Farmers in Baozhong Township, Yunlin County live at the mercy of the weather and have forged a deep bond with the land

Farmers live at the mercy of the weather, especially in the difficult times of early life, when many things required the mutual help and cooperation of neighbors, relatives and friends to accomplish many arduous tasks and to get by. During this visit to Youcai Community in Baozhong Township, we were introduced by Mr. Cheng Xihe, the chairman of the association, who has lived in Youcai Community since childhood and never left, and who has a deep impression of the community's past.

Brother Cheng recalled his childhood rural life. He said that in the past, rice farming did not have machines like today and required manual harvesting. Back then, before dawn, the whole family had to turn out, starting work at around 4-5 o'clock. The tool used was a human-powered pedal thresher; they cut the rice stalk by stalk with a sickle, then took it to the swing thresher to swing, or used their feet to pedal the machine drum. At 7-8 o'clock they would rest and eat a snack. During the busy farming season, labor was mostly exchanged through mutual help, and the owner of the rice field would prepare a hearty harvest meal to thank the relatives and friends who came to help. This strong spirit of mutual help and cohesion, full of human warmth, has gradually faded with the mechanization of farm tools.

1. Looking at rural life through the preservation of ox carts -

In Youcai Village Community, a small number of ox carts are still kept, but none are in use anymore. Talking about memories of plowing with ox carts, Brother Cheng said that around the 1950s-1960s, farming families would raise 1-2 water buffalo or yellow cattle, mostly bulls, because they were stronger than cows, and among them yellow cattle were the majority, because water buffalo are more afraid of heat and need frequent water replenishment. Besides plowing fields, ox carts were also used to haul sugarcane to the sugarcane collection station and sugarcane yard.

2. Childhood rural playground -

In the past, Youcai Community had many ponds, large drainage ditches and thorny bamboo. As children, the water in these ponds and drainage ditches was very clear. In summer, they could not only splash around here, but also fish by the ponds and dig for clams in the large drainage ditches while washing their pants. The thorny bamboo was used to guard against thieves and could also be used to build houses! In addition, Brother Cheng said that as children they would use bamboo coated with asphalt to catch cicadas on trees to play with, or carve spinning tops from guava trees and chinaberry trees. Among them, the tops carved from guava trees were heavier and had better stability.