當前往烏來時，意味著你可能會被斬首。In 1882, travelling to Wulai could cost you your head (有中文字幕)

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[00:00:01][music] I'm here today at the former customs officer's residence in Dante on a special mission. I'm going to try to recreate the journey of a 19th century British official from the Imperial Maritime Customs Service.

[00:00:28]William A. Hancock was an olster. He hailed from Northern Ireland and a 7-year veteran of the service when he arrived here in Dantree in April 1881 on a 12 month posting. The building behind me is where he would have lived.

[00:00:50]During his year-long stay in Formosa, Hanokck became fascinated with Taiwan's mountainous regions and the mysteries of the indigenous people that lived therein. As despite being underQ rule, much of the island was still off limits to both Hanchinese and foreigners alike.

[00:01:09]To find out more about how the island was divided during this period, you can see an earlier video I made on the subject by clicking here. Anyway, having heard tales of these mysterious mountain people who would come to the borders of civilization to barter with the Han residents of the island and keen to gather information about the customs and habits of Taiwan's tribes, Hancock decided to organize a trip into indigenous territory. But such an excursion would be no pleasure cruise.

[00:01:43]This would be a journey fraught with risk as even just venturing to the edge of indigenous territory back in those days could end up with an adventurer losing his head. So to actually go beyond the border and into the mountains proper was doubly dangerous.

[00:02:05]Nevertheless, Hancock was determined to set off on his personal factf finding mission and meet face tof face with members of the Atayel tribe. So on February the 10th, 1882, he set off from the customs warf here in Dantree on a steamer heading down river towards Banga or modern-day Wanoa. These days, however, the only boats that run from Dantree into the city have to be chartered and uh my budget won't stretch to that, I'm afraid. So, it's the MRT for me.

[00:02:43]Upon arriving here in Wanoir, Hancock proceeded to stock up on gifts to present to the indigenous people during the meeting. From here, he ventured south across what he described as a plane, probably present day Jon-Hgh and Yonggha, before reaching Shindien, passing over rapids to arrive at a place he described as a village lying at the base of rocks projecting like the buttresses of a cathedral into clear green water 50 ft deep. From this description, my best guess would be that Hanok had arrived here in Btown. From here, his journey would have gotten considerably tougher. Before roads were built, travelers heading further south from here would have had to follow narrow paths through the forests and jungle, crisscrossing the river as they went. That meant wing across in shallower parts or taking small fairies.

[00:03:41]What's cool is that one of these feries is still in operation today. It takes passengers across the river here, just south from its original location in Bethan, to their homes in Wuhan.

[00:03:55]So here we are following pretty much the exact path that Hancock took almost 150 years ago.

[00:04:08]From here, Hancock crossed what he described as a stony flooded wasteland, quite possibly Jatan or Wantan before ascending a 500 ft hill covered in tea plantations and dropping down into the village of Ku or Chuchure.

[00:04:29]Again, here we can retrace Hancock's journey by following the route of the Chuch Gula or ancient path. Although these days the journey is probably a lot more comfortable as it leads mainly along paved roads and man-made staircases.

[00:04:50]It was here that Hancock mentioned that just days prior to his visit, three Chinese had been attacked and beheaded just a mile or so from the village.

[00:05:00]After arriving safely at Kou, Hanokck's next task was to find what he called a gobetween, meaning a Han local experienced at trading with the Atayal tribes in the region. Only by finding such a person would Hancock be able to achieve his aim of safely journeying into these lands unknown and spending time with the local tribes. Upon further inquiries, it was discovered that the cottage of one such person lay further upstream. So off he set, following a precarious footpath made up of footholds cut into rock faces above the rapidly flowing river. After a while he arrived at the cottage of the goetween and informed the householder of his desire to meet with indigenous people.

[00:05:48]Negotiations took place and the next morning his new friend changed into indigenous clothing, lit the fuse on his matchlock rifle and disappeared into the forest.

[00:05:59]A few hours later, at around 5:30 p.m., he returned in the company of four Atile tribes people, three male and one female. A fifth member of the party had turned back, concerned that the howl of a bear he heard during the journey was a bad omen. A short meeting took place and Hancock left shortly afterwards, returning to the safety of the bering house by the river before dark, but not before he had arranged a second audience the next day. Nevertheless, this brief first encounter with the Atayal was long enough for the Brit to make detailed notes about the clothes, facial features, and hairstyles of the four tribes people he had met. He was particularly takenback by the bamboo and glass bead earrings of the Egyptian-looking female. The tribes people returned the next day where they were presented with the gifts that Hancock had procured for them, namely a pig and 29 catties in weight of samshu or Chinese rice wine. This time 12ile turned up, no doubt curious to meet this strangely dressed European with bushy facial hair. Upon meeting the tribes people for a second time, Hanok was once again struck by the beauty of the Italian females, comparing one of them to Miss Baitman, a character from a popular play of the time, and commenting on her olive complexion, beautiful eyes, long eyelashes, and well-formed nose. He also noted the facial tattoos of both the men and women with particular attention paid to the male facial tattoo earned only after taking a head. After some conversation over the rice wine, the tribes people proceeded to slaughter and cook the pig, dividing the carcass up among themselves, the women storing their share of the spoils in their bosoms, much to Hanok's beusement.

