2024 TLA Golden Book Award
2024 TLA New Bud Award

Although national cultural policy seeks to revitalize Hakka villages and reconstruct cultural heritage along Route 3, this highway’s precursor, the Tuniugou / Aiyong Defensive Line, once stood as a man-made border separating Taiwan’s indigenous peoples and Chinese settlers. Thus, this road represents centuries of competition and inter-ethnic conflict in the region. Family histories riddled with tales of decapitation inspires the author to explore the foothills of northern Taiwan homesteaded by their forebears. Interviews with village elders and historical research bring long-lost history to life, highlighting the myriad interactions and negotiations between indigenous peoples and Hakka communities through the generations. This story elucidates the difficulties faced by the elders in this region in letting go of long-festering wounds and grievances to seek restorative interethnic dialogue and understanding, achieve reconciliation, and heal wounds, both past and present.