In Changhua County’s coastal village of Fangyuan (芳苑), “ocean oxen” (海牛) are trained to help harvest oysters, which is the dominant economy of the village. However, in recent years their numbers have decreased significantly.
“Fangyuan would not be Fangyuan without ocean oxen,” says Hung Wu-hsiung (洪武雄), an elderly ocean oxen trainer.
Although their numbers are diminishing, locals are working hard to preserve their culture, which dates back to the Qing Dynasty, when Fangyuan was a bustling port town.
Photo courtesy of Hong Yan-chao
“Back in Fangyuan’s heyday, we were Lukang’s second port, and we had over 400 ocean oxen,” says Wu Wei-cheng (吳偉誠), principal of Fangyuan Elementary School (芳苑國民小學).
But today, Fangyuan’s population has shrunk dramatically, and there are only eight of the bovines left.
Ocean oxen are not a specific breed. They are trained to walk into the ocean, wait as oyster farmers load up their haul and then bring the cart back home. The large lumbering creatures learn the route from their home to the oyster field, so harvesters do not need to direct their oxen where to go.
Photo: Charles DeBenedetto, Taipei Times
Training an ocean ox can take years.
“Some are well-behaved and easy to train,” Hung says, “while others are troublemakers.”
A DIMINISHING CULTURE
Photo courtesy of Hong Yan-chao
Although some elderly residents still use ocean oxen, most of the harvesters today use machines because they are more efficient.
“It takes about four hours to harvest oysters with an ocean ox,” Hung says. “But machines can work twice as fast. Also, they don’t need rest.”
But some local residents, like Wei Ching-shuei (魏清水), leader of the Fangyuan Ocean Oxen Culture Association (芳苑海牛文化協會), are working hard to keep the culture alive.
Photo courtesy of Chen Hong-yun
His association conducts ocean oxen tours, where guests can ride in an ox-cart and collect oysters and clams to grill. Several other ocean oxen owners also conduct similar tours.
Wei says he’s trying to get the Fangyuan ocean oxen to be approved as a UNESCO World Heritage — an effort that the community hopes will bring new interest in this culture to Fangyuan’s youth, so they will carry on the tradition.
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
But success is far from certain.
Despite the modest growth of the ocean oxen tours, it is unclear if this tradition will survive.
“If people come, then our culture will not disappear,” says Huang Kuan-chang (黃冠彰), director of general affairs at Fangyuan Elementary School.
“Fangyuan cannot lose our ocean oxen,” Hung says.
In 2018, the school published a student-created picture book called Ocean Oxen’s Home (海牛的家鄉), which contains stories about all of the current ocean oxen owners.
“In the end, our ocean oxen will almost certainly disappear. But the most important thing is to remember that they were here,” Wu says.
TOUR INFORMATION
For information about ocean oxen tours visit the Changhua County Tourism Bureau’s English-language Web site: shorturl.at/ioBC1
Tours are conducted in Mandarin, are family friendly and will only depart at low tide. Because low-tide occurs at different times throughout the year, it is recommended to call in advance to confirm the departure time. Tours usually last about 2-3 hours. Although some tour guides speak English, it is recommended that at least one person in your party speak Mandarin in order to translate if necessary.
Hung Yan-chao also offers tours. Tel: (0953) 911-378.
Participants are encouraged to bring water, sunglasses and UV-protection clothing.
In Taiwan there are two economies: the shiny high tech export economy epitomized by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and its outsized effect on global supply chains, and the domestic economy, driven by construction and powered by flows of gravel, sand and government contracts. The latter supports the former: we can have an economy without TSMC, but we can’t have one without construction. The labor shortage has heavily impacted public construction in Taiwan. For example, the first phase of the MRT Wanda Line in Taipei, originally slated for next year, has been pushed back to 2027. The government
July 22 to July 28 The Love River’s (愛河) four-decade run as the host of Kaohsiung’s annual dragon boat races came to an abrupt end in 1971 — the once pristine waterway had become too polluted. The 1970 event was infamous for the putrid stench permeating the air, exacerbated by contestants splashing water and sludge onto the shore and even the onlookers. The relocation of the festivities officially marked the “death” of the river, whose condition had rapidly deteriorated during the previous decade. The myriad factories upstream were only partly to blame; as Kaohsiung’s population boomed in the 1960s, all household
Allegations of corruption against three heavyweight politicians from the three major parties are big in the news now. On Wednesday, prosecutors indicted Hsinchu County Commissioner Yang Wen-ke (楊文科) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), a judgment is expected this week in the case involving Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) and former deputy premier and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is being held incommunicado in prison. Unlike the other two cases, Cheng’s case has generated considerable speculation, rumors, suspicions and conspiracy theories from both the pan-blue and pan-green camps.
Stepping inside Waley Art (水谷藝術) in Taipei’s historic Wanhua District (萬華區) one leaves the motorcycle growl and air-conditioner purr of the street and enters a very different sonic realm. Speakers hiss, machines whir and objects chime from all five floors of the shophouse-turned- contemporary art gallery (including the basement). “It’s a bit of a metaphor, the stacking of gallery floors is like the layering of sounds,” observes Australian conceptual artist Samuel Beilby, whose audio installation HZ & Machinic Paragenesis occupies the ground floor of the gallery space. He’s not wrong. Put ‘em in a Box (我們把它都裝在一個盒子裡), which runs until Aug. 18, invites