Liudui Poet's Walk

The wall of the Poet's Walk
(Photo: Hakka TV)

Chinese name: 六堆詩人步道

Located at: Jiadong Township, Pingtung County

In 2006, through the efforts of local communities and Hakka elders, Jiadong Township in Pingtung County successfully created a trail that is surrounded by a century-old historical relics settlement and shuttles through the lanes of Liugen Village. It’s known as Liudui Poet's Walk. Along this path, there are ten classic Hakka poems written on the walls of houses or on wooden placards. There are also precious local monuments and rich natural scenery. Visitors can go for a solo walk, read the poetry, or book a guided tour with the Pingtung County Jiadong Literature and History Association, so they can learn about the local culture, and even pick up a few phrases in the Hakka.

Due to the natural seaport conditions in Jiadong, during the period when Hakka ancestors were developing the land, many famous families settled in this area, such as the Hsiao, Lai, Chung, Yang, Lin, Chen, Dai, and Luo families. At that time, these families also built a large number of mansions and magnificent ancestral halls, forming the present-day gorgeous settlement. However, in the settlement, a modern cultural creation – the "Liudui Poet's Walk" - has been created in recent years. It features ten poems by six Liudui poets, such as Chung Li-he (鍾理和), Tseng Gui-hai (曾貴海), Lin Sheng-hsiang (林生祥) and others. Through the art installations, paintings on the walls, and tour guides’ reading of the poems in the Hakka, visitors can see the pride of Hakka people have in their own history, language and culture.

Entering the path from the Hsiao Family Old House, a historical site in the county, you will find that the wall along this section of walkway has an eye-catching and vivid modern graffiti style. Along the walls of the houses, there are staggered calligraphy fonts of calligrapher Yang Shou-yun (楊壽雲), and one after another, the poems of Liudui poets, including Lin Sheng-hsiang's " How long (一久)" and " Land God (伯公)"; Tseng Gui-hai's " Old Village in Hometown (故鄉个老庄頭)", "Noon in the Summer (熱天當晝)", and "Liudui Hakka People (六堆客家人)", Li Yu-fang’s (利玉芳) "To Get Married (嫁),” Chen Ning-gui’s (陳寧貴) "The Same (共樣)"; Chung Li-he’s "First Love (初戀),” Chung Tie-min’s (鍾鐵民) "Homesickness (鄉愁),"; and Wu Jin-fa’s (吳錦發) "Attic (閣樓).”

The poet's trail is less than one kilometer long and passes by the historical sites of the Hsiao Family Old House, Chang’s House (張家商樓), West Gate (西隘門), Yang Family’s Ancestral Hall (楊氏宗祠), and Yang Ji-Qin Ancestral Hall (楊及芹祖堂). Besides learning about the history of Jiadong over the centuries, you can also see that the local Hakka descendants don’t forget their roots, and devote all the power of the whole clan to restoring their family’s shrines and ancestral homes.

Historical sites along the Poet's Walk

(Photo: Hakka TV)

If you want to experience the Hakka culture and spirit of Liudui, then the Poet's Walk in Jiadong will be a good choice for you. Here you will find tranquility and harmony that are difficult to get in other tourist attractions. Since Jiadong’s historical buildings are already very gorgeous, so there’s no need to add more icing on the cake. The local folks still retain the century-old pure Hakka folk customs, and still work hard and unite to selflessly maintain the precious historical settlements. They volunteer to read Hakka poems to tourists, and while explaining the content of the poems, they also teach visitors some Hakka sayings, hoping to pass on the Hakka and their love of their hometown to the next generation.