Sun, Apr 12, 2026 page12

• Taiwan in Time: The battle for the 400-year old Nanshan Cemetery

  Efforts continue to preserve the massive Nanshan Cemetery, which contains the graves of numerous notable residents and families

  • By Han Cheung / Contributing reporter
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  Apr. 13 to Apr. 19

  From 17th-century royalty and Presbyterian missionaries to White Terror victims, cultural figures and industrialists, Nanshan Public Cemetery (南山公墓) sprawls across 95 hectares, guarding four centuries of Taiwan’s history.

  Current estimates show more than 60,000 graves, the earliest dating to 1642. Besides individual tombs, there are also hundreds of family plots, one of which is said to contain around 1,000 remains.

  

  A section of the Nanshan Public Cemetery.

  Photo: Taipei Times file

  As the cemetery occupies valuable land in the heart of Tainan, the government in 2018 began asking families to relocate the graves to make way for development. That year, a Tainan mayoral candidate even proposed razing the site to build a giant Thailand-style night market.

  This sparked a civic movement to preserve the cemetery. But last April, the Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage denied the site cultural landscape status. Only four graves so far have been designated as historical relics.

  Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) says the city plans to transform the grounds into a “Life Education Park” that balances historical preservation with urban development — but activists remain skeptical. The city restarted the relocation process earlier this year, giving families until the end of next month to relocate the first batch of graves — reigniting the debate as preservationists took to the streets on March 28 and began gathering signatures for a referendum.

  

  Dating back to 1642, Tseng Chen-yang’s grave is considered the oldest at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  AUSPICIOUS LAND

  Prior to Japanese arrival, when Tainan was still a walled city, its outskirts were dotted with graves. According to the book Protect Nanshan Public Cemetery (守護南山公墓), any rugged land on the surrounding highlands that were unsuitable for habitation or agriculture was commonly used for burials.

  Located southwest of the city, the land that became Nanshan Cemetery consists of a complex terrain of ridges and valleys formed by the main stream and tributaries of the Jhusi River (竹溪). The landscape made it unsuitable for settlement, but it contained many “dragon lairs” considered auspicious in fengshui beliefs.

  

  The grave of noted Japanese-era activist Tsai Pei-huo at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  Historians believe the name Nanshan (“South Mountain”) comes from its location in the hilly area south of Tainan, as well as the term’s traditional associations with longevity.

  Most early Han settlers in Taiwan preferred to be laid to rest in their hometowns in China whenever possible. But cross-strait travel restrictions in the mid-1700s made transporting coffins difficult, and temples became crowded with remains awaiting shipment, prompting officials to allocate land and encourage local burials.

  Under Qing-era regulations and local practice, burials were generally allowed on uncultivated land outside settlements, even if it was privately owned.

  

  A banner reading “This is not just a cemetery, it is a chapter of Taiwan history” hangs outside the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.”

  Photo courtesy of Our Tainan Our Culture

  RESTRICTING BURIALS

  In the late 1890s, the Japanese colonial government began restricting burials to designated areas and promoting cremation. As Tainan’s city walls were dismantled and the city expanded, countless graves were relocated. Many ended up in Nanshan Cemetery, which became one of the city’s main burial grounds.

  During relocations, unclaimed graves were often consolidated into surname or ancestral plots, grouped according to family name or place of origin in China, writes Wu Chao-ming (吳昭明) in “The cultural and humanistic significance of Nanshan Public Cemetery” (南山公墓的人文意涵).

  

  Protestors march last month to save the 400-year Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo: Hung Jui-chin, Taipei Times

  In 1928, the Japanese decided to clear graves south of the city to build a sports ground commemorating the accession of Emperor Hirohito. The plan sparked strong public opposition, and in June nearly 3,000 people showed up to the meetings between officials and civil representatives. The police dispersed the crowd, but unrest continued and only subsided after 13 people were arrested.

  After World War II, the government designated the cemeteries in this area as Tainan First Public Cemetery. Today, most historic burial grounds around Tainan have been cleared, leaving Nanshan as the last major one.

  THE RESIDENTS

  

  Rev. Thomas Barclay’s tomb at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  The earliest attested grave at Nanshan Cemetery belongs to Tseng Chen-yang (曾振暘), who arrived in Tainan from Zhangzhou, China during Dutch rule. He died in 1642, and his tombstone is inscribed with a Ming Dynasty reign year.

  Ming loyalist Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功, also known as Koxinga) drove out the Dutch in 1662 and established the Kingdom of Tungning (東寧). One tombstone at Nanshan is inscribed with the names of two of his sons, Chen Jui (鄭睿) and Cheng Fa (鄭發), who died young and left no descendants. Another records two of Koxinga’s concubines, surnamed Tsai (蔡) and Tseng (曾).

  Along with the grave of 19th-century imperial scholar Shih Chiung-fang (施瓊芳), these are the only municipally-protected sites in the cemetery.

  

  The tomb of Buddhist master Pumingdeng at Nanshan Public Cemetery.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  Other notable Qing-era figures include wealthy businessman Lin Chao-ying (林朝英), famed for his calligraphy, sculpture and painting. He’s widely credited for single-handedly funding the 1806 renovation of the Tainan Confucius Temple.

  As Japanese troops closed in on Tainan in 1895, resistance leader Liu Yung-fu (劉永福) fled to China, leaving his fighters behind and the city in chaos. Presbyterian missionary Thomas Barclay met with the Japanese on behalf of the local gentry and helped facilitate a peaceful entry to restore order and prevent further bloodshed. Barclay is buried in the Presbyterian section of Nanshan Cemetery. Also in this section is Tsai Pei-huo (蔡培火), a social and political activist who advocated for Taiwanese autonomy during the Japanese period.

  Many White Terror victims are buried here, including Lin Mao-sheng (林茂生) and Shih Shui-huan (施水環). The cemetery also contains the graves of prominent political and business families, as well as that of “Mad Artist” Hung Tung (洪通), whose work sparked a brief nationwide craze in the 1970s.

  

  Lin Chao-ying’s grave at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

  There are countless more to list. As a protest banner outside the cemetery proclaims, “This is not just a cemetery, it is a chapter of Taiwan history.”

  Taiwan in Time, a column about Taiwan’s history that is published every Sunday, spotlights important or interesting events around the nation that either have anniversaries this week or are tied to current events.

  

  The Yang family tomb at the Nanshan Public Cemetery in Tainan.

  Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
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