Shizaitoushan Frontier Militia Line

Remains of a Japanese colonial era security cordon on the wooded upper slopes of Shizaitoushan (獅仔頭山), an 858 meter peak straddling the boundary between Sanxia and Xindian. Qing dynasty authorities stationed frontier guards on the mountain in 1886, and it later served as a stronghold for anti-Japanese insurgents. In 1903 the Government-General’s police opened a militia line here, the first built under their direct supervision, to shield the camphor monopoly from the Tayal people of neighbouring Wulai. An andesite stele erected that year marks its starting point; the weathered inscription on its face, composed by Ōshima Kumaji (大島久滿次), explains why the line was extended, while the reverse names the policemen killed, wounded, or lost to disease in the effort. Nearby are the collapsed stone walls of several guard posts, some possibly of Qing origin, along with a trench and well attributed to the insurgents; the stele and ruins were restored in 2008.