The source of Meinung Creek lies in the vicinity of Shuang Creek. At Kuanglin in Meinung Township, it spreads out west to form the alluvial Meinung Plain. For the local people, it is the wellspring that has nurtured the life of Meinung. Likewise, 60 years ago the valley that it lies in upstream was a peaceful paradise for us light yellow butterflies called "Fabricius" (Catopsilia crocale, of the Pieridae class of butterflies).

But what is it like today, 60 years later? Right here on June 4, the humans held a "Yellow Butterfly Day," commemorating those of us Fabricius butterfly comrades who have died because of human greed. They also announced the Yellow Butterfly Valley Environmental Pact, asking everyone to sympathize with us and to respect all the plants and trees, birds and beasts that live here.

We feel grateful, but we also feel a sense of incongruity, because those who allow us to thrive and those who destroy our home are one and the same human beings!

Other butterfly valleys are naturally created, but our home was built unintentionally by humans. The story begins in 1935.

Falling rain spatters the green promontories of Meinung's valleys, worthy of a misty landscape painting.

The one and only butterfly valley

In those days Taiwan was governed by the Japanese. They felled the virgin forest in a band from today's Meinung to Liukuei, and they planted vast numbers of Indian rose chestnut trees (Cassia siamea). Why would the Japanese want to do this? Some people say that it was because they needed rifles for the war effort. The hard, durable Indian rose chestnut tree is perfect for rifle stocks. Other people say that in Southeast Asia they were struggling against malaria, so they cultivated cinchona trees (Chinchona pubescens), used to concoct quinine. Cinchona trees grow more vigorously if interspersed among Indian rose chestnut trees.

For whatever reason, after the Indian rose chestnut forests were brought into being, the numbers of other varieties of flora diminished, and the area subsequently became unsuitable for most animals to live in. But as far as we were concerned, it was butterfly heaven. The leaves of the Indian rose chestnut trees are actually our larvae's favorite food. We do have competitors, but the topography and climate are not inviting for them, so one after another they were all eliminated.

Nevertheless, at that time we had no way to "occupy" the whole valley. The gradual and natural increase of plant species brought with it many birds and animals, snakes, lizards and other natural enemies. After the end of the Japanese era, people started hunting animals here for economic gain, stripping their pelts for trophies and selling their internal organs and flesh for food. Neither could we easily escape the same fate; we were captured as specimens or used to make processed goods, like purses, decorative pictures or cushions. Finally, all our natural enemies disappeared. Because we had the power of vast numbers and also good luck, we became the dominant species of the valley's ecosystem. That was how the wondrous sight you humans call "the dance of ten thousand butterflies" came to pass in Yellow Butterfly Valley.

There are three different categories of butterfly valleys: transitory resting places along migratory paths; wintering grounds, such as the ones migratory birds have; and the permanent ecosystem of Yellow Butterfly Valley. That is to say, from eggs to larvae to adult butterflies, we spend our whole lives in the valley, and we have virtually no natural predators. The valley is extremely conducive for us Fabricius butterflies to flourish. It is unique not only in Taiwan, but throughout the whole world.

On the rocks by the side of the creek, the light yellow butterflies, weary of flying, stop to rest and have a sip of water. （photo by Charlie Sung）

Greeting the sunlight

We are actually divided into two different varieties. One is the silver-striped Fabricius (Catopsilia pomona); the other is the common Fabricius (Catopsilia crocale). It's easy to tell us apart-just look to see whether there are silver rings on our wings. Commonly, before the sun rises our maturing larvae start into motion en masse. They crawl down the branches of the trees onto small plants lying under the Indian rose chestnut trees and prepare to pupate.

If only a little careless, some members of the corps can fall out of rank. The luckier ones may fall earlier than everyone else into the grass. The most unfortunate might just drop from the trees into an old lady's pot of oyster noodles. Still, the vast majority are easily able to firmly affix themselves. At this moment, if you look very carefully, you can see on the backs of the leaves green butterfly pupae lined up about two centimeters apart in a neat little row. We're very particular about being tidy.

When the pupae are on the verge of sprouting wings, from the outside you can clearly see veins and a blur of pale yellow. This is a result of a full week of hard work. Shortly afterward, from the opening in the back, we crawl out of the cocoon dripping wet to welcome the first rays of sunlight.

