During the early years of the Qing period, the island was divided administratively into the counties of Tainan, Fengshan, and Zhuluo. The latter was the northernmost of these three counties, and extended all the way to Taipei and Keelung, but settlers long declined to venture north of Touliu (today the county seat of Yunlin).
清初台灣隸屬於福建省，設有台灣府（台南），與鳳山、諸羅（嘉義）等縣，諸羅疆域擴及台北、基隆，但先民實際開墾的足跡僅及於斗六。