臺灣文學虛擬博物館

【Box】All about Haruo Sato 2 

The transport in Taiwan at that time was incomparable with how it is now. It took Haruo Sato three days to get to Taiwan from Japan by ship. Then, how did he travel from the plains to Sun Moon Lake, which is surrounded by mountains? 

A. High Speed Railway

B. Bamboo-copter

C. National Freeway 6

D. Human-powered “Uber” (Pulled Rickshaw)

Answer: Human-powered “Uber” (Pulled Rickshaw) During Haruo Sato's trip to Taiwan, he took all the possible means of transportation in the 1920s.

Under Japanese rule, long-distance trips were difficult. The ship schedule or train schedule would be announced in the newspapers. The tonnage of the ship, ship schedule, location, estimated arrival dates, actual arrival dates, and even famous passengers on the ship would be clearly recorded. At the time, Haruo Sato took the ship “Bingo Maru” to Northern Taiwan.

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　 (from Taiwan Daily News) 　　

Judging from Haruo Sato’s description in “Traveler,” we can tell that the transportation was not as convenient as it is now on the island of Taiwan under Japanese rule, especially for trips to the mountains. Haruo got off at a nameless train station and changed to a refitted handcar to Jiji Street and stayed there for a night. The next day, he took a pulled rickshaw to Sun Moon Lake and stayed at the hotel there. Within two days, he had already made use of three modes of transport.

(“Private Handcar Railroad 1” (1921) Department of Railway, Taiwan Sutokufu; “Rickshaw” (1930) Department of Railway, Transportation Bureau, Taiwan Sutokufu. Database of Old Photos of Taiwan)

The so-called handcar is a human-powered light railroad car. It was used to transport goods and resources. The handcar Haruo took was refitted and equipped with a seat and a cover. The rickshaw was a human-powered transport. It required two runners at the front and back to hold on to one or two long poles and the passenger sat on the seat. It was widely used on steep mountain roads. Places where the modern railway was not present still used the rickshaw as a means of transportation.

However, apart from the mountains, Haruo Sato was able to travel between Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung, manifesting the convenience brought by the Western Trunk Line:

The railway covering the Keelung to Kaohsiung route was extremely important in defense, politics, and the economy. The construction started in May 1899 and was completed in April 1908. The opening of the Western Trunk Line facilitated the economic development of the island of Taiwan. Especially due to the impact of WWI, the economy of Taiwan became unprecedentedly prosperous.

In addition to the establishment of the railway system, highways and cars were also introduced. The evolution of transportation not only boosted the economy, but also provided the foundation for tourism. The completion of the Western Trunk Line extended travel destinations and also started the trend of traveling in Taiwan. Meanwhile, business operators of the tourism industry and merchants from Japan built hotels in Taiwan. What’s more, the convenient transport network enabled systematic travel, contributing to all types of tourism agencies, hotels, and travel brochures. Thanks to these travel-friendly changes, Haruo was able to successfully travel all the way to Southern Taiwan from Northern Taiwan.

For Japanese people, coming to Taiwan was like an adventure in the beginning of the colonial period. However, as Japan expanded its control of Taiwan and strengthened its measures of governance, the land of Taiwan was gradually developed, the railway system started to expand, and the adventurous way of traveling in Taiwan was gradually replaced by safe traveling and tourism. Therefore, for Japanese people, Taiwan was charming yet dangerous. For instance, the indigenous people in “Musha,” who had not completely surrendered to the Japanese colonial government, was a source of horror to Haruo Sato; traveling there was no longer touristic but adventurous.

(Original Text by: Yu-Kai Lin)

Real vs. Surreal

In the summer of 1920, Haruo Sato arrived in Keelung and began his trip from Southern Taiwan to Northern Taiwan. In the middle of his trip, he also went to Xiamen and Zhangzhou. During his visit, Taiwan went through the petition movement for the establishment of a Taiwanese parliament, as the colonial government strongly advocated interethnic marriage and cultural assimilation. Meanwhile, the Slamaw Incident broke out in Central Taiwan.

Haruo Sato attended banquets with Japanese officials, talked with prestigious Taiwanese intellectuals, and carried out extensive discussions with people against the colonial government, such as Lin Xian Tang. When Sato was visiting Fujian, he also met with Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese people.

During this first overseas travel, the means of transportation Sato used, the places he visited, and people he met, all helped him realize the entanglement of cultural codes and geopolitics, along with the communication barriers posed by differences between ethnic groups and linguistic disparities. In view of the complicated relationships among Taiwan, China, and Japan in the 1920s, Sato kept records by writing prose and further transformed the local folktales.

