Tie Non: Green Island's Luxury Resort Hotel?/緑島の山荘？/綠洲山莊？

And now for a visit to Green Island's number one resort hotel! If you follow the link, you'll see that I'm actually talking about a former prison. So why do I refer to it as a hotel? Well, the name in Chinese makes it sound like some sort of "mountain resort".

This creepy name was chosen because it was not a real prison for people who had committed actual anti-social acts, it was for political dissidents, and there was an entire "educational program" run within the prison's walls. Go and learn yourself a little about Taiwan's White Terror.

This prison is probably Green Island's most significant historical site, and definitely worth a visit. It's eerily beautiful. Aside from the museum exhibits that have been set up in a couple places, the rest of the grounds have pretty much been left as they were when the place closed a couple decades back, so you can wander around freely amongst the prison buildings that are in various states of decay/restoration. The location is right by the sea, and there are a number of amazing rock formations in the area, so the place is so beautiful that it almost lives up to its Orwellian moniker of a "countryside manor". Except that the reality is that the prisoners held here were breaking rocks half the day and going to propaganda classes the other half.

What's amazing to think of too is that Taiwan's White Terror ended so recently. It was still going on when I was born (and I'm not that old). Many of the people held here are still alive, and, in fact, some of them have gone on to become major politicians, such as the current mayor of Kaohsiung (the second-largest city in Taiwan) and the former vice president. (Both of whom were involved in the Kaohsiung Incident in 1979.) It's a reminder of how rapidly Taiwan's political situation changed from the 1980's through the 1990's.

山荘といえば、自然の中でゆっくりできる様な場所を想像するのだろう。緑島には「緑洲山荘」というところがある。「自然の中」というところは合っているが、「ゆっくりする」場所ではない。実は監獄だった。

台湾は以前、１９４９年から１９８７年まで戒厳令が置かれていたのだ。その間政治的ないわゆる「犯罪」で掴まれた人は少なくなかった。そしてそう言った人は緑島の監獄に入れられたことが普通だった。１９８７年にやっと終わった戒厳令だから、当時は犯罪者とされて、今は政治家として活動している人も多い。例えば現在高雄の市長陳菊とか、元副大統領の呂秀蓮とか、こういう美麗島事件の参加者は特に思い出す。

緑洲山荘は海岸にあって、周りに綺麗な岩などがたくさんあって、場所の様子と以前の機能を比較したら、その差が凄まじい。コンクリートの塀と看守塔さえなければ、本当にリゾート地としては最適なのではないかと思う。

現在、グラウンドはほとんど廃墟した当時のままにされて、観光客が自由に歩き回ることができる。緑島の一番歴史を深く感じさせる場所だから、是非訪れるべきだ。

今天我要介紹「綠洲山莊」一下。這裡是綠島歷史古蹟當中最值得去看的。是白色恐怖時期政府把人監押的地方。在這裡他們一邊做苦工一邊上愛國課。

我最感動的事情是我去這裡就注意到自己出生的時候台灣白色恐怖時期還是沒結束。白色恐怖時期並不是很久以前的歷史。

還有我也覺得被收監的人後來有的人當政治家的這個現實太厲害了。也至於到以前被弄算是「國敵」的人現在當高雄市長，以前也有一個當副總統。這三十年台灣的政治情況變化真的非常多。

Let's take a look at the grounds:

The name in Chinese. It means "Green Island Mountain Villa" or something like that.

皮肉を感じさせる名前だ

The road is very low here, and it actually got flooded and closed because the waves were so huge on this day.

この辺の道路は低くて、台風の大潮と波の影響によって海水が道路に浸入して1日通過禁止になった。

波浪很大，大得至於馬路被警察關下了。

"Eliminate Communists and Restore the Country"
「滅共」は「共産党を全滅する」ってこと。内戦で共産党に負けて、台湾に渡って来た中華民国は特に共産党活動に敏感だったので、共産党と関わりがあるとされた人はここによく入れられた。

There are nationalistic and anti-communist slogans everywhere.
標語などを見たら、すごく国家主義の臭みが漂ってくる。

"I love the national flag. I love the nation."

"Long live the three principles of the people. Long live the Republic of China."

Here's a building with actual cells. Real people lived here because they disagreed with people in positions of power.

刑務所の独房がこの建物に集まっている。

牢房也是開的。你可以想像幾年住在這裏怎麼辛苦。

A meeting room for when family visits were allowed.
家族と会えた時の控え室
在這間房間用電話來跟家人說話

"Taiwanese independence poisons Taiwan. Communism causes everyone grief." There's actually some clever wordplay going on here because of words with similar pronunciations in Mandarin.

この標語は意外と面白い。マンダリン語では洒落ているわけだ。（偶然に日本語でも洒落ている。）「共産」と「共惨」の発音が一緒だ。そして「台独」と「台毒」の発音も一緒になっている。

雖然這裡是監獄並不是真的「山莊」，可是附近其實漂亮讓我覺得真的像山莊一樣。地方的樣子和機能完全不一樣。

"Don't forget the motherland!"

「母国を忘れるな！」みたいな意味。

Chiang Kai-shek makes an appearance
蒋介石

The buildings in this area have really been let go.

這邊的建築比較放棄了。

建物の大部分は放置されたままだ。

The beauty of the area is such a contrast with what its function was.

a cicada carapace
蝉の殻
蟬殻

These low buildings were built by the original prisoners here from rocks picked up from the seashore.
この低い建物は最初の頃の囚人によって建てられた。建材はその辺で拾ってきた石。
這些底底的建築是首先的囚犯用海邊的石頭來建的。

The view from the guard tower

看守塔からの景色

Totally unrelated: There's a small shrine dedicated to safety at sea nearby. I thought that the guardian lions were very unique, much more colorful and cartoony than usual, so I took a couple of photos.

全く監獄と無関係だけど、近くに小さな廟があった。航海安全と関係がある様だ。シーザーが変わっていると思って写真を撮ってきた。

我也想介紹這座廟。跟監獄沒關係，但是在旁邊。好像是跟海洋安全有關的。我覺得這裡的石獅子很特別。