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Atayal (Taroko) Trail Overview
ATAYAL, Inc. has joined as a sponsoring partner to assist MeGa Productions of Canada to produce a TV documentary project of historical significance. MeGa Productions hired an indigenous Taiwanese producer and director (Chi You Ken) to create the film, which was completed in April 2004.
This 1-hour TV documentary introduces the Atayal (Truku) tribe of Taiwan, focusing on the history and significance of the famous Jwei Lu mountain path. This is a very old path built by the Atayal tribal people that enabled them to cross the Central Mountain Range of Taiwan into the fertile valleys of their homeland. This road carried the Atayal spirit throughout the mountains. The path also saw much bloodshed and conflict when the Japanese occupied Taiwan and tried to pacify the mountain tribes. The documentary will explore the beauty and mystery of the Taroko area of Taiwan and reveal the Atayal tribe's contribution to Taiwanese history. This area is now known as the beautiful Taroko National Park.
Historical Background
Three hundred years ago, an amazing feat was achieved by the people of Atayal ancestry. Traversing some of the most treacherous landscapes and vertical precipices, an amazing footpath was built through the central mountain range of Taiwan. It is a feat of engineering that is a challenge for today's engineers, but even more amazing is that it was accomplished by a primitive tribal culture like the Atayal. These people used the path to cross from the vast forests of the East, where they lived, to the Western part of the island, with the flat fertile plains most valued by foreign invaders. Because the mountains were so impassable, the people were able to enjoy centuries of isolation. The famous path through the mountains not only brought the tribes out of their isolation, but it gave invading foreign armies, such as the Japanese Imperial Army, access to the tribal homelands.
A hundred years ago on Taiwan Island, the mountains were under aboriginal control. There were ten aboriginal tribes living in the extremely steep and dangerous mountain lands in the central mountain range. One of tribes was the Atayal, which was divided into Atayal proper and Sedeq proper. The Atayal tribe was the most extensively spread of all tribes in Taiwan and they were famous for their ferocity as warriors and their complex society. You can still find traces of this ancient civilization from the 3000-meter mountain heights, to the central canyons to the Eastern coast of Taiwan.
As a result of the Sino-Japanese war in 1894-1895 between Japan and China, Japan defeated China, which ceded Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula to the victors. When Japan colonized and invaded Taiwan 10 years later, only the Sedeq faction of the Atayal tribe who were living in the vast mountain forests were able to resist Japanese rule.
In 1896, Japan entered the mountain domain of the Atayal and fought to expand their control of their colony. Much blood was spilled in the fighting between the Japanese and the Atayal tribes. In June of 1914, Governor-General Sakuma ordered an army to the hilltop of He-Huan Mountain for a punitive expedition into Atayal territory. This (the Battle of Taroko) was to be Japan's greatest battle since the Japanese colonization and invasion Taiwan.
After the Battle of Taroko, Japan began to rebuild and enlarge the path into the mountain area to maintain a guard to keep watch and control all minority tribal groups in the Taroko region. The Japanese forced the aboriginal tribes to rebuild the path. They let the aboriginal people build on the jagged ridges and steep cliffs and set the explosives for the mountain tunnels. Today, all of those rebuilt paths and tunnels still exist today.
For our documentary film, we want to go back to tell the historical story about the mountain path that was built by the Atayal and rebuilt by the Japanese. For ATAYAL founder Tony Coolidge, he will have a chance to discover his indigenous Taiwanese heritage and more about the character of his people. He will have a chance to make a difference for his people by sharing a powerful story about their contribution to the history of Taiwan. Tony will cross the mountainous east-west route and discover the marvels of this story and will learn about his Atayal tribe along his journey. Tony will follow in the footsteps of many generations of his Atayal ancestors to get in touch with his ancestry. It won't be an easy walk on foot, but the rewards will be immeasurable.
Before 1913, the Liwu River region, including Taroko, was mostly an unknown, mysterious place of unparalleled beauty. No one dared to explore this river or the surrounding area for fear of meeting up with members of the indigenous tribe that inhabited the area. The tribe, which called itself, Truku, would not hesitate to decapitate any intruder to prevent invasion into the land that had been passed down from its ancestors.
However, in 1914, Japanese colonialist forces initiated a war that drove the Truku tribe from its secluded, traditional lifestyle into the modern world. In 1930, the Japanese colonial government, for the purpose of assimilation, forced the Truku tribe to leave the land on which it had lived for 200 years. At the same time, it designated the area around the Liwu River as the site of a future national park. This is the origin of Taiwan's Taroko National Park. Since that time, there has been almost no trace of the Truku along the Liwu River.
Today, a small path once used by the Truku has been widened and paved into a mountain highway frequented by tour buses. Increasing numbers of tourists from all over the globe visit the now world-famous Taroko Gorge. But few people know the history of the road they travel on to reach this magnificent marble gorge. Its story is as amazing as the scenery.
Film Credits
Producer and Director - Chi You Ken (Dain Nadave Sawon Ges-amun)
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