Taiwan is a mountainous country with more than 100 peaks topping 3,000 meters. Yushan (which means Jade Mountain), rising to a height of 3,952 meters, is not only the highest summit on the island, but also in northeast Asia. It is the source of three river systems running down to the central and southern plains, is home to a rich diversity of wildlife and plants, and has deep religious and cultural significance for the indigenous Bunun tribe. It is also traversed by the Patungkuan Trail, a class-one historical monument.
Yushan is nicknamed "the ark" by academics who see it as a repository of rare species. It is almost an encyclopedia of Taiwan's ecological systems, a geological museum and an important habitat of one-third of Taiwan's endemic species, such as the black bear, the Formosan serow and Reeves' muntjac. Of all the areas crossed by the Tropic of Cancer, only Yushan contains tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and alpine forests.
Yushan has been given different names by different groups of people, and these names tell an interesting and involved story of man's relations with the mountain. The Bunun tribe, the earliest known inhabitants in the area, called the peak Tongku Saveg, meaning "the shelter." Bunun mythology has it that the mountain was a refuge for the tribe's ancestors in escaping a primordial flood. Yu Yong-he, a Qing dynasty official who came to Taiwan to mine sulfur, described Yushan as a jewel always beyond his reach, like a piece of precious jade in his peregrinations. For a century the mountain was known in the West as Mount Morrison after the name of the captain of the American freighter USS Alexander, who, mentioning it in his naval log in 1857, first brought it to the West's attention. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, Yushan was called Niitakayama, meaning "new high mountain," because it is higher than Mt. Fuji.
Intruders and Conflict
Human activity around Yushan can be traced back around 1,000 years. Who these first settlers were is unknown, but it is certain that the Bunun have been living there for more than 300 years and used to consider the area around the mountain their exclusive hunting grounds, trespassing upon which by other tribes would lead to serious fights. During Qing rule, Japanese territorial adventurism persuaded the Qing emperor to actively develop Taiwan, the better to safeguard it. As a result, three cross-island routes joining the west and the east of the island were built. The 132-year-old central route is today's Patungkuan Trail.
Villagers in Wang-hsiang have been told by their ancestors to "stay within eyesight of Tongku Saveg." (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
The Japanese, during their period of colonial rule, conducted detailed surveys of Yushan's natural resources in order to exploit them. The Bunun, who saw a threat to their living space, fiercely resisted the Japanese with the result that the colonial government set up a "strategic policy line" to confine aborigines within designated areas. This isolation of Yushan continued beyond the colonial era via the Kuomintang (KMT) government's restrictions on mountain access, which were kept in place for decades. The loss of development resulting from this policy was, however, the ecosystem's gain. In 1985 Yushan National Park was established to preserve the richness of the ecosystem as well as the cultural heritage.
Yushan's bare and rocky peak has witnessed the shifting nature of political power. First, a Japanese temple was built on the west peak in 1925. During the KMT's authoritarian era, a bronze statue of Yu You-ren, a former head of the Control Yuan zealous about the recovery of China, was placed on the summit of Yushan's main peak. A change in the political atmosphere later led to the removal of the statue and its replacement with a stone tablet inscribed with the words "a heart as pure as jade and a sense of righteousness as solid as the mountain." And now the mountain has a new political purpose, as a symbol of Taiwanese identity.
After the lifting of martial law and the end of the KMT government's Sinocentric suppression of native Taiwanese culture and consciousness, identification with Taiwan as a nation has soared. But what symbol can be used to represent that nation? Several years ago, some Taiwanese artists launched the "Yushan movement," the aim of which was to establish this one remote and isolated place in people's consciousness as a figurehead for Taiwan. To help develop this idea, people were encouraged to climb Yushan as a way of getting to know Taiwan. Before doing so, they were encouraged to take courses on Yushan's ecology, flora and fauna, topography and cultural history, as well as the ethics of good mountaineering.
