First inhabited by the Hoanya aborigines, the region was named Tirosen.
With the arrival of Han Chinese in southwestern Taiwan, the name Tirosen evolved to become Chu-lô-san in Hokkien. Eventually, Chu-lô-san was shortened to simply Chu-lô. Because of the choice of the characters, it has been mistakenly suggested that the origin of the name Chu-lô-san or Chu-lô came from the expression "mountains surrounding the east." "Peach City" is another name for Chiayi City due to its peach-shaped territory in ancient times. The tip of the peach is around Central Fountain and was called "Peach-tip" by citizens.
Chulôsan was once the foothold to which people from the mainland immigrated. In 1621, Yen Szu-Chi, who came from Zhangzhou, FujianProvince, first led his people to cultivate this land after they landed at Penkang (Peikang). In 1661 (the 15th year of Yung-Li, Ming Dynasty),Koxinga defeated the Dutch based in Taiwan. Then he established one province, Cheng-Tien-Fu, and two counties, Tien-Hsing and Wan-Nien, demarcated by the Hsin-Kang River, the Yen-Shui River now). Chiayi was under the jurisdiction of the Tien-Hsing County.
In 1684 (the 23rd year of Kangxi, the Qing Dynasty, see Taiwan under Qing Dynasty rule), Taiwan was established as Taiwan Sub-Province governing three counties, Taiwanand Feng-Shan, which were divided from Wan-Nien County in Ming Dynasty, and Chu-Lo, which was changed from Tien-Hsing County. The county government of Chu-Lo County was in Chia-li Hsing, modern Jiali, Tainan).
In 1704 (the 43rd year of Kangxi), the county government of Chu-Lo County moved from Chia-li Hsing to Chulosan, the current Chiayi City, with city walls in wood railing. In 1727 (5th year of the Yongzheng Emperor), the county magistrate, Liu Liang-Bi rebuilt the gatehouses and set a gun platform for each gatehouse. The four gatehouses were named: "Chin Shan" (襟山) for East, "Tai Hai" for West, "Chung Yang" for South, and "Kung Chen" for North
