The following content is excerpted from Chapter 4 "Wasteland" of "The Colonization that Changed Taiwan: The Development History of the Kaohsiung Reclamation Unit"
Published by Kaifeng Book Company, 1831 edition
This is a typical subtropical wetland. It only took a few days for the forest burned by the flames to return to some green. However, the place will never return to its original appearance. Simple cities and towns were built on the burned land, and the land was flat.
The first plantations were being established on the land that had passed.
This piece of land developed by the settlers is like a small island in the sea of green subtropical plant jungle, surrounded by the boundless green ocean. The arrival of autumn makes the colors mottled and beautiful.
However, this beautiful scenery does not make the residents happy. The wind blowing through the jungle must have been whispering in their ears: You have to rely on yourself now, you are now isolated from the world, and your situation is very dangerous.
Today, it is difficult to imagine the first batch of immigrants who came here, wearing overalls and straw sandals, heading to the construction site along the newly opened path. It is also difficult to imagine that they stood on the tower and looked at the green ocean that stretched to the horizon.
How they felt; I am afraid it is difficult to understand why they left their hometown and came here.
Niaosong Reclamation Area of the First Regiment of the Taiwan Reclamation Brigade. This is the official name of the place where they are located. No one knows why this place is called Niaosong, and no one knows why the lake next to it is called Dabei Lake, and the other one is slightly farther away and smaller.
Some of the lakes were called Little Bay Lakes. These names appeared on the paperwork of the 1st Regiment from the beginning.
The Niaosong Reclamation Area is an out-and-out isolated island. In December 1631, the nearest camp was 12 kilometers away, and there was only a barely passable path connecting them. It was like a thin blood vessel, transporting water here.
The nourishment for survival.
It is this path that brings endless hope to the immigrants. It is also this path that makes them believe that the omnipotent Senate that brought them here will always protect them and lead them to build a new life here.
's home.
Now, the home is slowly taking shape. Everyone has to build a shelter for themselves that is more reliable than a tent. The settlement is gradually taking shape as trees are cut down and made into planks and building materials. This is their new home.
They never thought that one day this place would become a big city. Now they are just some poor people who left their homes because of hunger. In order to survive, they came to this barbaric place and made a living with their hands. Other than that, they had no other thoughts.
A city was built on this small settlement. Nowadays, except for the place names: Niaosong District and Dabei Lake, no trace of the settlement has been left.
Dabei Lake still exists. Compared with two hundred years ago, the outline and area of Dabei Lake have changed a lot, but the river water is still clear and the water quality is fresh. The lakeside has become a large ecological wetland park with a Jiuqu Bridge.
, there are pavilions, tea rooms and cafes, as well as warning signs for water source protection.
Walking by the lake, tourists may imagine one or two farm girls walking on the grassy grass, carrying iron buckets to the lake to fetch water. While they were dipping the buckets into the lake, they were talking softly.
The braid is also tied with a bow.
Since the release of the famous film "Spring Dawn in Tainan-Kaohsiung" fifty years ago, people have been filled with pastoral fantasies about this past event. Although the reality is probably a hundred thousand different from their imaginations.
Eight thousand miles. At least in the early days of settlement, there were no young girls on the settlement, and a small number of women did not spend any time on their hair. According to relevant archives of the Agricultural Reclamation Corps, it was popular for women to cut their hair short, even if
It is also convenient to maintain personal hygiene during labor.
Today, various shops in the park are trying their best to extract profits from the historical stories that happened here. In front of a tourist souvenir shop, there is a set of inferior wax figures, which are said to represent the "pioneer family". Not to mention The wax figures look scary, and their clothes are too well-dressed. You will never be willing to take home those low-quality costume souvenirs that are copied from the costumes in the movie. But tourists will probably still be attracted by the various costumes around the park in Guangzhou. I was dazzled by the shops and stalls and bought a bunch of specious "souvenirs".
The stone statues of Guan Shanyue and Li Dongtian stand in the center of the square. They were sculpted in 1731 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In terms of their artistic value, they are not very good. After many years of wind and rain, the faces of the two elders have changed. It became unclear. Passers-by seldom paid attention to these two pioneer leaders.
Tourists who care about this period of history always go straight to the location of the camp. Of course, the camp that stands in Dabei Lake Park today is a replica, which was built by experts in 1731 based on historical data. From the perspective of "historical monuments" It is said that this Xibei product is now a genuine "antique".
