Yanshui's founding school, over 125 years old.
Yanshui Elementary began on July 1, 1898, as "Chiayi Japanese-Language Training Institute's Yanshui Port Branch," on the site of today's Yanshui post office. It became independent as "Yanshui Port Public School" on October 1, 1898, added an advanced course and was renamed "Yanshui Public School" in 1921, became "Yanshui East National School" in 1941 after an education-ordinance revision, and took its current name, Yanshui National Elementary School, on August 1, 1968. It is Yanshui district's oldest school, with a history of over 125 years. The campus grounds also include the remains of a former Shinto shrine, known as "Yanshui Elementary's shrine," now registered as a protected cultural and religious heritage site.
鹽水國小創立於明治31年（1898年）7月1日，最初為「嘉義國語傳習所鹽水港分教場」，校址即今鹽水郵局所在地。同年（明治31年）10月1日獨立設校為「鹽水港公學校」，大正10年（1921年）增設高等科並更名「鹽水公學校」，昭和16年（1941年）因教育令修訂改稱「鹽水東國民學校」，民國57年（1968年）8月1日改為現名「鹽水國民小學」。學校是鹽水區歷史最悠久的學校，創校已逾125年。校園內至今仍保留昔日日本神社遺跡「鹽水國小神社」，已登錄為受保護的文化暨宗教資產。
What makes this school worth knowing.
⛩️ Protected On-Campus Shrine Ruins
鹽水國小神社遺跡
The campus grounds preserve the remains of a former Shinto shrine, now registered as a protected cultural and religious heritage site.
🏫 Yanshui's Oldest School
鹽水區歷史最悠久
With a history stretching back to 1898, Yanshui Elementary is the oldest school in the entire district, over 125 years old.
📮 Founded Where the Post Office Now Stands
創校於今郵局原址
The school's original 1898 site is now occupied by Yanshui's post office, a small but telling marker of how the town center has shifted over a century.
🏯 Born With Taiwan's First School Network
與日本殖民初期學制同步誕生
The school was founded the same year Japan's colonial government began rolling out its first modern school network across Taiwan.
From river port to colonial seat.
As Yanshui's founding school — built where the town's post office now stands — Yanshui Elementary embodies the town's transition from a bustling Qing-era river port (immortalized in the old saying "first Tainan, second Lukang, third Bangka, fourth Yuejin") to a Japanese colonial administrative seat. Its on-campus shrine ruins are a direct physical trace of that colonial-era history, standing alongside similar shrine remnants at nearby Annei Elementary as reminders of Yanshui's layered past — a past the district still marks today through its historic old-town streets and its famous annual Beehive Fireworks Festival.
Find the school.
No. 137, Chaoqin Rd., Shuixiu Village, Yanshui District, Tainan City 737, Taiwan
737 台南市鹽水區水秀里朝琴路137號
School's Official Website (Chinese) ↗
Last updated: July 2026 · Content adapted and condensed from the school's official Chinese-language website by the Taiwan Bilingual Hub team, not yet reviewed by the school. If you're from Yanshui Elementary School and would like to correct or expand this page, please contact us.