Yilan City
A county-administered city in Yilan County, Taiwan
Yilan City (Mandarin pinyin: Yílán Shì; Hokkien POJ: Gî-lân-chhī) is a county-administered city and the county seat of Yilan County, Taiwan. The city lies on the north side of the Lanyang River.
History
The Yilan Plain in which the city is located has historically been referred to as Kapalan (Chinese: 蛤仔難; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kap-á-lān), Kapsulan (蛤仔蘭; Kap-chú-lân; also 甲子蘭), Komalan (噶瑪蘭; Kat-má-lán), etc. These names, as well as that of Yilan itself, were given to the sites by the Kavalan tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. Later arrivals included Han Chinese settlers during the Qing dynasty in China (1802) and settlers from Okinawa during Taiwan's Japanese era (1895–1945).
Qing dynasty
In 1810 under Qing dynasty rule, a formal administration office was established at Wuwei (五圍) and "Komalan Subprefecture" (噶瑪蘭廳; Kat-má-lán Thiaⁿ) was at the present day location of Yilan City. Construction of the city wall was completed a year later. After a few years once the basic infrastructure was ready, the city assumed the political, economical, cultural and educational center for the Lanyang Plain. In 1878, Komalan was a large rice production area commonly called Kapsulan, and became a district called Gilan Hsien. It was one of the three new districts that constituted the new Taipeh Prefecture.
The public source identifies “Yilan City” as a county-administered city in Yilan County, Taiwan. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Yilan, City and county-administered.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Yilan City”, the useful work is to connect “a county-administered city in Yilan County, Taiwan” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q680842. Authority coordinates are 24.750, 121.750. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1802, 1895, 1945 and 1810.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Yilan City”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Yilan City primary sources, Yilan City archive and Yilan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Yilan City”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Yilan City” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.