In Changhua County’s coastal village of Fangyuan (芳苑), “ocean oxen” (海牛) are trained to help harvest oysters, which is the dominant economy of the village. However, in recent years their numbers have decreased significantly.
“Fangyuan would not be Fangyuan without ocean oxen,” says Hung Wu-hsiung (洪武雄), an elderly ocean oxen trainer.
Although their numbers are diminishing, locals are working hard to preserve their culture, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty, when Fangyuan was a bustling port town.
Photo courtesy of Hong Yan-chao
“Back in Fangyuan’s heyday, we were Lukang’s second port, and we had over 400 ocean oxen,” says Wu Wei-cheng (吳偉誠), principal of Fangyuan Elementary School (芳苑國民小學).
But today, Fangyuan’s population has shrunk dramatically, and there are only eight of the bovines left.
Ocean oxen are not a specific breed. They are trained to walk into the ocean, wait as oyster farmers load up their haul and then bring the cart back home. The large lumbering creatures learn the route from their home to the oyster field, so harvesters do not need to direct their oxen where to go.
Photo: Charles DeBenedetto, Taipei Times
Training an ocean ox can take years.
“Some are well-behaved and easy to train,” Hung says, “while others are troublemakers.”
A DIMINISHING CULTURE
Photo courtesy of Hong Yan-chao
Although some elderly residents still use ocean oxen, most of the harvesters today use machines because they are more efficient.
“It takes about four hours to harvest oysters with an ocean ox,” Hung says. “But machines can work twice as fast. Also, they don’t need rest.”
But some local residents, like Wei Ching-shuei (魏清水), leader of the Fangyuan Ocean Oxen Culture Association (芳苑海牛文化協會), are working hard to keep the culture alive.
Photo courtesy of Chen Hong-yun
His association conducts ocean oxen tours, where guests can ride in an ox-cart and collect oysters and clams to grill. Several other ocean oxen owners also conduct similar tours.
Wei says he’s trying to get the Fangyuan ocean oxen to be approved as a UNESCO World Heritage — an effort that the community hopes will bring new interest in this culture to Fangyuan’s youth, so they will carry on the tradition.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
But success is far from certain.
Despite the modest growth of the ocean oxen tours, it is unclear if this tradition will survive.
“If people come, then our culture will not disappear,” says Huang Kuan-chang (黃冠彰), director of general affairs at Fangyuan Elementary School.
“Fangyuan cannot lose our ocean oxen,” Hung says.
In 2018, the school published a student-created picture book called Ocean Oxen’s Home (海牛的家鄉), which contains stories about all of the current ocean oxen owners.
“In the end, our ocean oxen will almost certainly disappear. But the most important thing is to remember that they were here,” Wu says.
TOUR INFORMATION
For information about ocean oxen tours visit the Changhua County Tourism Bureau’s English-language Web site: shorturl.at/ioBC1
Tours are conducted in Mandarin, are family friendly and will only depart at low tide. Because low-tide occurs at different times throughout the year, it is recommended to call in advance to confirm the departure time. Tours usually last about 2-3 hours. Although some tour guides speak English, it is recommended that at least one person in your party speak Mandarin in order to translate if necessary.
Hung Yan-chao also offers tours. Tel: (0953) 911-378.
Participants are encouraged to bring water, sunglasses and UV-protection clothing.
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
RSS