The practice of using water buffaloes to harvest oysters from the tidewaters in Changhua’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑) is worth preserving, said author Pan Chiao (潘樵), who has written a book on the subject.
Specially trained buffaloes were once the primary means of oyster transportation for the community and numbered in the hundreds at their peak, he said on Monday.
However, it was always difficult to train buffaloes to wade through the tidal marshes, so they were gradually supplanted by trikes with diesel-engines, he said.
Photo: Courtesy of Pan Chiao
Historian Wei Chingshui (魏清水) and oyster farmers in the area have worked hard to revitalize their way of life, and the group’s guided tours in buffalo-drawn wagons have proven popular with visitors.
However, their efforts are not enough to halt the decline of the tradition, and the number of buffaloes used by farmers more than halved from 26 to about a dozen between 2012 and 2016, he said.
The Changhua County Government is working to preserve the use of the buffalo, having in June 2016 recognized the tradition as an intangible cultural heritage, he said.
Pan’s mother hailed from Fangyuan and he feels a deep connection to the community, which prompted him to reach out to Wei last year, he said.
The result is The Sea Buffaloes of Fangyuan (芳苑海牛), a collection of oral histories, photographs and ink-brush drawings, Pan said, adding that each of the oyster farmers was given a copy of the book.
Pan said he and Wei are now working on additional ways to promote sea buffalo culture, such as stained glass art, picture books, theater projects and a museum.
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