In order to make the "replica" last longer, or to reduce subsequent maintenance work, it uses a reinforced concrete structure and only has the texture of logs on the outside. Although the builders tried their best to express the original appearance of the time, It is primitive and simple, but the exposed steel structure inside and the aluminum alloy doors and windows embedded in the walls make the whole building look nondescript.
Even so, this retro building still gives us a rough idea of what the original camp looked like. In 1731, in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Taiwan, a research team from National Taiwan University collected a large amount of data and guided the construction of this replica. In The exhibition room of "Yingzhai" still displays their research results at that time, which is enough for us to have a closer look at the past of this fort.
The fort itself and the buildings in it were mainly built with local logs. Two hundred years ago, the Tainan-Kaohsiung Plain was covered with a large area of forest, and wood was an easily available building material. The rest of the building materials, except for iron products and extremely Except for a small amount of cement, almost all materials are locally sourced, including local clay, hay, wild hemp, vines and bamboo.
Except for the two wooden houses built with prefabricated buildings transported by oxcarts, the remaining wooden houses in the camp are built of logs in the well-rail style. The gaps between the wood and the wood are filled with wild hemp mixed with soil. It is as moisture-proof as possible, and the floor is elevated. Stones are used as the plinth below.
There was no shortage of materials or manpower, and the wood was not fumigated or peeled. The branches and leaves were simply removed and used as building materials. Therefore, the work of building houses progressed very quickly. By December 28, thirty-eight people in the camp were Several wooden houses were erected, eight of which were warehouses and offices, and the rest were used as dormitories.
It can be seen from the panoramic model displayed in the exhibition hall that the real camp is far more crowded than the replica. The wooden houses are arranged in a group with six houses as a unit. The doors of the wooden houses all face the inside of the group. The group itself also has a door. Even if the enemy Even if you break into the camp, you won't be able to break into the group.
According to the description of historical data, all the buildings of one of the groups were restored in the camp. These houses were built according to unified standards. Each house is 20 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 3 meters high. The standard accommodation of each room
The number of people is thirty. This is also the standard number of people for each farming team.
People today can hardly imagine how thirty people living in a room slept and how they lived together on daily basis. However, the immigrants two hundred years ago were very satisfied with having a comfortable bed to sleep on.
The double bed is arranged against one wall, and the immigrants' lockers are on the other side. The bed is covered with straw mats and thin woolen blankets. The pillows are made of rattan. On the bedside table are government-issued underwear, two sets per year. Storage
The cabinet contains their work clothes and a few personal belongings - so it is locked. Their hats and towels are hung neatly on the wall, and the wooden shelves hold tea jars, tooth sets, and lunch boxes for eating. All of these are
Each person's name is written in black paint, wiped clean every day, and placed neatly.
At the entrance of every house, there are weapon racks and ammunition boxes. Militarized management means that the farmland itself is an armed force. Those who are organized into the basic armed squadron are equipped with muskets. Ordinary immigrants, regardless of gender, only need 16~
Those aged between 60 and older are all issued with spears and machetes. In their spare time, they practice martial arts in the open space.
Only when they see these weapons can they realize the danger of the environment they are in. We cannot guess what mood the immigrants were in when they fell asleep every night two hundred years ago, but there is no doubt that even in their sleep,
They also remained vigilant.
According to the model, there are eight buildings used as warehouses and offices in Shangzhai. However, only three of them can be seen now: the wing headquarters, warehouse and health center.
The wing headquarters and the health clinic are the only two wooden houses built with prefabricated components. Therefore, they are more exquisite and beautiful, and the internal facilities are more complete. The two veterans Guan Shanyue and Li Dongtian lived there when they pioneered Niaosong.
here.
Now it has been turned into a memorial hall, which collects and displays a large number of written materials and small cultural relics of the reclamation troops, as well as elder manuscripts and objects donated by the family foundations of the two elders. Including the rubber boots worn by Li Dongtian during the reclamation period, Guanshan Leap Through
Wool waterproof coat.
In addition to restoring the scene at that time, the health center also has a special exhibition on malaria prevention in Taiwan. It shows the malaria prevention work during the pioneering period. Among hundreds of materials and collections, the most precious one is an unopened box of 1630
Quinine powder was produced by the experimental pharmaceutical factory directly under Lingao General Hospital. At that time, it was this inconspicuous powder packed in a tin box and sealed with oily wax paper. It saved the lives of countless Taiwanese pioneers and was known as the "miracle medicine"
Its raw material, the quinine tree, was first successfully planted artificially in Taiwan by the agricultural reclamation troops.
