservancy construction history. Mr. Lin legend marked as folklore retelling.↩
9. Nantou County History Evolution — Nantou County Government — Nantou County Government official website history evolution record. 1683 attached to Fujian Province Taiwan Prefecture Zhuoxian County, 1723 Yongzheng established Changhua County, 1759 Qianlong 24th year Changhua County established County Assistant in Nantou "this marks the beginning of political and educational administration in Nantou County", 1875 established Nantou Prefecture, 1895 Japanese occupation Nantou Prefecture, 1920 attached to Taichung Prefecture, 1945 post-war established Nantou County, 1957 Zhongxing New Village completed, 1998/12 Provincialization complete administrative evolution.↩
10. Wushe Incident — Wikipedia — Same as [^3], includes Mona Rudao biography "Mona Rudao, who had a reputation for bravery since youth, was one of the few who obtained the position of chief through ability rather than bloodline, a man of both wisdom and courage", 6 tribes list (Mahepu / Tarowan / Boarung / Skuku / Hogo / Lodufu), Japanese mobilized troops 5,311 person-times, poison gas use controversy, Mona Rudao suicide and specimenization, Second Wushe Incident Dadez group night attack, Chuanchungdao Tribe forced migration complete record.↩
11. Mona Rudao Remains Return Burial: 1973 NTU Li Yiyuan Letter — Storm Media — Storm Media history report, 1973 NTU Archaeology and Anthropology Department Acting Director Li Yiyuan letter to president original: "The bones of this martyr should not be kept in a research institution; they should be returned to his hometown for burial" + Han rituals (wreaths, mourning hall, music) burial behind Wushe Mountain Fan Anti-Japanese Monument opposite Ren'ai Elementary School in Nantou complete history record.↩
12. Seediq Bale — Wikipedia — Wei De-sheng 2011 director work. First part The Sun Flag 2011/09/09 premiere, second part The Rainbow Bridge 2011/09/30 premiere, global box office 880 million NTD (Taiwan 810 million), selected for Venice Film Festival official competition complete production and distribution record.↩
13. Sun Moon Lake Hydropower Engineering — Story Studio — Story Studio history in-depth article. 1919 Taiwan Electric Power Corporation established, 1923 Kanto Earthquake stoppage, 1931 resumption, 1934/06/03 Sun Moon Lake No. 1 Power Plant completed power generation 143,500 kW "largest in Asia, 7th largest in the world at that time", Wugui Dam specs (dam height 57.6 m dam length 90.91 m 6 gates), Sun Moon Lake water level rose 18.18 meters complete engineering history.↩
14. Sun Moon Lake History and Shao Migration — Sun Moon Lake Tourism Network — Sun Moon Lake official tourism network history page, original verbatim: "The rising water level submerged the Shao tribe's traditional settlements and farmland; the Japanese moved the Shao people to Dehua She, allocating only 2 fen of land per person, and the Shao population gradually decreased". Includes Sun Moon Lake water level 1934 rose 18.18 meters, lake area expanded from 4.55 to 7.73 square kilometers, Shao Shiin settlement flooded, forced migration to Buji She (now Idaw) complete record.↩
15. Lalu Island Lalu — Sun Moon Lake Tourism Network — Sun Moon Lake official tourism network Lalu Island page, original: "LALU (Lalu Island), means 'Holy Island in the Heart' in Shao language". Includes Qing "Zhu Island", Japanese "Jade Island", 1949 Kuomintang renamed "Guanghua Island", 2000 Shao fought to rename back to Lalu complete place name evolution history.↩
16. Shao Renaming — Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology — Academia Sinica Institute of Ethnology Shao history page. August 8, 2001 Shao officially recognized as 10th indigenous people from Pingpu category, current population over 800 (Ministry of the Interior Household Registration Department 2017 statistics 776 people, other statistics 885 people), third-smallest ethnic group among Taiwan's 16 indigenous peoples complete ethnic history.↩
