Qualla: Checheng https://qualla.com/checheng en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:18 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Checheng https://qualla.com/checheng Checheng: Introduction https://qualla.com/checheng/ Photo credit Sgroey, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five names in four centuries. That is the story of Checheng before you even ask what it looks like. The Paiwan people called this settlement on Taiwan's southern coast Kabeyawan. Chinese settlers transliterated that into Hokkien. Then came troops loyal to Koxinga's son, and the name changed again. Then Manchu soldiers, and another. Then — depending on who you ask — either a mispronunciation of the old name or a memory of oxcarts lined up as a wall against approaching warriors. Every name that has ever stuck to this township tells you something about who held power and who was adapting to survive.

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Image: Sgroey | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/wevv-checheng-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Checheng: The Name That Keeps Changing https://qualla.com/checheng/ Photo credit Jidanni, CC0. When Zheng Jing — son and successor of the famous Ming loyalist Koxinga — stationed a battalion-level commander here in the 17th century, the settlement earned a name reflecting that military presence: Thóng-léng-po͘, or "commander's plain." It was a practical label for a place t...

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/wevv-checheng-the-name-that-keeps-changing.mp3 0:06 2 full Checheng: Oxcarts or Mispronunciation? https://qualla.com/checheng/ Photo credit Solomon203, CC BY-SA 3.0. The current name, Checheng, is itself the subject of a minor historical dispute. Japanese anthropologist Inō Kanori, who conducted fieldwork in Taiwan in the late 19th century, believed the name simply drifted from Chhâ-siâⁿ through phonetic drift — the sounds for "wood" (chhâ) a...

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]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/wevv-checheng-oxcarts-or-mispronunciation.mp3 0:06 3 full Checheng: At the Edge of the Peninsula https://qualla.com/checheng/ Photo credit I Chung Hu, CC BY-SA 4.0. Checheng sits in Pingtung County, covering about 49.85 square kilometers, with a population of around 8,000 as of early 2024. It is a rural township and it feels like one — eleven villages spread across terrain that transitions quickly from flat coastal ground to the rugged inter...

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Image: I Chung Hu | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/wevv-checheng-at-the-edge-of-the-peninsula.mp3 0:06 4 full Checheng: Layers Pressed Together https://qualla.com/checheng/ Photo credit Tze Chiang Hao, CC BY-SA 4.0. What makes Checheng interesting is precisely what gets lost in a quick read of its Wikipedia entry: the place is a palimpsest. The Paiwan were here first, and their name for it — Kabeyawan — survives only as an archaeological trace buried under five subsequent names. Each wave of...

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Image: Tze Chiang Hao | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 13 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/e/v/v/checheng-wp/wevv-checheng-layers-pressed-together.mp3 0:06 5 full