I grew up in an open tree hole

Won the Taiwan Literature Award·Beile Award and the OPENBOOK Good Book Award for Chinese Writing of the Year.

I used to think that mountain muntjacs were like Bambi, who could do everything from weeding, farming, hunting, and killing pigs after leaving their hometown.

Searching for the threads of transgenderism and tradition, weaving a life story that is both hilarious and open-minded and free.



Cheng Ting, an Apyang Imiq, is an Indigenous writer from the Taroko tribe in Hualien. His Zhiyakan tribe is home to a Zhiyakan River named Rangah Qhuni, which means "open tree hole." The name describes the river's sudden opening, like a deep cavern opened up, letting in sunlight. From a young Indigenous man who left his homeland and had little understanding of his tribal traditions, to returning to farm and hunt, Cheng Ting writes about his tribe's history and hometown. His physical perceptions and writing, like this open tree hole, are as expansive and luminous as this, revealing the splendor and richness of Indigenous culture.



When millet became a tribal legend, the author painstakingly decided to plant millet "back to that era." Making bamboo rice, "not only requires land, bamboo, but also people," is not just about chewing bamboo rice, but also about the flavor of family time spent chopping and sawing bamboo and listening to stories. "Tminum Yaku. Weaving. Me" depicts the female-specific art of weaving, where men are forbidden from even touching an ubung (loom). How does a gay man who loves weaving find a thread that transcends gender and tradition? "Your gun filled with Bhring shoots at me." He talks about Bhring, which is both wind and spiritual power. He once hunted with his older brother and uncle, and they were so compatible that they could easily snare prey. Unfortunately, after being released, Bhring was considered dirty, and they rarely had the chance to hike and hunt together again...



The author uses pen and ink as hunting rifles, charting a landscape of mountains and seas. He depicts the journey of returning to farming and hunting after leaving home, and the clash of heritage and identity, a story that strikes home with both joy and sorrow. The physicality etched by the land, interwoven with the endearing and pathetic sketches of the tribesmen who inhabit it, allows us to witness the wildness and splendor of life between the lines.



Features of this book



★ This book received a creative grant from the National Arts Council. It tells the story of aboriginal youth who rediscovered traditional tribal skills, and also records the land memory of the Zhiakan tribe in Hualien.

★ Coming out to parents and tribesmen, how do Indigenous LGBTQ people transcend traditions and gender norms to find their own way to survive.



Celebrity recommendations




Recommended by Ma Yihang and Bi Hengda

Writers Wang Shenghong, Sha Lilang, Li Pingyao, Wu Xiaole, Hong Mingdao, Zhang Yijie, Zhang Huijing, Sheng Haowei, Chen Sihong, Huang Liqun, and Xie Kaite

"Lesbians x Farming x Family: Rainbow in the Mud" author Chen Yiru recommends



"Apyang meticulously reconstructs tribal landscapes with words, imbuing them with Taroko meaning. There are Yayung Qicing (clear water streams), Biyi (work huts), and the interwoven networks of Payi (female elders) and Baki (male elders). The Zhi Yakan we see isn't a romanticized tourist's landscape, nor is it simply a hymn to tradition. Apyang's penetrating eyes see Zhi Yakan, a fusion of history and his own aspirations for the future as an indigenous youth." — Writer Hong Mingdao



"Living in Ciyakang (meaning deep river valley), living in Biyi (the shack), riding a bicycle with Tama (father), moving forward at the rhythm of placing six seeds for four steps, killing pigs, hunting, going out with Bubu (mother), eating, sleeping, and doing it again. Vocabulary is not necessarily one-to-one, so Bhring is both wind and spiritual power, Gaya is both norm and taboo. Vocabulary also extends along with the wind. Hagay is a person with two souls, usually a shaman from the past tribe. Words are planted back with millet, relationships are woven side by side with sentences, writing is labor and farming, and physically planting back to that era. With hands that have shed blood in labor, modern shamans weave a six-color rainbow bridge." - Writer Li Pingyao



"He writes about the daily life of farming in Chiayi, the heartache of removing a weak millet plant, about tilling the soil, about turkeys, about weaving, about water use in his hometown, and about the seemingly subtle but deeply intertwined interactions between contemporary Indigenous people, social systems, and the natural environment, like the roots of a tree. He combines this with excellent plain writing skills, and his composition, rhythm, lines, and pauses are all in very appropriate places. Although there are moments of looseness (but not sloppiness), these looseness often reveal a gentleness at the right time: this is written precisely for the purpose of deep expression, rather than using the topic to guarantee the work." - Writer Huang Liqun

2021-04-29

九歌

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9789864503421