Early settlement The area around Hsinchu City was inhabited by the
Taokas aborigines when the
Spanish immigrants occupied northern Taiwan in the 17th century.
Catholic missionaries reached the settlement of Tek-kham in 1626. The Spanish were expelled by the Dutch immigrants a few decades later. A Chinese town was established at Tek-kham by and other
Han settlers in 1711. Wang and his party of over 180 people were natives of
Kinmen who first camped alongside what is now Dongqian Street in
East District, Hsinchu. As part of the reorganization of Taiwan by
Shen Baozhen, the
viceroy of Liangjiang, Zhuqian
Subprefecture (i.e., Tek-kham) was raised to the level of a
county and renamed Xinzhu (i.e., Sin-tek or Hsinchu) in 1878. When Taiwan
was made a province in 1887, Hsinchu was made a part of
Taipeh Prefecture.
Japanese occupation During the Japanese occupation, the cityknown at the time as Shinchikuwas among the province's most populous. In 1904, its 16,371 residents ranked it in
7th place, behind
Keelung and ahead of
Changhua ("Shoka"). Shinchiku was raised to town status in 1920 and city status in 1930. At the same time, it became the seat of
Shinchiku Prefecture. In 1941, its prefecture was expanded, annexing
Xiangshan ("Kōzan"). Jiugang ("Kyūminato") and Liujia ("Rokka") merged to become
Zhubei ("Chikuhoku").
Republic of China rule The Republic of China's Kuomintang government of the established the
Hsinchu City Government in 1945 to oversee all of what had been Shinchiku Prefecture under the Japanese. In 1946, the Take-Over Committee dissolved and replaced by the
Hsinchu County Government, located in
Taoyuan. As the administrative districts were readjusted, Hsinchu was granted
provincial city status. It used the old prefecture office as its city hall at 120 Road. In February 1946, representative congresses were formed for seven
district offices. On 15 April, the city congress was formed. Provincial representatives were elected from among the city legislators. On 16 August 1950, the
administrative districts on Taiwan were re-adjusted once more, demarcating 16
counties and 5
provincial cities. In June 1982, under presidential order, the
Xiangshan Township of
Hsinchu County merged into Hsinchu City. A new municipal government was formally established on 1 July 1982, comprising 103
villages and 1,635 neighborhoods. These were organized into the East, North, and Xiangshan
districts by 1November. By June 1983, the new government consisted of three bureaus (Civil Service, Public Works, and Education), four departments (Finance, Social Welfare, Compulsory Military Service, and Land Affairs), four offices (Secretary, Planning, Personnel, and Auditing), and 49 various sections. The Police Department, Tax Department, and Medicine and Hygiene Department were considered affiliate institutions. From 1994 to 1999, as Taiwan made its transition from authoritarian rule to a
representative democracy and the mostly
pro forma provincial level of government began to be dissolved, regulations were established for the self-government of Hsinchu. A deputy mayor, consumer officer, and three consultants were added to the city government. In 2002, the city added a Bureau of Labor and transferred Compulsory Military Service to the Department of Civil Service. A movement is underway from 2021 to have Hsinchu City and
Hsinchu County to be upgraded to the nation's seventh
special municipality. ==Geography==