After expending the limits of our energy, we are naturally very hungry. At this time, what we most love to eat is the nectar of the Jamaica vervain, the lantana and the Ixora chinensis, all in full bloom. Although our lives are only a short week to ten days and we're busy doing a whole bunch of things, we still maintain an esprit de corps. If only one of us stops to drink water or rests on the flowing water in search of food, a great throng will quickly follow from behind.

What does this behavior look like in the eyes of you human beings? Read this depiction from writer Hung Suli's "Vanishing Butterfly Trail":

"...When they silently rest on the pebbles at the side of the water, like a pool of light yellow shadows, there is only quiet beauty. They are a pot of flowers casually flecked by nature!

"Then they flit away like dust. In little clusters, the butterflies fly onto the shoulders, the tips of the hair and the backs of passers-by. Flower petals are scattered all around, yet they are no more lovely than the yellow butterflies slowly floating in the air. Cherry blossoms fall like snow, flowers tumble in a drift. But the butterflies don't fall to the earth; they flutter and hover as if pondering, as if searching...."

The great multitude flying all through the air are for the most part romantic young males; what they seek is the lover of their dreams. In Yellow Butterfly Valley, there is a great disparity between the number of males and females. When many lovely and virtuous maidens have barely grown up, their wings don't even have the chance to dry before a whole hoard of "gentlemen" who have been biding their time at the side rush down to beg their hands in marriage.

After she has enjoyed nuptial bliss, a new bride will choose the young and delicate leaf of an Indian rose chestnut tree on which to lay her eggs. A week later they will hatch, and two to four weeks further on they will mature, starting the cycle of life all over again.

Maturing larvae position themselves on low-lying shrubs under the trees, ready to metamorphose into beautiful butterflies. （photo by Charlie Sung）

The tragedy of the butterfly kingdom

During the period in which we appear in great numbers, an amazing phenomenon occurs, in which Yellow Butterfly Valley seems to be in both winter and spring at the very same time. What actually happens is that the Indian rose chestnut trees are nibbled bare by the little baby butterflies, while the weeds underneath remain lush and green. Perhaps you might ask, isn't it likely that the Indian rose chestnut trees will die because of this? The answer is that they won't. If there are too many larvae, they will be naturally culled by the lack of edibles. Furthermore, the periods in which we flourish in highest numbers every year are between April and June, and between the end of September and the beginning of October. We have only four or five generations, unlike our cousins on Hainan Island who have more than ten generations in a single year and simply don't give the Indian rose chestnut trees a chance to breathe and grow.

The order of life in Yellow Butterfly Valley is therefore no longer controlled by natural enemies. Instead, our own numbers grow and shrink according to the limits of the food supply, and the Indian rose chestnut trees can bud anew and continue to live. Our two species have reached a new natural equilibrium.

But good fortune can't last forever. In the pursuit of profit, human beings unintentionally eliminated all of our natural enemies and then took up the role of enemy themselves. The whole of Taiwan was called "the kingdom of butterflies," but behind it all was our hardship and that of our comrades. In Yellow Butterfly Valley, butterfly catchers mostly catch the males, and Taipei City's Chengkung High School Insect Museum curator Chen Wei-shou believes that butterfly catching has no impact upon us. Nonetheless, who could imagine the torment of being squeezed to death by the butterfly catcher's two fingers and haphazardly tossed in a powdered-milk canister, or being skewered through the heart with a mounting needle and turned into a specimen?

In recent times, people have been constantly chopping down the Indian rose chestnut trees and replanting more economically valuable fruit trees and bamboo groves. By 1976, the entire expanse of the Indian rose chestnut forest was only about 1000 hectares. Our nutritional resources and living space have been constantly shrinking.

Then, after all our hardships, an upsurge in international conservation consciousness resulted in the prohibition of the import and export of butterfly specimens, and killing us ceased to be profitable. But just as we were celebrating our good fortune, there came the news that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Water Resources Planning Commission (WRPC) intended to construct a reservoir here. This time, humans faced the same enemy we did, and the funny thing is, that enemy was human, too.

Female Fabricius butterflies lay their eggs on Indian rose chestnut tree leaves, to make sure that when their babies hatch they will not starve.

Flooded out of house and home

As early as 1988, a continuous stream of city people could be seen in Meinung in their suits and ties, wandering in and out of the houses, streets and alleys, buying the valuable private land in Yellow Butterfly Valley and seeking the right to lease the public land. For many of the people of Meinung, who had devoted half their lives to arduous agricultural work, this was a chance to strike it rich. There was no reason not to turn their land over to other hands.