Through mystical figures such as the female ghost that wandered around ruins, the magical bird that scared off living people, and the locust that understood people, Sato presented the absurdity and helplessness in life.

“Xiamen, China” Haruo Sato, Year Unknown (Oil Painting, Wood Panel). This painting portrays the scenery of the international settlement Gulangyu that Sato saw when visiting Xiamen. (From the collection of Sato Haruo Memorial Museum)

Zheng-Xiang Shou(Birth and death date unknown), Around 1930. On the right of the photo is Kiichi Azuma. The person in the middle is considered to be Zheng-Xiang Shou. Zheng was the assistant of Azuma Dental Clinic, who accompanied Sato during his trip to Xiamen. (Provided by Tetsuichiro Higashi)

Trip to the South, Haruo Sato, April 1922, Shinchosha.Sato's writings on his trip to Fujian. As a Japanese traveler, Sato wrote in this book about the disrupted China due to Constitutional Protection Movement and May Fourth Movement. This sort of article is very rare among Sato's works. (From the collection of Tatsuya Kono)

Haruo Sato in the Study, Shincho, Issue of March 1919, Preface, Colored. The book design of Trip to the South. Inspired by the patterns of the souvenir tablecloth brought back by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki from China. (Provided by Tatsuya Kono)

Trip to the South, Haruo Sato, July 1936, Shunyodo Publishing House. As the situation in China attracted world attention in the year before the Second Sino-Japanese War, Trip to the South was re-published in the form of Bunkobon (small-format paperback books). (From the collection of Tatsuya Kono)

Draft of "Bright Moon" (Shincho, November 1921), Haruo Sato,1921.On Display for the First Time. This prose was later included in Trip to the South and renamed "Bright Moon in Lujiang." It depicts a beautiful geisha Sato sees under the moon in Xiamen. (Kept by Jissen Women's University)

Liao Zai Back Street, Xiamen,1910. This is a brothel in front of Shuixian Temple. Sato came here with Zheng-Xiong Lin, the eldest son of Ji-Shang Lin (Minnan Commander in Chief) from the distinguished Lin Family in Wufeng. (Provided by Tatsuya Kono)

Draft of “Jimei School” (Shincho, September 1921), Haruo Sato, 1921, Newly Discovered Document. The draft illustrates the heightened anti-Japanese movement in Xiamen at the time. Sato disguised himself as a “Taiwanese tourist” to avoid trouble; yet this part was not published in the end. (Kept by Jissen Women's University)

Koa-á Book (Wuniang Jumps into the Old Well, Wuniang Sends Winter Clothes), Xiamen Hui Wen Tang Bookstore, Newly Discovered Document. When Sato was travelling in Fujian, interpreter Chao-Fan Xu told him the story of "Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû." This book was probably bought for reference. When Sato was travelling in Fujian, interpreter Chao-Fan Xu told him the story of "Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû." This book was probably bought for reference. (Kept by Jissen Women's University)

Okamoto Yōhachirō(1876-1960)，1924.A mineralogist from Aichi Prefecture. He came to Taiwan in 1899 and discovered Hokutolite in 1905. He once worked with Ushinosuke Mori to plan for the Sutokufu Museum. In 1913, he assumed the position of Director of Xuying Academy in Xiamen, whom Mori recommended Sato to visit. (Provided by Masatoyo Okamoto)

Chao-Fan Xu (1889-1941) & Jin-Hua Yu (1898-?)，Around 1920.Photo taken at Bailudong, Xiamen. From the left: Chao-fan Xu, Jin-hua Yu. The two were heads of student affairs at Xuying Academy. Okamoto introduced them to act as Sato’s interpreters during his trip in Zhangzhou. (Provided by Shih-Hsiung Hsu)

Draft of "Tale of the Lychee Mirror" (Musasabi's Draft, November 1937, collected by Jimbun Shoin)，Newly Discovered Document. Sato's "Star" (Kaizo, March 1921) was inspired by the story of "Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû." This book explains issues regarding the different versions of this Huaben (short story). (Kept by Jissen Women's University)

Mu-Tu Lin(1893-1977), Around 1923. Born in Banqiao, Taiwan. Lin went to Xiamen in 1918 to work as the branch director of Xingao Bank. He warmly welcomed Sato at his residence in Gulangyu. (Provided by Wei-Hsing Lin)

Travel route of Haruo Sato in the 1920s

【Box】All about Haruo Sato 3 

Haruo Sato went to Fujian from Taiwan and stayed there for around two weeks. He adapted the legends he heard during this time into the story "Star". This story illustrates a scholar who travels to the capital for imperial examinations, and comes across the daughter of a wealthy family. After much effort, the scholar gets to marry the daughter; yet, a family tragedy takes place. Upon which legend did Haruo Sato base this story?

