Taiwan Today

The resplendent blue-green water plane is randomly disrupted by mesa-like islands rising abruptly from coral shoals. Off their shores, fish dart to and fro among the coral in a kaleidoscope of color.

Often precipitous shorelines of columnar basalt are look alikes for bamboo palisades, a clue to their volcanic origins.

Colorful fishing junks ply these placid waters for their bounty. Back on shore, venerable temples stand watch over the olden villages and their surrounding croplands.

The Penghu archipelago, or Pescadores, is located only about 30 miles off the southwestern coast of gleaming, urban Taiwan, but its pristine waters and idyllic lifestyle belie this proximity.

The 64-island archipelago is completely unscathed by the modernization and glitter in other parts of the island province. Not only have the Penghus’ environment and natural beauty been well preserved, but the traditional lifestyle and culture—brought via sailing junk from the Chinese mainland centuries before—have been little affected by external influences.

The name Penghu is derived from an ancient name given the islands by their earliest exploiters, fishermen from Fukien Province. They called the area Pehoh (Calm Lake) refering to the peaceful seas among the three main islands—Penghu, Pai Sha, and Hsi Yu.

Though most early settlers began immigrating from Fukien to Penghu during the Sung Dynasty (960-1280), there is some evidence of a much earlier Chinese presence in the islan9s, and there are numerous legends of the islands.

The earliest mainland Chinese be­lieved that China's offshore islands were inhabited by gods. According to one historic legend, a Ching Dynasty (255-206 B.C.) emperor sent a Taoist monk to one island, which is likely to have been Penghu, to search for the secret to immortality. The precious potion with which the monk returned was a peanut.

The discovery of scraps of Chin and Han Dynasty pottery provides more compelling evidence of an early Chinese presence, but no written records exist to describe the nature or extent of that pre­sence. The earliest written reference to Chinese travel to Penghu is contained in a poem by the Tang Dynasty (618-907) official Shih Chian-wu. Howev­er, immigration during this early period was undoubtedly on a very small scale, owing to the continued availability of open land on the mainland and the daunting journey across the treacherous waters of the Taiwan Strait to the relatively unknown land.

The increasing population density and difficult economic and social conditions of Sung Dynasty China, particularly in southern Fukien Province, coupled with improved ships and navigation tech­niques, was finally to speed settlement of the Penghu archipelago and its gradual incorporation into the Chinese empire. ,

The early Sung settlers were mostly fishermen, lured to the islands by bountiful new fishing waters, ample land for the taking, and the freedom of the fron­tier. However, life in the new land had its setbecks. In 1711, for example, the Chinese settlers were attacked and plun­dered by marauding Visayans from the Philippines, prompting Wang Ta-yu, pre­fect of the Fukienese port of Chang-chou (present day Chin-Chiang) to station over 2000 troops on the islands for both protection and further colonization.

Penghu's propitious location in the Taiwan Straits gradually raised its major village to the stature of a trading port—a regular port of call for many Southeast Asian and Japanese merchants. Penghu was instrumental in the opening of trade with Taiwan's aborigines and of course, later, in carrying on trade with the many Chinese settlements on Taiwan.

The Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368) was a period of heavy mainland immigration to Penghu. And during the reign of Emperor Shih Tsu (1264-1294), the islands were elevated to the level of a subprefecture.

Then the ascent of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 brought a dramatic change in policy towards the islands-the court would not officially acknowledge them as part of the empire. Piracy and illegal trade thus proliferated beyond the active control of the Chinese government. The Ming response was to ban navigation in the Taiwan Strait and recall all the in­habitants of Penghu to the mainland.

However, the Imperial edicts proved largely unenforceable, and many Chinese either stayed on Penghu or moved on to Taiwan. And illegal trade and piracy continued to flourish.

By the mid-1500s, European traders were sailing to China. The Portuguese landed on Penghu and named the archipelago the Pescadores, or "Fishermen." This 16th Century increase in trade in the Taiwan Strait was a magnet for a new rash of piracy, and Penghu, with its in­tricacy of islands, became an important pirate base from which shipping lanes could be harrassed and raids on the Fukien coast conducted.

