Enclaves
Military dependents' villages are a peculiar facet of Taiwan's war-torn history. With their sloping, black-tiled roofs, earthen walls and bamboo fences, plus the common profession of the residents, and languages and living habits that differed from those of local residents of Taiwan, the villages acquired their own style. In the course of over half a century, the residents made Taiwan their home, got married and had children, and gradually assimilated into Taiwan's multifarious culture. But outsiders still harbor a sense of curiosity about their mystique.
The story of the military dependents' villages began in 1949 and 1950, when the Nationalist government, beset by civil war, withdrew its institutions and troops to Taiwan, the accompanying military personnel and their dependents numbering more than a million. In the turmoil of war, the government's finances were in dire straits, with no surplus resources to provide for the soldiers' families. Accordingly, the government set aside public land near military encampments, and with the crudest building materials the troops built large quantities of tile-roofed houses for them to live in. To the mainland Chinese troops, who had been hastened to Taiwan and had no one to turn to, these residences were enough to settle down in and re-establish their lives.
Although these villages' residents came from different provinces around China, with their disparate living habits, dialects and cuisines, they were all passionate and united in their loyalty toward the authority of the KMT and Chiang Kai-shek, and in their belief that they would retake and restore the mainland. They believed that the hardship and crowded conditions they endured at that moment were merely temporary, that they were just sojourners on this small island who would soon be returning home. They were strangers in a strange land, refugees from remote realms; their camaraderie made them more unified and tolerant toward one another.
Says Wang, recalling the circumstances of those years, "When one family fried meat, three others would smell it." This is the perfect portrait of the tight-knit, cordial life in a dependents' village. Usually, when the Wang family cooked a tasty meal, they would share it with their neighbors. Likewise, the Li family would prepare dumplings and steamed buns, then bring them out for everyone to sample. Neighbors would drop by each other's houses for any reason and mind each other's children.
"Back then the soldiers had meager incomes, lots of kids, and hard lives. When it came time to pay tuition or buy furniture or appliances, and you didn't have enough money, you could borrow from a community credit club. You could even join several credit clubs, borrowing from one to invest in another. On the bidding day, the women of the village would bring their bidding forms and gather at the house of the club trustee, gossiping and chattering. It was exciting," Wang recalls. The young men of the village loved playing basketball; some even formed gangs, loitering and fighting. The girls were trendy and sociable. This was outlandish in the eyes of the conservative locals at that time, and outsiders did not enter the villages lightly.
44 South Village, located in Taipei's Hsinyi District, is the earliest military dependents' village in Taiwan, and has been preserved as a historic site. Its image contrasts with that of nearby Taipei 101, symbolizing memories of different eras of this tract of land.