aeeble

The "Jiantan" in Dali Village, in 1956, was built for hydraulic engineering and was named "Jiantan Reservoir". The legends and stories surrounding the reservoir are numerous, adding to its mystique, and have endured for a long time, making it a notable attraction. Although not to the extent of being included in folk tales and anecdotes, it can still add interest to daily conversations. The origin of the place name has two accounts: one related to Zheng Chenggong and the other to Lin Shuangwen. The former tells that over 300 years ago, Zheng Chenggong led his troops to Dali Village for a military campaign against the indigenous people. After consecutive days of unfavorable battles, Zheng, frustrated and angered by his sword's ineffectiveness, threw it into a nearby deep pool. The pool's water suddenly surged, and it took seven days and nights to calm down, resulting in the name "Jiantan". However, the actual story behind the name remains ambiguous and open to interpretation. The latter account dates back to 1786 when Lin Shuangwen led a rebellion against the Qing dynasty in Changhua. After his defeat, he fled northward. As he passed by the bridge, feeling hopeless, he threw his sword into the pool. Another version states that Lin Shuangwen led his troops through the area, and his soldiers were extremely thirsty. Lin inserted his sword into the ground, and a spring burst forth, forming a pool, with the sword disappearing into it. There are also legends about how to retrieve the sword. One says that using rice hulls as a rope was the only way to fish it out. A person once used malt sugar to stick to the rice hulls and cast the line into the pool, and indeed, the sword appeared on the water's surface. However, just as the person was about to pull it out, a voice from afar said, "That is not a rice hull, but a malt sugar rope," and the sword immediately sank back down. The story of hearing a voice from afar seems absurd but still sparks imagination. Another account claims that on the first and fifteenth days of each lunar month, during the hour of the rat, the pool's water becomes exceptionally clear, and the sword will float to the surface, only to sink back down after a while. Villagers have invited each other to verify this claim, but to this day, no one has succeeded in retrieving the sword.