Hydrological Map of Tainan

In addition to the quantitative marking of points and locations, can a map indicate the cultural context of historical layers? The Hydrological Map of Tainan is purposely presented in an expanded scale to provide a comprehensive overview of Tainan’s hydrological landscape from afar and a closer look at Tainan’s rivers, canals, drainage lines, ponds, fish ponds, reservoirs, and the distribution and changes of water-dependent settlements such as villages, towns, communities, streets, and cities.

After completing the Bird’s-eye View of Zengwen River in 2023, the Hydrological Map of Tainan was further drawn. The geographical scope of this map covers the Bazhang River, Jishui River, Jiangjun River, Zengwen River, Yanshui River, and Erren River, as well as the Wenyuan River, Deqing River, Fu’ankeng River, and Zhu River inside and outside the olden Tainan Prefecture.

The Hydrological Map of Tainan is based on the Taiwan Baotu compiled by the Japanese colonial authorities in 1904, primarily on the basis of the Qing Dynasty’s land survey of Taiwan. The Tainan area is extracted from the Baotu and redrawn, then pieced together to create a complete map of Tainan’s geographical context over a century. It is then compared with today’s Google Maps and field investigations of water bodies to record and revise the map. This “map drawing” shows more than the temporal and spatial relationships between the rivers and settlements along the rivers in Tainan’s past and present, as laid out by the cultural vision of the artist.

Main creations include painting, sculpture, and map drawing. Born in Taiwan in 1963, graduated from Pratt Institute’s School of Art in the United States in 1994, and from the graduate school of California Institute of the Arts in 1996. After being active in Taiwan’s art scene for several years in his early career, he developed an interest in community colleges and community building, which led him to move to Taitung and engage in a decade of community and tribal organization activities. In recent years, after settling in Tainan, he has picked up the brush again, painting illustrations and drawing maps.