The use of Yushan as a motif in Taiwanese nationalist agitprop artworks inspired interest in climbing the mountain, with the result that the peak, albeit Taiwan's highest, has become the most popular destination for climbers on the island. Ascending the mountain involves more hiking than actual climbing and can be done without a high level of expertise. In good weather, hikers flock to the mountain determined, as a tourist advertisement put it, to "go to Yushan, conquer the summit, see the sunrise," a phenomenon known locally as "Yushan fever."
Whose "Sacred Mountain?"
The Yushan National Park Headquarters has jumped on this bandwagon and tried to promote the idea of Yushan as Taiwan's sacred mountain. Headquarters section chief Lin Wen-ho says that this campaign, which has already been running for two years, is part of a greater plan aimed at constructing a Taiwanese national identity. "We encourage people to climb Yushan at least once in their lifetime," says Lin.
Visitors from Hawaii enjoyed the hospitality of Neqou Sokluman, a Bunun mountain guide. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
Currently some 40,000-50,000 people a year climb Yushan's main peak. There is a limit of 90 people a day allowed on the summit to protect the ecological environment, and climbers need a permit. "In the past, climbers would gather at around midnight in Taipei and sleep on the bus on the way to Yushan. They'd set off climbing before dawn only half awake and stop at Paiyun lodge to see the sunrise, after which they'd return. If you asked hikers what they'd experienced, they always told you they were totally exhausted," Lin says. To help people approach Yushan in a more friendly and ecological way, the park has offered various educational programs. Every February, the park allows no mountaineers or tourists on the summit so that Yushan can rest and recover.
In 2006 the Government Information Office (GIO) organized a campaign to select a symbol to represent Taiwan overseas. Yushan took second place with 118,491 votes, behind glove puppets. GIO Minister Cheng Wen-tsang, in a Taiwan Panorama report, said that Yushan symbolized the big ambitions of this small place. But the article also pointed out that the results of the vote showed that Taiwanese still feel alienated from the mountain. Yushan's exact status in Taiwanese iconography is still evolving.
Bunun culture has frequently been employed to enrich the notion of Yushan as national icon. Yet, ironically, the participation of Bunun people themselves is somewhat neglected. The mountain has long been the spiritual icon of the Bunun tribe. It is also the final resting place of the spirit of their ancestors. The well-known Bunun folk song "Pasibutbut"--an eight-toned melody used to seek blessing for the millet harvest--has echoed in Yushan's valleys for centuries. Yet as the spirit of Yushan is emphasized, the culture of the Bunun, as with other aboriginals, is withering. While the progression of names by which these groups are known--"barbarians," "tame barbarians," "mountain people" and "aboriginals"--shows a greater tolerance and acceptance of them by the Han majority, many Bunun still feel that their culture is endangered and wonder whether the "Yushan fever," which has exploited Bunun culture without contributing much to the Bunun people, can be turned more to their advantage.
Guiding as a Business
Villagers in Wang-hsiang, a small community in Nantou County, are now making efforts to make themselves heard. Wang-hsiang is situated on a plateau to the northwest of Yushan's main peak. In 1938, when the Bunun were forced to leave the mountain under the Japanese "barbarian management policy," some families of the Luan subgroup of the tribe settled in today's Wang-hsiang. The villagers identify themselves as sons of Yushan. From the village, one can see clearly the sacred site Tongku Saveg.
As an increasing volume of people pass through their living space, some young Bunun men started a guide business. They are enthusiastic about introducing people to Tongku Saveg. "We would like to cultivate climbing ethics imbued with the spirit of the mountain," says Neqou Sokluman, who organized Son of Yushan--the Mountain Tour Alliance of Bunun Tribe's Culture and Ecology in 2004 and since then has accompanied many climbers up Yushan.
In fact, the Bunun have long taken part in Taiwan's climbing activities as porters, being the Sherpas of Yushan. Mountaineers in Taiwan have depended on their labor for decades, but the role of porters is always invisible. "There have been a number of Bunun porters who have ascended all of Taiwan's 100 highest peaks, but not one has been included on the official list of those who accomplished this feat," Neqou says. "The role of porters--who always carry much heavier gear when hiking--has always been neglected. This invisibility stops us from sharing our mountain experiences," Neqou says. The higher-profile mountain guiding may help to better establish the Bunun relationship to the mountains in the minds of non-Bunun visitors.
