Guardians of the Irrigation Canal Concert to Be Held on June 2, Arts and Culture Community Voices Support for Farmers
Quietly listen, and the irrigation canal will sing.
The muddy water rolls along and sings for you to hear; the south wind takes the trees by the hand and sings along, the rice beneath the blazing sun nods its head to the melody, and at night the fireflies hold up their little lanterns and heat up the party. The farmers sing too, singing the joy of flowing water, singing a song of gratitude for water's care.
Because of water, for thousands of years the countryside has had its "concert of all living things."
On 6/2 we invite you to come together, to listen to the irrigation canal sing, and to sing to the irrigation canal.
On 6/2 we invite you to come together, to protect the century-old irrigation canal, and not let it be left with nothing but the sound of weeping.
Time: 6/2 (Sat) 4:00-6:00 pm
Location: Beside the irrigation canal on Section 4, Xixia Road, Xizhou, Changhua (http://goo.gl/maps/AyCJ)
Guard the Irrigation Canal Facebook page
Support from the arts and culture world: an irrigation canal about to be sued
We are all friends of Wu Yin-ning, this small woman who writes poetry and also wrote "Where Is Jianghu," who cares about Taiwan's agriculture; she is now fighting alone.
Since May of last year, when she began trying to save an irrigation canal as thin and small as herself, she has been fighting for a year. She thought it had succeeded, thought the "hidden pipe" meant to divert agricultural water to the fourth phase of the Central Taiwan Science Park had stopped being dug; yet on May 10 this year, Yin-ning discovered that the excavator was again on the canal embankment, about to secretly resume digging. Without another word, she stood alone in front of the excavator and blocked it. Afterward, local farmers and a handful of big and small fools who had long fought for the canal set up a rough temporary canvas shelter on the embankment. Everyone took shifts keeping watch and blocked that "hidden pipe" from reaching your doorstep.
After everyone had kept watch for several days and nights, the dark forces began to stir, and intimidation and threats came from time to time; a local farm woman said: "It's all right, I have insurance. If anything happens, if I'm disabled there's hospitalization and medical payment, and if I die they pay even more." She said these words with a smile and calmly, very bravely, very open-mindedly, very bitterly, very helplessly. And this is the voice of the local farmers, and also the voice of the irrigation canal. Then word came that the law enforcement authorities intended to sue Yin-ning, who was leading the effort. I think they dare not, and are not that foolish. To sue Yin-ning is to sue the farmers, is to sue the irrigation canal; on what grounds would they?
Who can sue an irrigation canal?
Who can decide the fate of an irrigation canal that has fed millions of mu of good farmland?
This is a small irrigation canal; few pay attention to her fate. She has only ever flowed quietly across the land. The irrigation canal is in fact just like every one of us, hoping only for a shred of dignity and a stable life, hoping only to be able to protect and nourish the next generation, so that they may continue to survive and grow.
On June 8, the government will make a key decision, and this decision will be the full stop. We do not know what the answer will be. Will the irrigation canal live or die? But before the fate of a stream or river is decided, we should at least listen to the sound of her surging, sobbing water. The irrigation canal is the farmers' friend, the farmers are our friends, so let us all voice our support together -- oppose the policy of digging up and cracking the land to bury "hidden pipes" and steal agricultural water.
Here, we earnestly hope that this irrigation canal used for agricultural irrigation, her beauty and her water, can continue to nourish the crops and our next generation; rather than strangling her rich organic life and turning her into wastewater and sewage discharged into the sea. In ten years, twenty years, may the irrigation canal still flow through our fields and gardens, so that we may then say to one another: thank you!
For a more detailed discussion of the history of the irrigation canal and its ecology, please visit the "Guard the Irrigation Canal" website: http://hsichou.blogspot.com/
Xiao Ye, Xiang Yang, Yi Geyan, He Zhihe, Wu Mingyi, Fang Huizhen, Hu Shuwen, Ke Yufen, Sun Ziping, Lian Zhenhui, Hao Yuxiang, Gao Yifeng, Chen Yizhi, Jiao Tong, Tong Weige, Zhang Tiezhi, Huang Mingzheng, Liu Kexiang, Li Huanxiong, Cai Yijun, Zhong Qiao, Luo Yijun, Lu Yujia, Hong Hong, Dai Liren, jointly voicing support
(The list is still growing. This expression of support was initiated on May 21, with Wu Mingyi, Zhang Tiezhi, Cai Yijun and Hong Hong responsible for coordination; friends in the arts and culture world who wish to join the petition, please send a single email from May 26 to June 2 to: [email protected], the mailbox of one of the contacts, Cai Yijun)
- May 29 (Tuesday) "Joint Press Conference of Farmers and the Arts and Culture World"
- Time: 10:00 am
- Location: Ketagalan Boulevard, in front of Taipei Guest House