Han Chinese didn ’ t much venture into the Lan-yang Plain prior to 1796 because of its inconvenient location beyond the mountains delimiting the eastern edge of the Tai-pei basin, and because it was populated by the Ka-va-lan tribe. That changed, however, after a group led by Wu Sha began settling the area around Toucheng.
這塊富庶平原，因僻處後山一隅，又有嘎瑪蘭人據守，一直是漢人的禁地，直到 1796 年「蘭陽王」吳沙從北端頭城入墾，才改變了它的樣貌。