Editing Taipei (section)

===Early settlers–Qing dynasty===
Prior to the 18th century, the region known as the [[Taipei Basin]] was home to [[Ketagalan people|Ketagalan]] tribes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?recordid=109 |title=History |publisher=Taipei City Government |date=29 March 2004 |access-date=11 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507005944/http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?recordid=109 |archive-date=7 May 2005}}</ref> [[Han Chinese]] colonists from [[Dabu County]], [[Yongding County]], [[Anxi County|Anxi]] and [[Tong'an]] of [[Southern Fujian]] began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709.<ref name="kelly">{{cite book |last=Kelly |first=Robert |title=Taiwan |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |year=2007 |page=46 |isbn=978-1-74104-548-2}}</ref><ref name="tcghistory">{{cite web |url=http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?recordid=108 |title=History of Taipei |publisher=Taipei City Government |access-date=11 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526012848/http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?recordid=108 |archive-date=26 May 2007}}</ref>

In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas trade ports, [[Tamsui District|Tamsui]], were located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas trade, especially that of [[tea]] export. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from [[Taiwan Prefecture]] and incorporated into the new [[Taipeh Prefecture]] as a new administrative entity of the Qing dynasty.<ref name="marsh1">{{cite book |last=Marsh |first=Robert |title=The Great Transformation |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |year=1996 |page=84 |isbn=1-56324-788-7}}</ref> Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of [[Wanhua District|Bangka]], [[Dalongdong]], and [[Twatutia]], the new prefectural capital was known as ''Chengnei'' ({{zh|t=城內|p=chéngnèi|poj=siâⁿ-lāi}}), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture and the prefectural capital.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huang |first=Wenchuan |title=Street-naming and the Subjectivity of Taiwan: A Case Study of Taipei City |url=https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/download/2879/2868/5757 |journal=Asian and African Studies |access-date=5 June 2023 |archive-date=5 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605095923/https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/download/2879/2868/5757 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1886, as work commenced to govern the island as a province, Taipeh was designated as the provincial capital. When Japan acquired the island in 1895 as part of the peace agreement for the [[First Sino-Japanese War]], they retained Taipeh as the capital.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-26 |title=Taipei {{!}} History, Population, Map, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Taipei |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

Nowadays, all that remains from the historical period is the north gate. The west gate and [[Taipei City Walls|city walls]] were demolished by the Japanese while the south gate, little south gate, and east gate were extensively modified by the [[Kuomintang]] and have lost much of their original character.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=Joseph R. |title=Taipei: City of Displacements |date=2012 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |isbn=978-0-295-80426-2 |pages=75–81}}</ref>