In 1563, Gen. Yu Ta-yu built a walled town on Penghu, An-ao, as a stronghold against the pirate forces. However, such Ming efforts were not only insufficient to subdue piracy, but in 1574, one of the most notorious pirate leaders, Lin Feng, himself established a permanent base on one of the islands; and he held it for nearly two years.

At the turn of the 17th Century, the Dutch entered into competition with the Portuguese for the China trade, and in 1602, the Dutch East India Company had established itself on Penghu. By 1622, the Dutch were constructing a permanent naval base on the island. However, the Ming court would not bow to this assertion of Dutch power, and the Dutch now retreated to Taiwan, where they constructed the Casteel Zeelandia at Tainan.

With the falling back of the Ming before the forces of the new Manchu Ching Dynasty, the Penghu islands at­tained a new, military significance. The famed Ming loyalist leader, Gen. Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga), used the islands as a base to recapture Taiwan from the Dutch in 1661, a success which placed Taiwan under Ming auspices for about 20 years. Finally, in July 1683, the Penghu islands became the final battle-ground between the Ming remnants and the Ching Dynasty for Chinese hegemony. Ching Gen. Cheng Ke-shuang defeated the Ming fleet commanded by Gen. Cheng Cheng-kung's son in Penghu waters and went on to unite Taiwan and Penghu with Ching Dynasty mainland China.

Little affected in the long haul by Ching domination, the archipelago's population continued to subsist mostly from fishing and light farming, while Makung, Penghu's major town, contin­ued to nourish as a minor trading port for the commerce between Taiwan and the mainland, and to some extent with European traders.

It was not until late in the Ching reign, after the Sino-French War (1884-1885), that Penghu received renewed attention as an important strate­gic location. Under the "self-strengthen­ing" modernization plans or Taiwan's governor, Liu Ming-chuan, the lessons or history were now heeded, and the archipelago was acknowledged as the "gateway to Taiwan."

In 1887 Makung town was fortified with a massive wall. A large fort, Hsi Tai Gu Pao, was constructed on Hsi Yu Island and equipped with modern, heavy arms imported from Eng­land and Germany. However, only a few years later, in J 895, Penghu, along with the whole or Taiwan, was ceded to Japan as a result or the Sino-Japanese War. In 1945 the Penghu archipelago was restored to the Republic or China; in 1960 it became the 16th and smallest county or Taiwan Province.

Today, the 21 inhabited islands of the windswept archipelago have a population of about 120,000, most carrying on life­-styles that differ little from those of their ancestors.

The barren lands and dry windy cli­mate greatly influenced imported social structures of the early settlements, based on the large extended family system of Fukien and particularly suitable for the circumstances of the islands.

The paucity of water and the difficulty and expense of digging deep wells limited dispersed settlement and drew the people together in small, tightly knit villages whose inhabitants often shared common ancestry and surnames. Such family villages cooperated in the building of boats, in fishing, digging wells, and construction of houses and temples. And of course, family-connected villagers were strongly bound together for reli­gious ceremonies, specifically the rituals of reverence for their ancestors. Al­though in present times, these patterns have become diluted, they arc still readily apparent. Three old surname villages, Tsai, Hsu, and Chang on Pai Sha (White Sand) Island, are particularly outstanding in illustrating this point.

The villages, constructed of a type of grey, coral-volcanic rock-conglomerate called ku lao shih, have an ancient, gnarled appearance. Their narrow alleyways wind venerably in the ambi­ence of another time. And the daily activities of the people resonate with the legacies of their forefathers.

The villagers' traditionally styled, brightly painted fishing junks sail island waters, carefully navigating the shoals and reefs. Harvesting the sea, they feed island families and sell to the markets of Taiwan. The village streets and court-yards are lined with large basket-trays filled with shrimp, small fish, and squid, set in the blazing heat of the sun to dry. Penghu is famous for its excellent dried seafood as well as for a diversity of marine delicacies not to be found any­where else.

