Sandimen

22°43′N 120°39′E

Sandimen Township 三地門鄉
Mountain indigenous township
Sandimen Township in Pingtung County
Location	Pingtung County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China
Area
• Total	196 km2 (76 sq mi)
Population  (February 2024)
• Total	7,717
• Density	39/km2 (100/sq mi)

Sandimen Township
Traditional Chinese	三地門鄉
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sāndìmén Xiāng Wade–Giles San1-ti4-men2 Hsiang1 Hakka Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Sâm-thi-mùn-hiông Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sam-tē-mn̂g-hiong
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	山地門
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shāndìmén Southern Min Hokkien POJ Soaⁿ-tē-mn̂g

Sandimen Township^[1] is a mountain indigenous township in Pingtung County, Taiwan Province, Republic of China. The population of the township consists mainly of the Paiwan people with a substantial Rukai minority.

Names

Ethnic Chinese settlers homophonically translated the original Paiwan name (Paiwan: setjimur, lit. 'people of Tjimur communinty'^[2]) into Hokkien (Chinese: 山豬毛; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Soaⁿ-ti-mn̂g; lit. 'wild-boar bristle'; or 山地門; Soaⁿ-tē-mn̂g; 'mountains-gate').^[3] Under Japanese rule the name was Sanchimon (Japanese: 山地門). Following the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the area became Sandimeng Township (三地盟鄉; Sāndìméng Xiāng) but the name was changed again in 1947 to Sandi Township (Chinese: 三地鄉; pinyin: Sāndì Xiāng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sam-tē-hiong) but the Taiwanese pronunciation of Soaⁿ-tē-mn̂g continued to be commonly used.^[4] In August 1992, the township assumed its current name.

History

During the Japanese era, Sandimen was grouped with modern-day Majia Township and Wutai Township as "Aboriginal Areas" (蕃地), which was governed under Heitō District (屏東郡) of Takao Prefecture. Following the Kuomintang takeover of Taiwan in 1945, Sandimen was assigned to Kaohsiung County and, on 16 August 1950, it became a part of the newly established Pingtung County.

Geography

• Population: 7,717 people (February 2024)
• Area: 196.4 square kilometres (75.8 sq mi)

Administrative divisions

The township comprises 10 villages: Anpo, Dalai, Dashe, Dewen, Jingshan, Jingye, Koushe, Mani, Saijia and Sande.

Tourist attractions

• Guchuan Bridge
• Maolin National Scenic Area