Erh-lung Village in Microcosm

It's quite a simple matter to describe Erh-lung village.

Erh-lung is one of the 18 villages that make up Chiaohsi rural district and was founded some 200 years ago, when Wu Sha pioneered the first Chinese settlements on the Ilan Plain.

Originally known as Ch'i-wu-lan, it was once a plains aborigine settlement. The village's midway boundary is marked by the home of former village chief Lin So, with wards 1-9 constituting upper Erh-lung (Ch'i-wu-lan), while wards 10-16 make up lower Erh-lung (Chou-tzu-wei).

Nine-tenths of the village's land area of 300 chia consists of rice paddies. Its population of 1,650 all belong to farming families.

Between 1953 and 1966 Erh-lung developed into a duck-breeding centre for the whole of Ilan county, at that time Taiwan's main supplier of duck meat. Nearly every household produced excellent pickled duck's eggs, known as "Chou-tzu-wei pickle," a gastronomic treat fondly remembered by visitors to the area.

Later on, rising wage rates cut into profits as the price of eggs remained steady. Improvements in artificial insemination also meant that semen from a single drake could be used to impregnate 70 or 80 ducks in a single day. The great days of duck rearing were over, and today only a handful of Erh-lung duck breeders are still in business.

Since the village lies only one kilometer from the nearest town, all economic activity is concentrated there. Except for a handful of family general stores the village has virtually no amenities--no cafe, hotel, pharmacy or video rental shop. There isn't even a temple, so worshippers must go to the Hsieh T'ien Temple in Chiaohsi.

There is only one street, so everyone's address is Ch'i-wu-lan Road. For transport people rely on motorbikes and bicycles. The only school to speak of is Erh-lung kindergarten, and the minibus village chief Lin Hung-chih drives the children to school in counts as the village's only "bus."

Erh-lung certainly is a very simple little place.

[Picture Caption]

Map of Chiaohsi rural district and Erh-lung village.