Yang Nan-chun (楊南郡), an expert on the nation’s mountains and hiking trails, passed away on Saturday morning.Yang died of cancer aged 86 at National Taiwan University Hospital.
The Council of Agriculture said it would issue Yang, a famous mountain climber and researcher into ancient trails, a post-humous honorary title to recognize his contributions to the study of Taiwan’s mountains and forests.
Yang is considered a legend in the world of mountain climbing due to his unique passion for Taiwan’s ancient trails.
Photo courtesy of the Forestry Bureau
On June 6 and 7 — in the midst of his battle with cancer — Yang joined Forestry Bureau officials to revisit ancient trails that he surveyed with his wife 38 years earlier. Yang’s research of these trails is captured in videos, photographs and a text he composed titled The Natural Stronghold of the Path Over Hehuan Mountain Taken During the Taroko War.
Bureau officials recalled Yang’s abundant energy and his stories about the war with the Japanese in the mountain pass.
Yang and his wife, Hsu Ju-lin (徐如林), met while she was a chemistry student at National Taiwan University due to their shared interest in mountain climbing.
Hsu had initially written to the more senior Yang for advice while she was preparing to go on a solo expedition to Nanhu Mountain (南湖山).
Yang — who had moved to a new address — did not receive the letters, causing Hsu to think he was not interested in speaking with her. The issue was cleared up when they later met on a trail in Bijia Mountain (筆架山) in New Taipei City’s Shiding District (石碇). They fell in love shortly afterward.
Yang and Hsu were inseparable in their research of mountain trails, with Yang once remarking that conducting surveys with Hsu was “the happiest thing he could do.”
Yang said that while he was driven by emotion, Hsu was always the practical one.
Friends said Yang’s greatest contribution to trail research came from his translations of materials written in Japanese, in which he was well-versed.
Hsu would take Yang’s findings and turn them into vivid academic reports, preserving accounts of culturally historic events that occurred on these trails.
In 2014 Yang was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus, which later spread to his lymph nodes. He underwent several bouts of treatment until he was eventually transferred to the Hospice Foundation of Taiwan two weeks ago.
Well-known nature writer Liu Ka-shiang (劉克襄), who was a friend of Yang’s for almost 30 years, fondly recalled his times with Yang, saying his presence was “like that of a large mountain” and that his contributions elevated research into Taiwan’s mountains and trails to new heights.
While visiting Yang in the hospital a week ago, Liu asked him what message he would like to leave behind.
Yang wrote on a pad of paper: “The beauty of Taiwan’s mountains, valleys, flora and fauna have been overlooked for too long. These things and the beauty of Taiwan’s culture have been well documented by our mountaineering friends. With urgency and necessity they should be promoted and shared.”
In recent years the Forestry Bureau and Council of Agriculture commissioned Yang and Hsu to publish their findings. So far the couple’s research documenting the Nenggao National Trail (能高越嶺道), the Jinshueiying Ancient Trail (浸水營古道) and the Hehuan National Trail (合歡越嶺道) have been published, and there are plans to publish their research on the Syakaro National Trail (霞喀羅古道) and the Tsou people’s trail in Chiayi County’s Alishan (阿里山).
Hsu has vowed to continue compiling the couple’s research into book form with the aims of having it published.
According to his request that he be made “one with the land,” Yang will be buried at the foot of a tree in Taipei’s Muzha area (木柵).
Yang’s family has tentatively set a time of 2pm on Sept. 18 for the funeral procession, which is to be held at Chinan Church on Taipei’s Zhongshan S Road.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS