Caring Journey

The content of last week's book introduction was more inclined to gossip, and this time I return to the works of the great writer Haruo Sato.

Avant-garde Publishing's "Journey to Colony" published by Haruo Sato, the cover has this line:

Haruo Sato's experience in Taiwan full of humane care

Sato's mind-blowing trip to Taiwan turned into a reality of the people who knew the land of Taiwan. This three-month journey became the theme of his novel after returning to Japan. The most famous works must be "Wushe", "The Traveler", and "The Lady's Fan Qi Tan".

"Wushe" directly describes the situation of Taiwan's aborigines. Before entering Wushe, the author heard that Japanese people living there were killed. It was later learned that there were only seven people. However, this has already made the author who is preparing to enter the mountain very nervous. This event was called the "Saramaeu Incident" [Note 1].

The author was brought into the mountain by a police officer and saw up close how the police officer ridiculed the aboriginal people; aboriginal women sold their bodies in order to make money. Such a close encounter shocked him. However, his ideas were dismissed as ignorance by local officials:

...... An official who just came back from the spot inspection conveyed that the military authorities had plans to use planes to crusade Mount Fanshan, and the governor of the state immediately shouted: Yes! Agree! Then he looked at me and said to me: Travelers from the interior always find the Fans as lovely as poetry after a mere glimpse of Fanshan, but there is nothing more troublesome for rulers than them Something...and so on and so forth. I felt that I had no right to answer, and I had no choice but to respond with a meaningless, weak smile to his daring and loud laughter. (page 202)

Although he did not directly fight back, the author used his article to raise injustice for the aborigines.

This work was published 5 years after returning to Japan. Five years after the work was published, Wushe became the focus again, because on October 27, 1930, the Wushe incident occurred [Note 2]. At that time, Sato heard about the plan to use planes to crusade the aborigines, and it became a fact.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～

<Traveler> is very special. The author introduces his travels in Sun Moon Lake from the perspective of "I", and records his interactions with the waiters of local hotels. The text has a lot to interact with the reader. This work is 4 years after he returned to China.

The author writes like this:

"Welcome, you must be so hot! - We have been waiting here for a long time. I didn't expect you to come so soon..."
—If I told you that this was what she said to me, you would think that it was a compliment from a kind hotel maid! That's right, but you have to know that these words can make me deeply feel the taste of entering my heart!
 
However, let me explain first, in fact, I have nothing to do with her! (page 124)

Starting with this, readers will feel that the author "there is no silver 300 taels here", and that the author and the waitress will "have a lot of money". However, when the author changed his style of writing, he did not immediately enter into his interaction with the waitress, but described what he saw and heard when he went to Sun Moon Lake, and also wrote a sentence "It seems too superficial to not mention the scenery. What? Ah!" (page 124). It's really meant to whet the reader's appetite.

The heroine in the story has no name, and is always described as "she". She is the author's waiter at the Sun Moon Lake Hotel. When Sato saw her for the first time, he felt that her shadow overlapped with someone he liked very much. The author candidly tells readers about his emotional world:

...I have another person I like very much, and a wife I don't like very much. It's okay to say it now, just because of this incident, I was so depressed that I traveled to the ends of the earth in the Three Realms of Taiwan. (page 133)

The reader understood at that moment that the feeling of the waiter reminded him of his wife Chiyo. Soon after putting down the luggage, the author was immediately invited to visit the water conservancy construction of Sun Moon Lake, and she also accompanied her. The author describes it this way:

She didn't say anything - just a smile on her cheeks. This smile is forced out, so in the eyes, it is like a flower that is attached to a cliff, twisting its body to bloom for the sunshine, and it is infinitely pitiful. I witnessed her smile from the front, and she turned her eyes to the water, perhaps because of the reflection of the water and tree shadows! Her face was almost pale, and the veins between her eyes were clearly visible. (page 144)

The author not only toured the water conservancy construction in Sun Moon Lake, but also appreciated the performances of the local aboriginal people. However, the weather in Sun Moon Lake changed a lot and it rained suddenly, so they hurried back to the hotel. At this time, the author had the opportunity to talk to her. It turned out that she was a girl who came to Taiwan to work from Japan. So when the author revealed that she would go back to Japan after the tour, she was very envious of the author. The author didn't actually ask her, but just listened to her eloquently: "As nature talks to itself, innocently" (p. 156).

The author does not use fancy writing here, no gorgeous words, and the image of "her" is already on the paper. You might think that there will be a sequel to the story?