A. Susan Left Hongtong Country

B. Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû (Tale of the Lychee Mirror)

C. Tang Bohu Picks Qiu Xiang as His Bride

D. Farewell My Concubine Answer: B. Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû (Tale of the Lychee Mirror)

Do you think that Haruo Sato only went on in-depth trips in Western Taiwan during his three-month stay in Taiwan?

In fact, upon Haruo Sato's arrival in Taiwan, Taiwan was struck by the stormy season, which completely disrupted his travel schedule. At Mori Ushinosuke's suggestion, the author of Indigenous Tribes in Taiwan, Haruo Sato changed his itinerary. He asked Xiang-Shou Zheng, the assistant of the dentist clinic owned by his old friend Kiichi Azuma from middle school, to serve as his interpreter and guide. Then, he traveled to Xiamen and Zhangzhou, where he had long aspired to go. This unplanned trip was recorded in Trip to the South. In this book, Haruo Sato mentions that he gained inspiration for "Star" from the story of Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû at the hotel in Zhangzhou.

People who are familiar with traditional Chinese theatrical operas probably all know about "Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû". This is a story widely circulated in the Min and Nanyang regions. It has various ways of presentation, such as novel and theatre. The main male and female protagonists are Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû; there is also a matchmaker, the servant girl Ik Tshun. The well-known classic scenes of the stories include Gō͘-niû throwing lychee and Tân Saⁿ grinding a mirror. The story mainly depicts the relationship between Gō͘-niû and Tân Saⁿ. It is also called Tale of the Lychee Mirror or Tale of the Lychee.

Inspired by the story of Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû, Haruo Sato created "Star". In this work, he keeps the original characters and their names, but increases the scenes of Ik Tshun, making her more important than Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû. The original story was set in the Song dynasty, but the child Ik Tshun is pregnant with in "Star" is Hong Chengchou, an eminent Chinese official in the late Ming dynasty. Also, the "Star of the Fate" that pervades the entire story carries more significant meaning than "lychee" and "mirror", which are the two representative objects of the original Tân Saⁿ and Gō͘-niû. Judging from these changes, "Star" is evidently a derivative work by Haruo Sato.

The places and objects appearing in "Star", e.g. the watchtower, Zouma building (the second-floor balcony, also present in another famous work by Haruo Sato, "Strange Tale of the Precepts for Women's Fan"), are all incorporated with his true travel experience and imagination. Together with Trip to the South, "Star" shows the impact of the trip to Fujian on Haruo Sato's works.

In Trip to the South, Haruo Sato describes two women he observed: one is a beautiful woman he saw upon his arrival in Xiamen, when she was bending down to play with a monkey on the second-floor balcony; the other was a well-mannered young woman gambling on the second-floor balcony. Both on the balcony of the second floor, these women show two contrasting aspects in the eyes of Haruo Sato. These two women in the same type of space respectively represent pure beauty and depravation; similarly, Gō͘-niû, throwing lychee on the balcony, also has both aspects of beauty and jealousy.

Through his imagination and understanding of the Chinese culture as well as his travel experience in Xiamen, Haruo Sato transforms the Chinese-style second-floor balcony, a positive space that breaks the barriers between private and public territories and connects people, into an unstable area that probes into the legitimacy of an intimate relationship.

The love triangle between Tân Saⁿ, Gō͘-niû, and Ik Tshun in "Star" demonstrates Haruo Sato's person perspectives, resonating with the relationship dilemma he faced back in Japan.

In "Star", Tân Saⁿ falsely believes that he has found the right person and everything would settle down after starting a family. However, based on the incident triggered by Gō͘-niû, it shows that though "family" provides shelter, it is at times the source of a thunderstorm. The intimate relationship built by the three characters in one household eventually breaks.

Haruo Sato is also unable to solve this dilemma. The story can only destroy the wonderful imagination about having a family, and come to an abrupt end. It even borrows Hong Chengchou, a famous historical figure, as the successor of Tân Saⁿ to wrap up the story.

Haruo Sato's work does not provide any answer to the quandary about love or the absence of love, nor does it solve the entangled love triangle because Haruo Sato was also in the middle of his life's journey looking for his own direction, which was precisely why he traveled to Taiwan.

(Original Text by: Yu-Kai Lin)