Fengyuan, a modern city, is often admired as a good place, yet few
knew the history of the town. Before settlement of the Han people at the turn of Ming to
Ching Dynasty, the area was originally home to the Pingpu Tribe, who lived on fishery and
hunting. The aborigines called her "Tai Ye Lue Duan" for the thriving pine
forest. Later during development, the Han discovered three geological sections which
studies proved to be deposition formations from the old riverbed of Tachia River.
Together, the three sections look like a calabash (bottle-gourd), and thus the name
Calabash Bank. Today, the largest block of which remains at the city centre.During the reign of Kanghsi, the Ching Dynasty, the Han migrated to the region and gradually infused with the Pingpu Tribe. In 1723 (Yungcheng Reign) when plaque raged, a Cantonese native by the name of Chang Ta-Ching came by and treated many with his herbal medicine. Out of gratitude, the tribal chief gave the hand of his daughter to him, who then settled down locally. Thereafter, Chang had built river banks, and channeled Tachia River for irrigation. The promising rich
harvest drew many more settlers from the mainland. The
ChingCourt appointed him liaison officer, who continued to strengthen the irrigation system, recruit tenants for farming. By the reign of Chienlung (1764), the Han settlement became sizable; villages were formed along the river, yielding a pictorial scene of growth and prosperity.
In Kuanghsu 12 (1886), impressed by the natural beauty of the land, Taiwan Governor Liu Ming-Chuan bestowed the region the name of "Flourishing Spring". Later in 1920, for her celebrated rice harvest, the Japanese took the two characters from the nation's tributary alias
"TOYO ASIHARA MIZUHO KOKU" and replaced the original Calabash Street to Fengyuan Street. After restitution, it was duly changed to Fengyuan Township. In R.O.C. Calendar Year 39 (1950), Taichung County Hall made the town home, and in 1986, the stature was elevated to county jurisdiction.