Three veteran stonemasons, with an average age of 87, on Saturday won this year’s Best Trail Builder/Repairer Award from the Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association for their contribution to the nation’s trails using culturally and historically unique skills.
The award was presented to 95-year-old Hsieh Chien-hsiang (謝見祥) from Hsinchu; 87-year-old Kelele, a Rukai resident of Pingtung County’s Labuwan Village; and 78-year-old Hsu Jen-hsiung (許仁雄) from Penghu County.
Hsieh said he learned stonemasonry as a child.
Photo: CNA
The most difficult part of the job is fixing stone irrigation canals damaged by typhoons so that the water will not leak out, he said.
In the 90 years of using the skills he learned from his father, Hsieh said he has worked during typhoons when necessary.
While he was happy to receive the award, Hsieh said he was worried about the disappearance of traditional skills.
Kelele said he learned haedre, a Rukai style of stonemasonry, from his father at an early age.
At 87, Kelele still uses Rukai tools such as the kanabu, a metal rod he inherited from his father.
Kelele’s skills are crucial to his fellow villagers as the paved trail that leads to Labuwan Village must be repaired whenever floods or typhoons damage it.
Kelele is one of the few village elders left who is adept at using the haedre, a skill that he is teaching to younger villagers.
Rukai gather their slate and shale in the wild before carefully separating and processing it to be used for houses and trails, Kelele said, adding that he was happy to receive the award.
Hsu is the first person from one of Taiwan’s outlying islands to win the award.
Since retiring from Taiwan Water Corp, Hsu Jen-hsiung has taught a type of stonemasonry that uses coral unique to Penghu.
Penghu residents have long crafted garden walls and trails from coral, a traditional skill that is slowly disappearing, raising concern over the need for cultural conservation.
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
The government has issued a deportation order for a Spanish fugitive, ordering him to leave the country within 10 days, as he is wanted by European authorities for allegedly operating a car rental scam. National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials yesterday said Salvador Alejandro Llinas Onate, 48, had been notified that he must leave Taiwan, as he was wanted for committing serious crimes. The Spaniard has been indicted by Italian prosecutors for allegedly leading a 30 million euros (US$32.74 million) car rental scam and setting up a fraudulent company in Trento, Italy. The deportation order is based on Article 18 of
RSS