Written in stone

Each week, hundreds of hikers tackle the 2,000m peaks around Chianshi township (尖石鄉), a misty hamlet tucked deep in the mountains of Hsinchu County. Aside from them, however, the town remains quite isolated. Atayal (泰雅) Aborigines -- who comprise over 90 percent of the township's population -- tend the town's orchards and gardens, growing peaches, cabbages and other vegetables for their livelihoods in the quiet of the foggy mountains.

Chianshi's pristine beauty has been well-documented over the years by several writers hailing from different parts of Taiwan. Some of their works are now being displayed along a 200m stretch at the start of a trail that winds its way around the Naluo Leisure Orchard (那羅休閒農場), a tourist destination facing Naluo Creek, which opened yesterday.

The trail was the brainchild of Yun Tian-bao (雲天寶), or Lushin Ashan, as his Atayal tribespeople call him. A literary enthusiast, the Chianshi township commissioner once wanted to be a journalist in order to write about his own people. First as a student and later after finding work in Taipei, he devoted his spare time to writing stories about his childhood and teenage years spent in the mountains with their crystal clear creeks and magnificent waterfalls, some of which were published in newspapers.

Although Yun ended up as a politician, he never lost the desire to tell the outside world about the beauty of his hometown. There should be, Yun decided, a literary aspect to developing tourism in Chianshi. Drawing in part from his knowledge of the literature about Chianshi, Yun earlier this year put together the writings of six authors through whose words the life and natural environment in Chianshi had become known. Under his aegis, passages from these works were inscribed in red on stones placed at the edge of the cliff along Nalu creek.

"These writings went a long way toward raising the profile of the place and of the Atayal tribe. As Chianshi became more `visible,' the government began to pay more attention to the town. It became easier for us to get a larger budget and other forms of assistance from them. So, I wanted to dedicate the stones to the writers who cared about Chianshi," Yun said.

"But most of all, the trail will hopefully influence future generations," Yun said. "The place may seem like a literary desert to most people, as few connect Aborigines with literary achievement. But that will change in the future. Chianshi will have its own literati too."

At the far end of the trail, two slabs have been left uninscribed. It is Yun's hope that, in the near future, townspeople can inscribe them with writings by local Atayals.

At another point along the trail, next to Women's Lake, a huge cliff has been earmarked for inscription with the writings of two village scholars who will write the legends of the Atayal tribe in three languages -- Atayal, Mandarin and English. This is for visitors to learn about the Chianshi as Atayals see it.

The first Han Chinese to write about Chianshi was Chen Ming-fan (陳銘蹯), radio host and chief executive for the Forest Institute, a Chinese composition workshop.

Fresh out of school thirty years ago, Chen was assigned to teach at Chienping Elementary School and then Yufeng Elementary School in the mountains in Chianshi. His two-year stint there marked a watershed for the young man from downtown Hsinchu.