The first thing these businessmen wanted to do--whether their motives were to plant fruit trees in anticipation of reaping a high rate of return on their land investment, or to make ready for the area to open as a tourist resort--was to "shave Yellow Butterfly Valley bald," and take away our source of food.

Moreover, because of large-scale use of insecticides and herbicides, we're not the only ones to meet with disaster. Ninety different species of birds, including such rare and endangered species as the maroon oriole, Hodgson's hawk eagle and the Indian pitta, are being threatened.

Once construction of the reservoir begins, the first to bear the brunt will be the "mother forest" of tropical trees which sits at the mouth of the valley, the planned site of the dam. Its old name during the era of Japanese administration was the Chutouchao Tropical Forest Park, established in 1935. The park continuously transplanted trees from the Southeast Asian archipelago, Central and South America, Australia, and Africa, introducing 270 species altogether. Of these, 96 varieties of foreign trees remain in the forest, approximately 30 of which can be found nowhere else in Taiwan. Once they have been felled, the birds that live in their branches will have no home to return to.

At that time, three young people, Chung Hsiu-mei, Chung Yung-feng and Li Yun-fei, returned to their hometown of Meinung to do research work for the Academia Sinica. Organizing themselves as the "Seventh Section Work Station," they felt an intense concern for local culture. At the beginning of December 1992, they organized the first public hearing over the Meinung reservoir. At the same time, in order to build consensus among local citizens, they took to driving a rickety old farm vehicle without a license plate, with signs on the front and rear painted by artist Tseng Wen-chung which said in large letters, "For farm use" and "Seventh Section Work Station." They traveled all over advocating opposition to the reservoir's construction. When we saw it, we were boundlessly excited. Perhaps we Fabricius butterflies are not doomed yet.

The public hearing gained the attention and support of the township council, the mayor and the citizens of Meinung. So in 1993 the Love Meinung Alliance was set up. It incorporated local leaders such as the mayor, neighborhood chiefs, social organizations and people from cultural circles, holding seminars in every neighborhood. They distributed hand-outs, and they decided to go north to Taipei to demonstrate in front of the Legislative Yuan, requesting the reservoir's budget be eliminated.

Almost all the cocoons are spaced two centimeters apart, but of course there are some who don't obey the rules.

Defending the home turf

Although we Fabricius butterflies couldn't fly all the way to Taipei to join in the boisterous events, afterwards we overheard the humans' saying that the confrontation was rather spirited.

Wu Chien-min, director of the WRPC, said in response, "The committee did a survey of the Kaoping River back in 1958, and chose a dozen locations suitable for dam construction. In order to respond to the growth in water consumption, southern Taiwan should have had a reservoir built in 1985. Back then, Meinung and Machia passed the technical assessment. In the end, Meinung was chosen because of lower costs.

"Why did the Executive Yuan put off approving the project until 1992? Because we were considering issues such as the Yellow Butterfly Valley, the mother forest park and ancient relics. We asked Chen Wei-shou to conduct research to prove that the Fabricius butterfly could be artificially reproduced. We can build a butterfly museum for ecological education. The mother forest can be transplanted, or we can purchase seeds to plant new trees. If there really are difficulties, the site of the dam can also be relocated. We can dig out the ancient relics and build a Hakka cultural museum to preserve them."

Officials from the Environmental Protection Administration's general planning department indicated, "Basically, there are instances in America where they moved and rebuilt the original ecological systems because of major infrastructure projects. However, if the WRPC wants to utilize the Meinung reservoir in many different ways, man-made pollution is unavoidable, and the effectiveness will be greatly reduced."

Chang Shih-chiao, professor of geography at National Taiwan University notes, "The rainfall of southern Taiwan is too concentrated. We've got to find a way to retain the water. In the Kaohsiung-Pingtung area, betel nut trees cover much of the hills, making water and soil hard to conserve, and so much of the water table has been depleted that the ground has begun to subside. Judging from the current situation, it's very difficult to increase the amount of used rainwater by means of green reservoirs (which retain the water supply by means of forests) and underground reservoirs. The only solution is to build artificial reservoirs.

"But must the reservoir be built in Meinung? To answer the question, all alternatives must be examined, and a complete assessment made of the three aspects of technology, finances and the environment. Only then can a proper evaluation be made. Presently all reports are too rough.

"In terms of the safety of the Meinung reservoir, the poor quality of the soil can be overcome, if people are willing to spend the money to do it. Because it will be an earthen dam, the danger posed by earthquakes is less severe. There is reason to fear leaks and overflowing, but with any kind of a warning we can use the flood gates at Liukuei to control it. The risk is relatively low."

