CHANG-HUA

hsien (county), west central Taiwan, occupying an area of 415 sq mi (1,074 sq km). It is bordered by the hsiens of T'ai-chung (north), Nan-t'ou (east), and Yn-lin (south) and by the Formosa Strait (west). Its northern and southern boundaries are roughly parallel to the Ta-tu Hsi (river) and the Hsi-lo Ch'i (river), respectively. The Pa-kua Shan (hills), a western extension of the Chung-yang Shan-mo (Central Range), are in the southeast; the rest of the region is a fertile alluvial deltaic plain. The economy is based on irrigated agriculture; crops produced include paddy rice, sugarcane, peanuts (groundnuts), corn (maize), jute, wheat, and sweet potatoes. Livestock and poultry are also raised. Rice and sugar milling, weaving, paper and hat making, sawmilling, and food canning are the major industries. Asbestos and marble deposits are worked. What is now Chang-hua hsien was a Chinese outpost during the reigns of K'ang-hsi (16611722) and Yung-cheng (172235), both of the Ch'ing dynasty. The region has many Confucian and Buddhist temples and relics; Lung-shan (Dragon Mountain) temple at Lu-chiang was the first Buddhist temple built (1665) in Taiwan and the Pa-kua Shan, a granite image of Buddha 72 ft (22 m) high, iswith the 72-ft bronze Daibutsu at Nara, Japanthe world's tallest statue of Buddha. The hot springs of Chang-hua are in the northwest and a highway flower garden, a horticultural research station and tourist attraction, has been developed in T'ien-wei. Lu-chiang is the only port in the hsien and Chang-hua city is the administrative seat. Pop. (1984 est.) 1,203,970. shih (municipality) and seat of Chang-hua hsien (county), west central Taiwan, situated southwest of T'ai-chung in the centre of the western coastal plain. Founded in the 17th century, the city was fortified in 1734 and in the succeeding century became the chief market and commercial centre of the island's central region. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was surpassed in importance by T'ai-chung. Chang-hua is now a railway junction, and, while T'ai-chung has developed into a major administrative city, Chang-hua has regained some of its old prosperity as a market for locally produced sugarcane, rice, pineapples, oranges, and other citrus fruits. Sugar refining is a major industry, and textile production is also important. The public Taiwan Provincial College of Education and the private Chien-kuo Junior College of Technology are located there. Pop. (1982 est.) 185,816.