Love in the Village

How can you not see the Military Dependents’ Village in Taiwan? Know it from Lai Shengchuan’s "A Village on Treasure Island". Over the years, people still often think of this drama, the remote village in the drama, and the ups and downs of the times.

The military dependents’ village is an unprecedented historical and cultural landscape in Taiwan. With the changes of the great era, the new post-war immigrants who accidentally crossed the sea took root in the village where they settled temporarily, and derived a unique living area, life style and ethnic culture.

The military dependents' village in "A Village on Treasure Island" specifically refers to the "Air Force Military Military Village" built after the remnants of the Kuomintang and their families fled to Taiwan. Shandong dialect, and even those words that I can’t understand for a lifetime. But at the same time, the home we once had is no longer there.”

The word "juan" has a deep meaning, and it directly means family members. After traveling in a foreign land for more than half a century, people are more willing to decode it as nostalgia. In the final analysis, it is their mission and destiny to recognize their ancestors and seek their roots.

There are 879 existing military dependent villages in Taiwan, mainly distributed in Taoyuan, Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Kaohsiung. After arriving in Taichung, the first stop was Rainbow Village.

Rainbow Military Village has now become an over-packaged internet celebrity check-in place. It is said that it is a hand-made painting by a nearly 90-year-old veteran who once lived here. It is colorful and full of childishness. The main body of the building has been preserved, but the color tone is very different. Walking in, it seems to be in a cartoon world. Maybe the weather-beaten old people express their yearning for a colorful world, but it is quite different from the temperament of the military military village in the true sense. .

It wasn't until I found Sisi South Village in Taipei that I claimed the image of the Zhonglian Village in my imagination. In the light rain, it perched diagonally in front of Taipei 101, witnessing the past and present of the city. The old trees in front of the gate sprouted new shoots, and the dead trees in the yard also bloomed.

Sisi South Village was the first batch of dependent villages built in Taipei. It was used by the employees and their families of the 44th Military Factory of the United Logistics to settle down. As the population increased, Sisi East Village and West Village were built later. Today, the residents in the village have long left. Most of the houses here have been demolished by the government, leaving only some houses. In 2001, Sisinan Village was listed as a historical relic. One side is used as a cultural relic exhibition hall, and the other side is converted into a cultural and creative area.

The exhibition hall that day was used for filming TV programs and was not open to the public. We could only look at the furnishings through the windows. The incandescent lights of this house are always on, there is a bicycle at the door, and there is a round dining table in the middle of the room covered with a floral tablecloth. There is a hot pot in the middle, and a painted thermos next to it. This scene can be vaguely seen in "A Village on Treasure Island": the New Year's Eve dinner in 1950-Grandma Qian used a rolling pin brought from Peking to teach Aunt Zhao how to make dumplings, and Aunt Zhu prepared fried fish, and Leng Ruyun brought some dumplings from Hunan. For bacon, Xiao Zhu posted Spring Festival couplets on the telephone poles, saying "The Earth Sun returns to Lu Manchun". They really believed that they would be able to return to the mainland after the Chinese New Year.

Year after year, everyone supported and helped in this way. The first generation of homesick and yearning dependents slowly adapted to Taiwan's subtropical climate. They won recognition for building their homes, and they would fight, pick quarrels and stir up troubles, and disdain each other. But he still maintains an optimistic and tolerant character in his helpless life.

The second generation of dependents who worked hard for their dreams are the keynote speakers of this drama and the cultivators of Treasure Island. Mr. Zhu Xiaoyuan said in his speech at Peking University, "A person with the spirit of the sea is the one who takes the initiative to carve time. He creates a sense of rhythm and movement of life. Although it needs to be low and wide to accommodate hundreds of rivers, there are thousands of miles of waves crashing on the shore. It has its own never-ending galloping direction." The spirit of the sea is the heart of a child, and it is a spirit of fusion. Only with this feature can we "dwell poetically on this land".

At the end of this big drama, the military dependents’ village that lived like a birdcage will inevitably be demolished after all. The past life fragments of complaints, quarrels, crowding, turmoil, and dog blood have all been transformed into friendship, mutual assistance, and mutual love. Pearls, once again form a deep nostalgia.

The place where I lived when I was a child was somewhat similar to a military dependents’ village. It was a courtyard left by an old landlord’s house before liberation. My family lives on the outskirts of this square compound, and lives with another family. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, I can enjoy the scenery of their kitchen and inner room at the same time. My family moved out when I was in junior high, and while excited at first, I firmly believed that I hated the big yard very much. But it's very strange. After school, I always like to go back to the Tang's compound for a walk, and I don't know what to do. Later, it was demolished, and every time I passed by, I had to stop and look at it, and I had a lot of things to say to it in my heart. It is impossible to explain this kind of gratitude at all, and the place where you wish to escape immediately affects you with infinite possibilities. Perhaps each of us has had such an illusion of alienation and closeness in our hearts, which is what the lines in the play say:

"This is home."

Walking out of the exhibition hall is an open area, which becomes a market during holidays, and the cultural and creative area is on the right. The cultural and creative nest of romantic petty bourgeoisie has attracted a large number of young people to visit or shop for treasures. These sincere homemade small objects and local products permeate the life aesthetics of Taiwanese in their subtleties, with exquisite workmanship and deep creativity.

"Good Hill", famous for its bagel bread, is particularly eye-catching in Sisi South Village. The traditional glass, plastic seats, and old iron windows are like returning to the home of the old neighbor next door. Perhaps because of this decoration style, "Good Hill" Hill" was chosen on the side of the exhibition hall, it is the only coffee shop and restaurant in the village. When you are tired from walking, sit down, order a cup of coffee and bagels, read a book quietly or chat in a low voice, or visit their own market. The comfortable atmosphere like going home makes people intoxicated and relaxed.

In addition to the sale of cultural and creative products, there will also be some exhibitions and performances here, such as the exhibition of works selected for the "Youth Voice Award" that I visited that day, covering literature, photography, video, and painting.

A high school girl was operating the slides, patiently explaining the novels she created to passers-by, all handwritten, I asked, do you not need to take classes, tutoring, and entrance exams? copy. She said, I can only take care of both sides, because I just like to write.

It can be seen that "the story of life must be created by oneself" is not only a small freshness embedded in cultural and creative products, but also a reflection of Taiwan's life aesthetics at any time.

Looking back at Sisinan Village, which has gone far, past and present lives are entangled in this place. At that time, it was a habitat for survival, and now it is a spiritual paradise to soothe the heart. Step out from the old face of history and listen to the telling of another era, reminding you of the bliss that came back to you. The power of time can eventually dilute the traces of some things, but the nostalgia for it cannot be erased.

A few pictures in this article are from the Internet