Hoalieen Koan: Difference between revisions

According to The Record of Hualien County, the place was called ''[[Kilaai]]'' (奇萊) by the native Austronesian inhabitants of Taiwan. Spanish settlers arrived in 1622 to pan for gold. Picking up the sounds of native words, these settlers called the area "Turumoan" (多羅滿). Han Chinese settlers arrived in 1851. Qing Dynasty recorded the name of the region as "Huilan" (洄瀾 "eddies") due to the whirling of waters in the delta.

Because Kilai (Kirai in Japanese) sounds the same as "dislike" (嫌い) in Japanese, the Japanese administration changed the name to Karen (花蓮) in the early 20th century. The Republic of China Kuomintang administration of the late 20th century promoted the Mandarin reading, Hualien.