[00:07:57]Later on, some more tribesmen arrived on a canoe and became visibly upset after learning they had missed out on the feast. Hancock placed one of the younger, angrier men, who turned out to be the chief's brother, by presenting him with an anti-makasar, a fancy embroidered cloth used to protect sofas from hair oil. while he also purchased some sugar to distribute between the other late comers. And his generosity obviously made a good impression as the atayal then agreed to allow him to visit their village at a later date.

[00:08:34]So he returned two weeks later for a second visit where upon his arrival at the gobetween's cottage he was greeted by four tribesmen. The chief and one other were to escort him into the jungle, while the other two were to stay behind as hostages to ensure Hancock's safe return.

[00:08:57]Soon after, they set off, following the course of the river, scaling ridges and passing under towering cliff faces while following a narrow, slippery path as it wound its way through dense jungle and thick native vegetation.

[00:09:13]and got noted how from time to time the chief would blow a small reed whistle to warn other indigenous people of the group's approach. He also remarked on the vast array of botanical treasures, marveling at the tropical plants and native bird species on show, occasionally stopping to grab a specimen of the flora as he went. A few hours later, the party arrived at a small village perched on top of a narrow ridge. Upon entering the village, he was invited inside a simple hut constructed out of tree branches and bamboo and given some food by the atile women as all of the hamlet's men were away on a hunting trip. Having finished his food, Hancock proceeded to take a stroll around the village where he was greeted by the unusual sight of children no older than three summers smoking pipes.

[00:10:07]One young girl danced while another played the Jews harp, a traditional indigenous instrument, he noted. Hancock was then invited to dance himself, much to the amusement of those present. While undoubtedly enjoying the experience, Hancock was soon brought back down to Earth when he happened upon the final point of interest noted during his visit, the village's display of human heads, complete with the grinning skulls of some recent victims. A stark reminder of his surroundings. Visit complete, it was time to head back. his return journey once again led by the [snorts] chief. Although this time a different route was taken as a precaution so as to ensure their foreign visitor would find it difficult to locate the village in the future. At around 6:00 p.m. they arrived back at the gobetween's cottage bringing an end to this unique trip into territory rarely entered by Europeans or even Han for that matter.

[00:11:15]All told, Hanok spent just a few hours with the Atile tribes of the Shindian area. But in that time, he managed to make some startlingly accurate predictions about the future of Taiwan's indigenous groups and their relationship with the world outside of their forest kingdom.

[00:11:33]Although impressed by the amiable character of the tribes people, he noted that their present way of life was ills suited to face the encroachment of modern society and the tendency of tribes people to barter away their land to unscrupulous neighbors for small reward meant that in his words their days were numbered.

[00:11:53]And little did he know at the time that in less than a generation his grim predictions would be largely realized.

[00:12:02]Okay guys, so that was my retelling of uh William A. Hancock's 1882 journey into indigenous territory which is documented in an article he wrote for good reads um in 1885 entitled A Visit to the savages of Formosa. Now obviously that kind of language the word savages was used back in those days by um westerners to refer to the indigenous people probably mainly because of their practice of head hunting the fact that they took heads um after winning battles which the westerners obviously viewed as barbaric um and so that's why they use that term. So my video was based entirely on the article um which you can find online. The link is in the description and um it's a really interesting article to read. What I found interesting about it was the fact that the predictions that Hanokck made came pretty much true within a generation or two afterwards. Of course, by then theQing had already started their open up the mountains and pacify the barbarians campaign or Kaishan Fufan policy um a few years before Hanok's visit. Um, and although they didn't fully realize their ambitions, they did make a start. And then once the Japanese took control of Taiwan in 1895, they really pushed hard to get into the mountainous regions and um change the way of life of Taiwan's indigenous people. although it did take them another 30 years or so to what they called complete the policy. Um yeah, so Hancock's words were to come true about 30 or 40 years after he made the uh predictions. I really enjoyed making this video and if you noticed, I did actually use some AI images for the first time in one of my videos. I made relatively simple images because it's the first time I've used AI. I used chat GPT and I used real images of indigenous people at um the images it came back with were okay but if you look closely there are some problems. I think it just introduces too many variables and things that look wrong. Um so yeah I I used it minimally. Um, but I'm quite happy with the images that it produced, although they're not perfect. But um, it's definitely adds a little bit of color to the video and uh, yeah, I'll probably use it a bit more in the future, but I will always be careful because uh, I don't trust it 100% and as a former journalist, accuracy is important to me.

[00:15:06]Let me know what you think in the comments about this video and the use of AI. But yeah, that's it for today's video. I hope you enjoyed it. I enjoyed making it and I enjoyed retracing Hancock steps from Dantree down to Oola.

[00:15:21]If you enjoyed it, then don't forget you can give me a like, uh, subscribe to the channel, hit the bell for notifications.

[00:15:27]If you want to support the channel, then you know the drill by now. It's uh click thanks down below, buy me a coffee. Uh you could become a channel member or if you're in the market for a VPN, then you can check out NordVPN. I've got a little arrangement with them. Whereas if you click on the link below and use that, you'll get four months extra for free and I'll get a commission. So yeah, if you want a VPN, check out Nord. And that's it for today, guys. Hope to uh maybe see you in the mountains soon or when you tune in for another historic video. But in the meantime, take it easy and I'll see you soon. Over and out.

[00:16:24]Bom.

[00:16:29]During his year-long stay in Formosa, Hankong Hangong Damnum.

[00:16:40]During his year-long stay in Formosa, Hanok became fascinated with Taiwan's mountainous regions and the mysteries of the indigenous people that lived therein.