Kaohsiung used to be called “Takau” or “Takou” and both names were used in the historical records of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Regarding the name of “Takau,” as the Makatao of the Pingpu Tribe used to live along Kaohsiung harbor before the 15th century, it was called Takau by the bamboo forest tribe (pronounced Takau in the language of the Pingpu Tribe). Takau means "bamboo forest" and Takau is its transliteration, but as the pronunciation sounds like "dagou"(hit the dog) in Chinese, many people mistakenly believe the name comes from this.
Western Taiwan and Fujien are separated by the Taiwan Strait. In light of both warm and cool currents, it has become an excellent fishing area with abundant aquatic animals. The Taiwan Strait has been a place frequented by merchant ships and fishermen since the late Ming dynasty. Kaohsiung, one of the then important fishing areas, has a plentiful catch of Common Mullet from December to January every year. More and more Mainland seasonal immigrants are coming to Kaohsiung and due to the fishermen's frequent visits between the Mainland and Kaohsiung, they have learned a great deal about the geography of Kaohsiung, so there is an increasing number of businessmen and farmers.
