| Summary: | 碩士 === 臺南師範學院 === 鄉土文化研究所 === 88 === Studying the history and the geography of a specific time and area can be an approach to general local geography and culture study. This research will pick out two villages in the mountains and elaborate their living styles and historical advances. At the end, this research will compare these two villages with other villages in which tourism thrives and the crops become merchandise in order to find out the causes and features of their development.
Fenn Chii Hwu and Shyr Juo were first developed during the last years of the Chin Dynasty. After the Japanese took over Taiwan, because of the development of the railway and of the forestry industry and camphor industry, Fenn Chii Hwu became quite prosperous, while Shyr Juo remained a village based on farming. After the 1960s, the end of the timber industry, the construction of roads for product delivery, and the decline of the bergamot and the red palm (coir) all together made the development of Fenn Chii Hwu go downwards. And at that time the residents in Shyr Juo still made their living by farming; therefore, it remained a low-developed area. After the 1980s, Shyr Juo undertook a fast outgrowth because the freeway to Mt Ali came into use and the tea industry was introduced into Shyr Juo. At this moment, people in Fenn Chii Hwu searched another way of making their living---to turn Fenn Chii Hwu into a tourist attraction by means of its natural scenery and historical resources.
As far as economy is concerned, these two villages are the same with their efforts to make themselves more prosperous in tourism and to make their crops merchandise. However, they each succeed in a different way. In the tea industry, Shyr Juo shows more commitment than Fenn Chii Hwu. Almost all the residents in Shyr Juo are tea planters by occupation. The changes of the tea growth period reflect on the daily routine of its residents. In tourism, Fenn Chii Hwu demonstrates higher potential over Shyr Juo. Hotels and restaurants are everywhere; even the very basic commercial activities involve the selling of touristic merchandise. Tourism is regarded as the major income of the residents; so, their life is scheduled according to the holidays
in the styles of social life, the workers here are hired laborers and that residents are very diverse in identity, Fenn Chii Hwu is directly controlled by the government For these reasons, it is hard for people in Fenn Chii Hwu to develop a sense of unity. However, residents in Shyr Juo have a greater sense of unity. They are not as well off as people in Fenn Chii Hwu but they are tribally closer to one another. Besides, since Shyr Juo is located near the borderline with those less cultivated aboriginal inhabitants, residents in Shyr Juo tend to be more united. But now because the vast change in industry and quick circulation of information, these two villages show the similar pace in social life.
As to the natural landscape, according to the study, the buildings and houses in Fenn Chii Hwu cluster together, while those in Shyr Juo are not as close to one another. Furthermore, with the changing of industries, these two villages have its own focus. Fenn Chii Hwu’s prosperity is due to its tourism, so hotels and restaurants are here and there, and Shyr Juo, under the development of the tea industry, tea plantations and tea factories are the most seen sights.
The development of tourism and that of commercialized crops are beneficial to the mountain villages nowadays. Comparing Fenn Chii Hwu and Shyr Juo with other mountain villages that also head for these two directions, the causes and features of its development analyzed are as follows. To villages that emphasize the development of commercialized crops, the causes of changes are the convenience of transportation, the information network, the demand of the market, the related policies, and so on. In addition, there are several features in those villages in which commercialized crops are the leading concern. They are the ambivalence of land utility, the high dependence of economic development, the uncertainty of the nature, etc. But to villages that emphasize tourism, the causes of changes are their natural resources, industrialization and urbanization, transportation, the commitment if the private and public institute, and the mass communication. Therefore, this kind of mountain villages always schedules their open hours according to the visit of tourists and the change of seasons. They also combine their unique products with tourism, intimate the commercial activities of the public or city recreations.
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