Chien Yiming, Assistant Professor, Department of Taiwanese Literature, National Cheng Kung University

Wang Jiaxiang’s illustrated I Live on Hamasen Fisherman's Wharf (2002), a work of children’s literature, showcases one of Kaohsiung’s oldest neighborhoods, introducing readers to the city distinctive shoreline landscape. “Hamaxing” is located in Kaohsiung’s Nangushan District, on the southern edge of the city. During the Japanese colonial period the area was an administrative, commercial, and financial center, home to the fishing industry. In 1908, two coastal railroad lines were constructed in the district, connecting Kaohsiung’s commercial and fishing ports to the rest of the island. Because the railroads were intimately linked to the life of the community, locals called the district “Hamasen,” Japanese for “coastal railway line,” though nowadays the Mandarin “Hamaxing” is more commonly used.

Although Hamasen fell into decline in the postwar era, the railroads scrapped entirely, the district still boasts much historic architecture. Buildings in Shaochuantou and the titular Fisherman’s Wharf are distinctive Kaohsiung landmarks.  

In the 1980s, Wang Jiaxiang devoted himself to Taiwanese history, his writing concerned with ecological and environmental destruction and the plight of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. Subsequently, he published several volumes of nature writing and historical fiction, as well as works of historical fantasy. I Live on Hamasen Fisherman's Wharf is a blend of all these themes and genres.

A longtime participant in Kaohsiung environmental activities and public affairs, Wang has toured the city on foot, recording his impressions of the pulsing metropolis. I Live on Hamasen Fisherman's Wharf, a simple tale accompanied by beautiful blue-toned illustrations, tells the story of a whale in the “Against-the-Wind Inland Sea,”  a gilled man who has swum across the ocean, and an evil spirit, as well as a host of semi-real, semi-imaginary creatures – “cat sprites,” “green pixies,” mermaids, and mermen – creating an exotic fantasy world, gazing at Kaohsiung from a prospect that transcends history. 

The giant blue whale soars in the skies over Kaohsiung, and various types of boats from different historical eras cross over space and time, gathering together in the city. Landscape and landmarks of the Kaohsiung coastline and port area emerge in chronological order, from past to present, flashing onto and off of the pages like scenes in a fast-paced movie. At the end of the book the author shows readers Kaohsiung from the pixies’ perspective, rethinking humans’ relationship to the city – Kaohsiung is significant not just because of its seaside geography and status as a major port city; it is, moreover, a vital humanistic landscape, a panorama of unfolding life.

Worth noting too is that the Kaohsiung Library has produced a film version of I Live on Hamasen Fisherman's Wharf. Text and illustrations for the six-minute short were taken directly from Wang Jiaxiang’s work, reedited and reprocessed. In the film, however, the original’s symphony of voices and richly imaginative storyline give way to simple dialogue and linear narrative, the two versions’ differences and discrepancies perhaps due to conflict between collective consciousness and individual creativity.

¹A body of water that once extended over a large area of southern Taiwan, the “sea” gradually silted up after the Zengwen River changed course in 1731.

Chien Yiming, Assistant Professor, Department of Taiwanese Literature, National Cheng Kung University

Wang Jiaxiang (1966- ) is a Kaohsiung native. He studied at National Chung Hsing University’s Department of Forestry, and has served as chief editor of the Taiwan Times literary supplement, director of Kaohsiung’s Chai Shan Nature Park Promotion Association, and director of the Takao Green Association for Ecology and Humane Studies. He currently resides in Dulan in Taitung Country, where he operates a bed-and-breakfast inn and helps stray animals to lead happy, healthy lives. Published works include the essay collections Civilized Wilderness (1980), A Nature Supplicant (1992), Sounds of the Seasons (1997) and On Foot (2004); the short-story collections Cat Wearing a Tie (1990), Lamada Sinsin and Dahu Ali (1996) The Dwarves’ Riddle (1996), Mountains and Seas (1996), Daofeng Inner Sea (1997), Shadow of a Sea Ghost – The Gilled Man (1999), Deep Blue (2000), Devil’s Magic (2000), and Night Talk in the Golden Fortune Tower (2003); and the illustrated books Swallow on the Windowsill (1998) Encounter with a Tree That Breathes You (2001) and I Live on Hamaxing Fisherman’s Wharf (2002).

Wang Jiaxiang became interested in Taiwan’s “true” natural environment while studying forestry at the university. His “Civilized Wilderness,” winner of the China Times Jury Award for Essays, can serve as a starting point for understanding the writer’s core ideals and later involvement in environmental movements. Wang exemplifies the committed intellectual, not only writing about environmental issues, but also actively participating in movements to save and heal the land, an important context for understanding his early nature writing.  

That stance was common among Taiwanese nature writers in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course, this also means that they faced the same literary and philosophical predicament. When the “Save the Wilderness” movement was stuck in the “saving” stage, constantly meeting with setbacks and frustrations, dejected spirits had no place to unburden themselves, a situation that gradually incubated Wang Jiaxiang’s later historical fiction. After Wang began working with historical material, the texts’ understanding of humans and the land went beyond the scope of nature writing. Combining field studies, archival records, and environmental consciousness, as well as imagination and investigation, Wang’s Jiaxiang’s fictional world features characters and spirits seldom encountered in Taiwanese literature. This writing strategy allows the silent to speak and forgotten history to be remembered, opening the border between nature writing and historical fiction. More importantly, the stories and legends in Wang’s works tell us that the road to the redemption of Taiwan’s land and spirit must return to the starting point, where shamans and spirit dance together.