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The late Hong Kong writer Xi Xi (1937–2022) observed that film and literature enriched her knowledge of Taiwan, and that Yang Mu’s poetry and prose—the fruit of many years’ assiduous work—offered access to an authentic version of Hualien, enabling her to feel that place. “Hualien will certainly be proud of Yang Mu,” she once said.
Indeed, Yang himself stated: “Hualien is my secret weapon.” Professor Hsu Yu-fang, who runs the Yang Mu Library at National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) in Hualien, sees Hualien as part of the imagery of Yang’s poetry. “As a poet, Yang derived his education and creative nourishment from Hualien. This is also the place where his secret, unspoken feelings coalesced.”
Yang wrote many topographical poems that revolve around various place names in Hualien. His star pupil Tseng Chen-chen (1954–2017), who founded the Graduate Institute of Creative Writing and English Literature at NDHU, said that this manifested Yang’s profound attention to Taiwan’s history and geography.
Let’s take a tour of Hualien through Yang’s poems. “Bringing You Back to Hualien,” a poem by Yang Mu that Yang Xian set to music, provides a fitting point of entry.
Together, let us glide to the cultivated valley below,
This is my homeland.
…
The pure white snowlines mark out its highest terrain,
The average temperature in January is 16°C,
In July it rises to 28°C.
Annual rainfall is 3,000 millimeters.
In winter the wind blows northeasterly;
In summer, southwesterly.
Though nature’s bounty is not lavish,
It will be enough to sustain us.
Together, let us glide to the cultivated valley below,
To witness the creation myths,
To work,
To till the soft, gentle lands.
…
Let us glide to the valley of harvest,
This is our homeland.
—Yang Mu, “Bringing You Back to Hualien” (1975)
The Former Book of Mt. Qilai contains Yang’s memories of Hualien and his personal reflections.