Every household, or group of households, has a field criss-crossed with small walls of ku lao shih to protect the crops from the winds that sweep the islands. A variety of crops is grown for subsistence, but the melons and peanuts are most successful in the hot, arid climate and sandy soil, and the latter are exported. The dis­tinctive flavor and quality of Penghu's peanuts have made them an important cash crop.

The women are mostly responsible for tending the fields, in addition to household chores. They wear cloth veils to protect their complexions from the same hot sunrays and winds that have etched out wrinkles of time on the sur­rounding land.

The old surname-villages are each specially united through an ancestral hall, where the villagers realize their common heritage.

The village of Wa Jong Chuan, on Pai Sha Island, is dominated by the Chang family, which came to Penghu during the Yuan Dynasty.

The story goes that the village was started during the Ming Dynasty by a poor fisherman who discovered there a large amount of gold and came to be known as Chang Pai-wan (Million Dollar Chang). The village grew and prospered for generations until the feng shui (geomantic balance) of the area was disturbed by the indiscriminate construction of houses. Thereafter, the Chang family's fortunes declined. Recently, the Chang family constructed an elaborate temple in honor of their ances­tors, intending by this filial act to enlist providence on behalf of the village's future fortune. The ancestral hall also acts as a meeting place where members of the Chang family can commune in prayer with their ancestors and where communal decisions can be made.

This kind of traditional belief and communal unity on the interfamilial level is vividly manifested also on the island of Tong Pan. The 400 residents of this tiny island raised over NT$10 million (US$250,000) to build a huge and splenderous Buddhist temple.

The otherwise poor fishermen are wealthy in religious spirit and communal pride.

Penghu has over three hundred tem­ples, most of them dedicated to Matsu, the patron goddess of mariners, the town of Makung boasting the oldest such temple in Taiwan—Tien Ho Kung, built in 1952 and undoubtedly one of the most elegant of temples. Its grace­ful, sweeping southern Fukien style roofs are adorned with intricate carvings. The commodious interior of the temple, fitted out with fine wood and stone carv­ings, holds an air of spiritual mystery and tranquility.

Also amidst the bustling streets of Makung, stands the Cheng Huang Temple, built in 1979 to honor the god (Cheng Huang) responsible for recording men's good and bad deeds on his giant abacus; he thus decides their fate after death. During the Ching Dynasty, all government officials were required to go and make themselves ac­countable to Cheng Huang on the first and fifth of every month.

On the waterfront nearby the Ma­kung docks, stands the auspicious Shui Hsien Temple, built in 1696 and dedicated to five water immortals responsible for the protection of mariners. In olden times, sailors arriving at Makung would always go directly to this temple to thank the gods for their safe passage. Gradually, the temple also became an important meeting place for traders.

Not only does Penghu have a wealth of history and culture, but it is also a pleasant and scenic recreation area. The quiet, leisurely surroundings are a won­derful retreat from the cares of the world. Makung offers a wide variety of shops, selling everything from coral jewelry to dried seafoods, and as many fine, small restaurants that boast the delectable seafood specialties of the islands.

The other islands can be reached from Makung by boat. They offer a direct view of the simple, traditional lifestyle that has been passed down through the generations. It is now possible to drive between the three main islands, Penghu, Pai Sha, and Hsi Yu—the latter two newly connected by the Penghu Bay Bridge, the Far East's longest.

Nearby the bridge on Pai Sha Island stands a majestic, 300-year-old banyan tree. The multi-trunked tree, in front of a small temple, overhangs 7,535 square feet of lattice, creating a cool, shady area where stone benches and tables offer respite for the weary traveler. Pai Sha also offers many small, secluded beaches where the traveler can bask peacefully in the sun and enjoy truly limpid, aqua-blue waters. And offshore, the pellucid seas of Penghu reveal a shimmering panoply of colorful fish that cannot easily escape the eye.

The Penghu islands have much to offer to those interested in Chinese history and culture as well as all the fine sea­foods, clear water, white beaches, and sunshine.

It is reassuring to find a place that has not been conquered by the commercialism of time, but has remained pure in its natural beauty and simple in its way of life.