The people of Meinung powerfully expressed their point of view: "The site of the reservoir is only 1.5 kilometers away from Kuanghsing, and the dam is as big as fifty 100-story skyscrapers set side by side. In terms of being suitable for a reservoir, the soil which the dam would be based on is of the lowest quality. It's soft and loose, and it won't hold up. And safety is a major concern."

"Solving the drought problem in southern Taiwan should begin with purifying and purging the pollution from the Kaoping River; this would be addressing the problem at its source.

"Yellow Butterfly Valley is the only butterfly valley in the world to form a self-contained ecosystem. It is very precious in terms of wildlife preservation.

"Is it true that building a Hakka cultural museum can reinvigorate the Hakka culture? After the reservoir is built, what will be brought in will be live-fish restaurants and karaoke lounges. These are the present examples we can see now."

The "newlyweds" are having a sacred wedding. Please send your sincere congratulations, but don't play mischievous tricks on the bride and groom! （photo by Charlie Sung）

Yellow Butterfly, Come Back!

We're full of joy, because in the past two years the people of Meinung have gone to the Legislative Yuan to protest the dam and have succeeded in nullifying its construction budget for both last year and this year. The greatest benefit for us Fabricius butterflies is that we can continue to live in our home. In the future we may have to flee up to the mountaintops above 225 meters, to the area which will not be inundated, but even then no one will be able to guarantee that we can attain an ecological balance. We Fabricius butterflies like some of the Indian rose chestnut trees, but dislike others, and you humans don't understand this mystery. If in the future when culling the forest, you humans choose the wrong trees, it might mean the end for us. The only thing we can be sure of is that in our valley along the Shuang River the dance of ten thousand butterflies is becoming a lost art.

On Yellow Butterfly Day the Hakka writer Chung Tieh-min read a ceremonial message, "Yellow Butterfly, Come Back!" And just as he said, if we are to come back, perhaps humankind must first comprehend the truth that "to respect other lives is to respect your own"!

[Picture Caption]

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Are these falling flowers or snow flakes? The light yellow butterflies that float everywhere in the air weave out the prettiest of dreamlands along Meinung's Shuang River. (photo by Charlie Sung)

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Falling rain spatters the green promontories of Meinung's valleys, worthy of a misty landscape painting.

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On the rocks by the side of the creek, the light yellow butterflies, weary of flying, stop to rest and have a sip of water. (photo by Charlie Sung)

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Female Fabricius butterflies lay their eggs on Indian rose chestnut tree leaves, to make sure that when their babies hatch they will not starve.

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Almost all the cocoons are spaced two centimeters apart, but of course there are some who don't obey the rules.

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Maturing larvae position themselves on low-lying shrubs under the trees, ready to metamorphose into beautiful butterflies. (photo by Charlie Sung)

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The "newlyweds" are having a sacred wedding. Please send your sincere congratulations, but don't play mischievous tricks on the bride and groom! (photo by Charlie Sung)

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Along with the lighthearted rhythm of the minuetto, children get to know the whole life of the butterfly through role-playing.

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Learning how to hang up a butterfly-shaped kite without hurting the big trees is also a lesson in peaceful coexistence with nature.

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Legend has it that Zheng Chenggong established the Futeh Shrine in Yellow Butterfly Valley when he governed Taiwan. It is the only traditional Hakka earth god temple in Taiwan to use Fabricius butterflies as decoration.

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Whenever there is a holiday, crowds of visitors and peddlers rush into Yellow Butterfly Valley. The trash they throw helter skelter disturbs the environment.

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This hill slope, which has been shaved bald, silently accuses humankind of exploiting nature to satisfy its selfish desire for profit. (photo by Charlie Sung)

Along with the lighthearted rhythm of the minuetto, children get to know the whole life of the butterfly through role-playing.

Learning how to hang up a butterfly-shaped kite without hurting the big trees is also a lesson in peaceful coexistence with nature.

Legend has it that Zheng Chenggong established the Futeh Shrine in Yellow Butterfly Valley when he governed Taiwan. It is the only traditional Hakka earth god temple in Taiwan to use Fabricius butterflies as decoration.

Whenever there is a holiday, crowds of visitors and peddlers rush into Yellow Butterfly Valley. The trash they throw helter skelter disturbs the environment.

This hill slope, which has been shaved bald, silently accuses humankind of exploiting nature to satisfy its selfish desire for profit. （photo by Charlie Sung）