17. Bunan Xinyi Township Five Communities — National Culture Database / Xinyi Township Office — Xinyi Township Office ethnic distribution data. Zhuo Community (Jiumei Village), Ka Community (Nantan / Dilin / Shuanglong), Dan Community (Dilin Village Chenyoulan River upstream), Luan Community (Fengqiu / Wangxiang / Xinxiang / Renlun), Jun Community (Dongpu / Luona / Mingde) five major community distribution. Pasibutbut Eight-part Harmony "only passed down among Bunan Luan and Jun communities", Mingde Tribe is current tribe able to sing closest to ancestors' earliest homeland.↩
18. Yushan National Park — Yushan National Park Management Office — Yushan National Park official website. Established April 10, 1985, Taiwan's second national park, area 105,490 hectares (Taiwan's largest national park by area), spans four counties/cities (Nantou Xinyi Township + Chiayi Alishan Township + Kaohsiung Taoyuan District + Hualien Zhuoxi Township), Yushan Main Peak 3,952 meters located in Nantou Xinyi Township complete primary data.↩
19. Zhongxing New Village Construction and Provincialization — Wikipedia + NDC — Chinese Wikipedia Zhongxing New Village article + NDC Zhongxing New Village Revitalization Project. 1956 relocation origin, 1957 overall urban design completed (modeled after British New Town concept, pastoral administrative community, rain/sewage separated, cul-de-sac, Coconut Avenue 500 meters), 1994 Song Chu-yu elected governor with 4.8 million votes, 1998/12 Provincialization, 2011 listed as Cultural Landscape, 2018 NDC took over dividing into North/Middle/South three cores complete construction and function evolution history.↩
20. Jiufen'er Mountain Collapse — Taiwan Panorama — Taiwan Panorama 921 Special Issue. Original verbatim: "In Guosheng Township Nangang Village Jiufen'er Mountain, collapse deepest reached 100 meters, at least 40 villagers were buried alive". Subsequent precise figure: 180 hectares collapsed, 35 million cubic meters earth/stone, 41 buried alive, 22 still missing, collapse height decreased by approx. 400 meters.↩
21. Post-921 Building Code Revision — Ministry of the Interior Construction and Planning Agency — Ministry of the Interior Construction and Planning Agency official regulation revision record. Post-921 2003 revised Building Technical Rules, raised seismic resistance coefficient (approx. from level 3-4 to 5-6), strengthened wall/column/beam ductility design, "Houses with building permits obtained in 2003 are what meet the new regulations" became Taiwan real estate house age watershed complete regulation evolution record.↩
22. Lushan Hot Springs Relocation — PTS Our Island — PTS Our Island Lushan Hot Springs special report. Japanese occupation Fuji Hot Springs / Geze Hot Springs, Tarowan River Valley, elevation 400+ meters, neutral sodium bicarbonate spring, water temperature 58-98 degrees, "Water brings wealth, but also disaster. Lushan had infinite business opportunities because of hot springs, but also unpredictable crises because of Tarowan River floods" original. Includes 1999 921 + 2001 Toraji + 2008 Sinlaku + 2010 Sanba + 2011 collective relocation decision + 2015 river zone line demolition 3.63 hectares + 2016 operators received 700 million NTD compensation closure complete timeline.↩
23. Seediq Renaming — PTS News — PTS News 2008 recognition report, original: "Seediq people became the 14th recognized indigenous people of the Republic of China government on April 23, 2008". Includes three language group structure (Seediq Tgdaya Tgdaya / Sediq Toda Toda / Sejiq Truku Truku), 2004/01/14 Truku first recognized as 12th tribe, 2008 western Seediq completed recognition complete context.↩
24. Puli Distillery Shaoxing Wine — Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation — Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation Puli Distillery official history. 1917民间 established, 1922 Japanese occupation taken over by Taiwan Governor-General's Monopoly, 1949 Nationalist Government brought in Zhejiang brewing techniques, 1952 used Puli Ailan natural spring water to successfully test Shaoxing wine, today is Taiwan Shaoxing wine production center complete factory history.↩