HISTORY
As what the district's Chinese name (literally, uplift; semantically, bumpy) suggests, it is a place with not more than 3km of flatlands. Although the district was not named after its badland landform, due to its high terrains and early cultivation, the land has rich scenic spots and folkloric cultural heritage. Also, although the local population has been reducing, diversified cultural assets deeply rooted in the district are the most attractive cultural legacy worthy of exploration and appreciation.
Longci was called "Fanshe," a settlement formed in Niupu and Daping by the Xingangshe of the Siraya tribe (a branch of Plains aborigines). In the early Ching dynasty, the district was in the jurisdiction of "Sinfeng Borough, Taiwan County, Taiwan Prefecture." During the reign of Emperor Daoguang, the district was in the jurisdiction of "Inner Sinfeng Borough." The eight local geographical names were selected based on existing local settlements: Niupu Village, Daping Village, Longchuan Village, Shihcao Village, Qiding Village, Tuniuqi Village, Zhongkengzih Village, and Nanzihkengshan Village.
Local administrative division reforms:
In 1897, the colonial government divided Inner Sinfeng Borough into two districts: District 1 and District 2. District 1 covered "Qiding" (Qiding Village and Tuqi Village today) and "Zhongkeng" (Zhongkeng Village and Nankeng Village today). District 2 included "Fanshe" (Niupu Village and Daping Village today) and "Longchuan" (Longchuan Village and Shihcao Village today).
After the local administrative division reform in 1919, local villages were integrated into a larger village. "Longci Village" was formed by combining "Longchuan" with "Qiding" villages, the two most prosperous areas, and the name Longci, which coined the first characters of the names of these two villages, has since been used until today.
After the restoration of Taiwan in 1945, the KMT government replaced "village" with "township", and Longci Village became Longci Township covering eight villages: Nioupu, Daping, Longchuan, Shihcao, Zhongkeng, Nankeng, Tuqi, and Qiding.Located southeast of Tainan City on the hilly area of Alishan and occupying a total area of 64.0814km2, Longci District neighbors Sinhua District and Zuozhen District to the north, borders Neimen District of Kaohsiung City to the east, links up with Guanmiao District to the west, and connects with Tianliao District of Kaohsiung City to the south.
In addition to special landforms, as all low, flat hills under 200m in the district are formed by sandstone in the Toukeshan formation, most of them are badlands due to river erosion. Moreover, while mudstone spreads across Longchuan and Niupu, soil in Shihcao Village contains rich water-soluble salt after being washed and dissolved by rain. As the soil condition is bad, it is hard for plants to grow, and as clay minerals expand after coming in contact with water, soil and water conservation can only be done within one meter deep. Apart from the extreme difficulty of soil and water conservation, as side slopes are unstable, landside takes place whenever there is torrential rain.
However, these special landforms because of scouring and erosion over time have become the most characteristic natural landscapes in Longci District.
As the district is located in a hilly area at elevations of 80-351.65m descending from east to west, different landforms in different locations become unique landscapes in local areas. For example, although Ciding located in lower elevation is formed by yellow sandy soil, green mountain forest is the dominant landscape. From Longchuanwo at the highest elevation (351.65m at "Fanchuan"), however, people can see the badlands of Yueshihjie below where nothing grows on the slate.
In addition, as the two main rivers in Tainan City, the Xuxian and Erren rivers, run through all parts of the district and suspension bridges were built since ancient times to connect both sides of these rivers, these suspension bridges have become one of the local scenic features. As time goes by, most ancient suspension bridges have been replaced by concrete structures, and only four of them survive today.
In conclusion, although Longci District is a "lowly populated, spacious and infertile" hilly district, there are splendid natural landscapes richly endowed by nature that are rarely seen in flatland areas.
EVOLUTION
Large-scaled development of the district began during Japanese colonization. After the colonial government set up administrative units in Inner Sinfeng Borough and Longci Village, they aggressively promoted lacquer tree plantation and forestation in the district and set up Longci Elementary School, Qiding Branch School, Jhongkeng Branch School, Ciding Branch School, Guandimiao Elementary School, Inner Sinfeng Branch School, and Longchuan Branch School in Ciding and Longchuan.
After the development in colonial Taiwan, the primary scale and structure of the district were gradually determined. The colonial government also built major transportation and local infrastructures. Major transportation infrastructures included:
1. In about 1924, the colonial government built a road from Gunamiao to Longci New City, a tramway, and facilities for minibuses.
2. During 1924-27, the colonial government built a road between Longci and Mishiyuan manually. During 1935-40, the colonial government built a road from Mishiyuan to Nioupu today to connect to Neimen District of Kaohsiung City today. It was the forerunner of the Provincial Highway No. 128 (Nanping Highway).
3. During 1937-46, farm workers built country roads.
With the gradual development of the colonial government, major transportation infrastructures in Longci were finally completed. Local transportation also reached a new milestone in 1947 when cobble pavement began on the Provincial Highway No. 182. The road surface in that time could only support trucks and was not strong enough for coaches. Asphalt pavement of the entire highway was not completed until 1976.
In country road construction, the "coral stone", commonly known as "gangshan stone", was the best material for pavement. In 1959, stone pavement was not common to all country roads. In 1960, although Magistrate Liu Po-wen even sent farmer workers to carry stones by bullock carts for free to pave country roads, only part of the country roads in Niupu, Longchuan, Shihcao, and Daping were completed. It was not until 1964-1979 that stone pavement was completed on all country roads. Asphalt pavement was only completed with special funds for infrastructure construction from the government during 1973-1981.
In industrial road construction in the district, industrial road construction between Tuci and Ganglin and between Jhongkeng and Nankeng started only in 1975 and 1977 respectively. Industrial road construction from the administrative center to Yuyuan and Kaotan started in different stages between 1976 and 1986.
The construction of industrial roads from the district border to Longchuanwo and from Daping to Nankeng started in 1986 and 1987 respectively. From then on, with the continuous effort of township chiefs, township representatives, and village chiefs over time, the local road network was finally completed. Whether from Qiding to Ganglin in Zuozhen, from Tuqi to Dakeng in Sinhua, from Daping to Tianliao in Kaohsiung City, from Longchuan to Zuozhen, or from Niupu to Neimen in Kaohsiung City, they are all accessible from all directions, and this is beyond the imagination of early settlers in the district.
In the "Tainan County/City Merger and Restructuring Program" announced by the Ministry of the Interior on September 1, 2009, Tainan County and Tainan City weremerged and restructured into a municipality: Tainan City. From then on Longci Township was restructured as Longci District of Tainan City.