This happened that night: the waiter told the author that the rain had stopped and the moon came out, and he wanted to come in and open the window for the author to watch the moonlight. After opening the window:

...she, at some point, stood behind me, almost side by side with me - we were looking out through a crack in the door. The two were almost close to each other. (page 159)

The author then goes on to say:

——Hey, you ask me: Did the traveler, the protagonist in the story, put his hand on her shoulder? You really are more of a novelist than I am! As you said, it's more like a novel. But—actually, I just threw out the mouthpiece of the cigarette I had lit after I got out of the mosquito net. Then, I said:
"Thank you, you can close it."
...She, still leaning on the railing, closed the door after two or three minutes and walked down the stairs silently. —To be honest, it was a slightly restless two or three minutes. (page 159)

As said at the beginning, the author really has nothing to do with her.

After I read the whole article, the impression I left behind was just that woman who was pitiful, and the rest only served as a foil. The author's last sentence is particularly interesting:

——Traveler, it is the autumn grass on the roadside that lingers in particular! What I saw was the devastated autumn grass in the early morning after the storm! ” (page 163)

A traveler writer will pay special attention to the people who come into contact with him, can become the material of writing.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～

"Female Commandment Fan Chi Tan" is Sato's most famous work. The background of this writing is Tainan. "I" traveled with the poet Shiwaimin in Tainan and saw an abandoned house, a traditional Taiwanese brick house. Even if it is an abandoned house, it still cannot hide its gorgeousness:

"This is a really luxurious house! Look at the sub-column on the second floor! It's really well-crafted. Look at the wall, it's not just made of red bricks, but decorated with beautiful colors. , is painted with light red paint on the whole surface. It is surrounded by bright sky blue thin outlines! The color is slightly faded and whitened, which makes people feel more dreamlike. Isn't it? The parts under the eaves that were not hit by the rain still have a little bit of their original color.” (p. 221)

While visiting this abandoned house, they suddenly heard the voice of someone talking. After researching for a long time, they probably heard a woman in Quanzhou saying, "What is it? How come there is no earlier!  …". It means "Why? Why didn't you come earlier?".

They were immediately surprised. But they were too hungry and tired at the time, so they had to leave the same way. As soon as I left the gate, I met the old man I met before. When they told this grandma about their experiences, how could they know that grandma said:

"Go and get rid of the evil! - because of you, you have heard the voice of the undead!" (p. 229)

The grandmother told the story of this giant mansion vividly: the one who lived here was originally a wealthy family, but it was a pity that the family was in the middle. And the voice they heard was believed to be the eldest lady who had passed away. She had been waiting for her fiancé, but before anyone could wait, she went mad and died. Because there was no more valuables in the house, it was said that the golden veil that was stuck on the eldest lady's head was sold for funeral expenses.

The author and the foreigners have been discussing this matter since their departure. Shiwaimin felt that he had a dialogue with the ghost, but the author disagreed, but he was too hungry at the time and did not go in to see what happened. So the two of them made an appointment to explore the abandoned house again. They finally entered the boudoir and saw no ghosts. However, this time, the foreigners unexpectedly saw a big red e. The suspicious layman felt uneasy again.

A few days later, the unease of the layman was confirmed—someone committed suicide in that abandoned house. The local people said that the wealthy woman finally got her husband, and so on.

After reading this, if you think it's over, then you "succeeded". What exactly is it? I leave it to everyone to read.

The author cleverly combines the rumors with the social phenomena at that time. Interesting thing, because the work has strong material from Tainan and Anping. After the work was published, Taiwanese readers completely substituted into the story, which once attracted readers to explore abandoned houses and take literary walks according to the scenic spots of the work.

The author's use of "Female Commandment Fan Qi Tan" as the name has a meaning behind it. "Chi Tan" has the meaning of strange talk. As for the "Female Commandment Fan", it is the thread of a series of stories: the book describes the fan as being made of ivory and painted with lotus flowers. Lotus, will think of "Love Lotus said" without vines or branches. As for the female commandments, it represents Cao Dajia (Ban Zhao)'s "The Female Commandments". The Commandments for Women is a book for teaching women. As you can imagine, the author used a fan to express the general public's views and moral values on women at that time. The three words "Female Commandment Fan" already show the author's knowledge of Chinese literature.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～

The Taiwan described by Haruo Sato is beyond the eyes of tourists. In addition to describing the scenery of Taiwan in his works, he uses writing style to describe the sadness of small people, the shackles of culture, and the uncivilized rulers. This is a relatively different angle, and it has also become a modern person to spy on the scenery of Taiwan during the Japanese occupation era.

A hundred years later, Taiwanese writer Xiaoxiang Shen, following in the footsteps of Haruo Sato, "rewrites" a "Journey to Colony", which is an exchange across time and space. Have the opportunity to share with you again.

～～～～～～～～～～～～～
Extended information:

[Note 1] The Salamao Incident
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara Spear Incident

[Note 2] Wushe Incident
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/Wushe Incident

Haruo Sato's "Journey to the Colony" (from blog)
https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010733669

Xiaoxiang God's "Journey to Colony" (from blog)
https://www.books.com.tw/products/0010876131