Neqou is the first Bunun in any village to run a mountain guide business. "I hope Son of Yushan will take all of Yushan's guide business in the long run. In Malaysia, aborigines are guaranteed jobs at their holy mountain, Kinabalu," Neqou says. He and his partners are endeavoring to improve their management skills, especially in their interpretation of their culture. When accompanying mountaineers, they share traditional songs and music, stories, food and even hunting as well as knowledge about plants and animals in an effort to explain Bunun mountain culture.
Buag Sokluman, who is part of Son of Yushan, started his mountain guide career four years ago. When he was 10 years old, he received a lengthy training in hunting in the mountains. "I couldn't think about eating if I caught nothing," Buag recalls. Now that the National Park Law has proscribed seasonal hunting, he has had to stop and has worked as a certified guide for several years. " To be a guide, one must have a passion for the mountain. Otherwise he won't last," says Buag.
Suntiq Manqoqo, a porter and also a guide, probably holds the record for the number of ascents of Yushan; he goes up at least three times a week, and has done so for many years. "Yushan's scenery is always different every time I go up," Suntiq says. "The pressure of life is much less up there."
These men feel at home in the mountains; cities are peripheral in their world, at the center is the mountain. Suntiq and Buag have taken part in many historical events on Yushan, including building the suspension bridge on the Payungkuan trail, not to mention a number of dramatic mountain rescues.
Familiarity with the mountain as well as their strength and stamina are the Bunun's competitive advantages in this business, but in many mountaineers' eyes it requires more to be a qualified guide, such as the ability to use technology to read maps. "GPS technology is in fact of no use in Taiwan's mountain area, because it provides limited topographical information," says Buag. He is angered by the stereotype that the Bunun can contribute labor but not know-how, and that Bunun knowledge and experience is trusted less than high-tech gadgetry.
Having guided many people on the mountain, Buag has closely observed how people react to Yushan. "As people reach the summit, they always feel proud and boast of being at the top of Taiwan," he says. "Some claim that they feel proud to be Taiwanese," Neqou adds. For them, mountain climbing demonstrates not the physical power, but the mindset. While some Taiwanese mountaineers like to build statues of gods or burn ghost money on the mountain, they note that Japanese climbers have a very different ethic. "Japanese mountaineers always help pick up other people's rubbish," Buag says.
What Shall We Call It?
Traditional Bunun culture provides a model for sustainable human relations with the mountain, and Son of Yushan hopes to be a window for outsiders to see this model. "We don't oppose the idea that Yushan is Taiwan's holy mountain," Neqou says. "But it seems to be hegemonic. After all, Yushan really is our holy mountain; the Bunun have a mystical relationship with it. We don't claim that Mt. Tapachien is our sacred mountain, because it is the Atayal tribe's." Whilst there is no highly vocal movement to "reclaim" Yushan as a Bunun icon, there is feeling that the Bunun's special relationship could be more widely acknowledged. "Perhaps someday wider society might consider whether Yushan should be called Tongku Saveg," Neqou says.
To go from the foothills of Yushan to the summit takes a day of hiking, but the development of a system of responsible land management takes a lot longer. According to professional assessments, Yushan has the potential to be designated a world heritage site. For this to happen, the mountain, in addition to meeting other criteria, should not take too many tourists each year in order to uphold the quality of the environment and needs to have a sharply defined identity among the majority of local people. "As Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, the designation of Yushan is not currently likely. But we believe it will be achieved in the future," Lin says.
As Taiwan emerges further from the control of alien regimes and their anti-nativist mindsets, and Taiwanese forge a national consciousness, there is no doubt that Yushan will play an iconic role.
Write to Zoe Cheng at zoecheng@mail.gio.gov.tw