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Home can be your daily environment, it can also be a faraway dream. Where is your home? Where is your road home?
On the day of the interview, we followed in the footsteps of Hsiao Yeh and walked with him on his path home, the trails of Fuyang Eco Park and Fujhoushan Park.
His path home has a story that goes back 15 years. In 2006, Hsiao Yeh was appointed the President of Chinese Television System (CTS) after the company was nationalized. However, as he tells it, this position was not the peak of his life, instead, it was a catastrophe. Two more major events that impacted his life happened that year. The first was the 319 rural children arts project of the Paper Windmill Theatre, Taiwan, and the second was the thousand mile trail run. He was a co-founder for both the events.
Hsiao Yeh remembered that at the time, it had been six years since the changing of political parties. A million red shirts besieged the city and comments like “democracy is not better” were appearing, which was very worrisome. He believes that this was due to a lack of civil society formation during the transformation into a democratic system. The thousand mile trail run was a civil society event started by the people. The aim of the event was to help the public experience different histories and cultures through walking or cycling, starting with the small paths that surround us. The public is able to see themselves in a new light while looking at others, and develop a better understanding of the land we live on.
As we walked along the path in Fuyang Eco Park, Hsiao Yeh began talking about his mother. In the year following his resignation from the position of president of CTS at the end of 2008, Hsiao Yeh moved to his sister’s house in the area and spent time with his mother who had been bedridden for three years. He would occasionally push his mother in a wheelchair to the trail entrance at the bottom of the mountain so that she could gaze upon its beauty. Even in the few days before his mother’s death, he and his sister pushed their mother into Fuyang Eco Park to watch the fireflies. She told them stories about how when she was a child, fireflies used to cover Shanchen in Fujian, greatly outnumbering the ones in Fuyang Eco Park.
This period of time was when Hsiao Yeh became familiar with Fuyang Eco Park. This path was not only the last mile of road he walked with his mother but was also his place for healing and thinking. After his mother passed away, he frequently returned to the park. With a book, towel, and bottle of water in hand, he would venture up the path without his phone. The many insects and plants along the path brought him back to the days of collecting samples and studying biology in university, while also reminding him of his mother.
Next, we followed the Fuyang Eco Park’s path and reached Fujhoushan’s handmade trail, the first handmade trail in Taipei.
The 500 meter section of the trail between Fujhoushan and Zhongpushan had water logging problem causing it to be muddy and slippery for many years. After several meetings between public departments, civic groups, community residents, and community leaders, the trail improvement project was carried out by means of constructing a handmade trail.
On February 17, 2012, organizations such as the Society of Wilderness, Taiwan Thousand Miles Trail Association, and Taiwan Nature Trail Society, invited volunteers to come to Fujhoushan. With locally sourced materials, water storage pools were constructed next to the trail and wooden beams were laid by hand and without large machinery. Gravel was then spread on the trail so that the rainwater can seep into the ground below. This handmade trail not only solved the water logging and muddy issues but also preserved the environment and maintained the pristine sights of the area.
Before the construction began, Hsiao Yeh read a hand written blessing and prayed with the volunteers to show their respect for the mountain and the forest. “Dear mountain god, thank you for giving a place so many different animals and plants can flourish. We also thank you for allowing us to experience the wonders of nature and share in their joy. In the past, we have used you for our own convenience and we often hurt you and injured you. In the future, we will be more caring and gentle towards you.” This passage is the best representation of the spirit of the handmade trail.
At the entrance of Fuyang Eco Park, Hsiao Yeh pointed to the trail and said this is actually the south end of the Danlan old trail, which marks the beginning of the mountain path. After following the trail and crossing Zhongpushan, you will reach Shenkeng, and if you go past Shiding you will reach Yilan. His life story is closely tied to sections of the Danlan old trail in the city. He was born in Wanhua, went to university in Guting, strolls through Gongguan with his grandchildren, and had his last walk with his mother in Fuyang Eco Park.
This year, Hsiao Yeh finished his new book, Walk Home. In this book he writes about the trails, the people he meets on the trails, and the memories of walking the trails with his family in an autobiographical format. As he walks the trail, he is on a journey of self-healing, exile, redemption, and awakening. He believes these trails can bring peace to all those who walk it. Now let us join Hsiao Yeh on a little walk through Fuyang Eco Park and Fujhoushan Park, and take a trip down memory lane.
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