Hengchun Township is a township located on the southern tip of the in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung County. Hengchun has a land area of and has a population of 29,790 as of October 2023.
The city of Hengchun is the entryway to Kenting National Park, the southernmost National Park in the country. With pristine beaches and a vibrant tourist industry, the Hengchun area often attracts more travelers than local residents. The city itself was once completely surrounded by a city wall; now about half of the wall remains intact, as well as the four city gates. On weekends, the streets of nearby Kenting are filled with cars and tour buses.
The 2008 Taiwanese film Cape No. 7, the top-grossing film in Taiwan's film history, features Hengchun.
Names
The area of the modern township was known to the Dutch as Lonkjouw, alternatively spelled Liangkiau, Long-kiau, Longkiau, Loncjou, Lonckjau, Lonckiau, Lonkiauw, Lonckjouw, and Lonckquiouw in early records. The name was borrowed from the Paiwan language of the Paiwan people who lived in the area before the Han Chinese's colonization during 18th century.
The Qing viceroy Shen Baozhen noted the equitable climate during his 1875 inspection of Taiwan Island, with the area's crops staying "green and prosperous" year-round. He began calling the area Hengchun ("Always Spring") before he left, and the name has remained ever since. Under Japanese rule, the area was known as Kōshun, from the Japanese pronunciation of the same name.
History
Early history
The village of Longkiau was the southernmost town that was occupied by the Dutch on Taiwan Island. The area was mostly occupied by the Paiwan and other Taiwanese aborigines.
Qing Dynasty
After the Rover Incident, wherein shipwrecked American sailors were massacred by the locals, Charles Le Gendre, the US consul at Amoy (Xiamen), visited the area. He found Longkiau at the far point of the curve forming Longkiau Bay. Its population of about 1,500 was "mostly engaged in the culture of peanuts, rice, sweet potatoes, a little sugar cane, and also in fishing".
In response to the 1871 Mudan Incident, wherein shipwrecked Ryukyuan sailors were massacred by the locals, Japanfollowing America's exampleundertook a punitive expedition in 1874. The Japanese landed in Longkiau Bay and pushed north from there.
Now aware of the danger of foreign interference and colonization posed by the Qing Empire's refusal to take responsibility for the actions of Taiwan's aborigines, the viceroy of Liangjiang Shen Baozhen toured Taiwan in 1875 in preparation for reform of the island's administration. He ordered attacks against the still restive tribes and began a building program in the southern half of the island which included the fortified lighthouse at Eluanbi. He memorialized on behalf of building a new city in Longkiau (which he gave the more propitious Chinese name "Hengchun") to accommodate and protect foreign sailors. This request was granted: the portion of Fengshan County south of Fangliao's river became the new Hengchun County and its officials fortified a village south of the old Longkiau as their new county seat. The old location continued to be known as Longkiau.
Taiwan Prefecture originally covered the entire island as part of Fujian Province. When the island became its own province in 1887, Hengchun County formed part of Tainan Prefecture.
Japanese rule
Under Japanese rule, the town was known as Kōshun. It received a local office (, chō) in November 1901 and became the seat of its own district in Takao Prefecture in 1920. Commercial whaling began in the area from 1913 to 1915, and was revived from 1920 to 1943.
Post-war
The Republic of China (ROC) took over Taiwan after World War II. Hengchun's whaling industry was restored in 1955 and formally banned in 1981.
On December 26, 2006, a 7.0–7.2 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter off the southwest coast of Taiwan occurred (approximately 22.8 km southwest of Hengchun). It caused damage to many houses in Hengchun, including fifteen historical buildings in the historic center of the township. Two casualties were reported, with many more injured. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Hengchun in one hundred years.
Geography
Hengchun is the southernmost administrative division of the island. It is bordered to the northwest by Checheng Township and to the northeast by Manzhou Township.