| Fudeyang Waterway |

The source of Fudeyang waterway has its water intake at Waishuangxi outside the second Teaching and Research Building of Soochow University. The name was a transliteration of “De Yang” in Taiwanese dialect, also known as “the plain”. The Keelung River, Shuangxi and Jiantanshan enclose a triangular plain, which is adjacent to the river of Waishuangxi Basin, providing convenient transportation to the outside world via water or rail. From the 42nd year of Kangxi reign (Year 1703) to the 8th year of Xianfeng reign (Year 1858), only Zhilan New Street and the Old Street (formerly known as Zhilan Street) were the official streets under city planning, while the remaining areas were all paddy rice fields until the Japanese-Occupied Period, when more planned streets were developed along the Tamsui Line Railway.

This became the place of ancestors’ gathering, where the community residents built the first temple of the Earth God (currently near Shin Kong Wu Ho Shu Memorial Hospital), given the place the name “Fude” in respect to the diety. Shennong Palace, the earliest fude temple in Shilin, was originally named “Zhilan Temple”, in dedication to the Earth God, and an old map of ancient Shilin was kept in the temple. Since the triangular plain was called “Fudeyang”, it symbolizes the land being blessed by the Earth God himself. The water required of the farmlands in this vast plain was built by the tenants such as the Wu Family of Shilin in the first year of Qianlong reign (Year 1736). Due to the ancestors’ cultivation effort, with the water taken from the upper reaches of Waishuangxi, not only did it irrigate and nourish lands of Linzikou, Xizhouzi, Xiashulin, Fudeyang (near Zhouweitou), etc., but also provided water for residential use and even industrial use at Shilin Paper Factory during the Japanese-Occupied Period, truly deserving the title of “Fudeyang waterway”. It is about seven kilometers in length and extracts water from the upper reaches of Shuangxi. The water will flow through the canal along the left bank of Shuangxi and bifurcated at the area of Shuangxi Park near Taibei International Junior High School, which is divided into the primary north branch to irrigate the land of Zhoumei in the west and the secondary south branch around the Shilin Market to merge into the Keelung River. 

As early ancestors settled in Fudeyang, they were forced to relocate from the upper reaches of the Keelung River to Shuangxi (near Shennong Palace) due to the flooding by typhoons, where they really began to cluster and develop local economy, and called the place Pattsiran Street. During the Xianfeng reign, the well-known incident of internecine strife between Zhangzhou people and Quanzhou people had left many houses burned down and the eager effort to rebuild was met with disastrous flooding. It was not until Pan Yungching of a local prominent family planned the city streets with a new Mazu temple (aka. Cixian Temple) designated as the village center, that his leadership led everyone to relocate and helped Zhilan New Street prosper a few months later, as the old street of Zhilan was soon forgotten and fell behind in the wake of such new development. In January 1896, the “Zhishanyan Incident” occurred in Shilin, where six Japanese teachers were killed and Pan Yungching’s son, Pan Guangsong (then the Director of Community Watch) was implicated and killed by the Japanese. In 1901, the Tamsui Line Railway was officially opened and a new railway station was set up in Shilin, which led to more spatial development, including a township administration and the train station all nearby the town circle. In 1915, the Japanese planned a “public market” on the north side of Danan Road, and later in 1918, the predecessor of “Shihlin Paper Corporation” was established in the barren land and cemetery area on the south side of the waterway near Dabei Road, which was then called “Taiwan Paper K.K”. In 1950, the former President Chiang Kai-Shek set up his official residence in Jiantanshan of Shilin, placing the region under military control, as many military and public officials were stationed, further restricting the development of the area. Shilin, at this time, was eventually put under the jurisdiction of Yangmingshan Administration. Typhoon Gloria struck in 1963 and severely damaged the area. The former President Chiang ordered the construction of embankment on the south bank of Shuangxi. As the entire Taipei Basin was flooded for three days, there was only one place in Shilin that was not affected and it was the Mazu temple (Cixian Temple), which would eventually serve as the center of future development in Shilin.