最美河川・文學之道 – 在水之間，聆聽一座城市的呼吸

When I Met the Flow (I)

If the flow eternally pulses through the earth;

If the flow trails our veins and breath;

If the flow were once

the daily vastness living by doorsteps in Taipei;

Then—

The flow knows its own way.

Performance Artist | Huang-Chen Tang

The Flow and I (II)

The flow has its Way,

as humans have their Way,

as nature has its Way.

To live in harmony—this is life’s true Way.

Performance Artist | Huang-Chen Tang

The Flow and I (III)

I face the road—its end unknown.

I face the river—its course unseen.

At this time,

We seek the mystic way, lost beyond the river’s bends.

Performance Artist | Huang-Chen Tang

Wufen Stream*—The Fairest Span

To meet you was fate unplanned,

You are—the fairest river’s strand.

Clear waters wind through trees that stand,

Verdant and deep, your silver band.

Seasons flow, a painted land.

To meet you is Zhoumei’s praise grand,

You are the fairest river’s strand.

By grassy banks where blossoms stand,

where nature tends powderpuffs, where fireworks ascend,

Mount Datun hills rest beside your strand.

To meet you now, my heart’s soft bend,

You are the fairest river’s strand.

Twin streams whisper, soft and grand,

Time flows with laughter, hand in hand.

Wufen Stream—the fairest span.

To meet you was fate unplanned,

You are—the fairest river’s strand.

Lyrics | Yu-Yang Yang 

Music | Shu-Ling Wen  

Note: Wufen Stream(五分港溪, romanized Wufengang)-once part of the old Shuangxi River in Bertou, Taipei. 

As River

Dragonflies shimmer, fireflies gleam,

Green waters ripple, a powderpuff stream*.

Along Zhoumei’s boardwalk, homes by the stream.

Chinaberry petals drift, softly whispering a dream.

Wufen murmurs, half to the land, half to the wind.

Hsin-Yi Tsai

*Note: “Powderpuff stream” refers to the native Barringtonia racemosa, a riverbank flower abundant along Wufen Stream (五分港溪, romanized Wufengang) in Taipei.

Where Does the Stream Begin?

Beside Quyuan Temple, dragon boats stay,

Beyond Fenyang Shrine, camphor trees stand,

Spirits—they guard Zhoumei’s gentle bay.

A weir holds back the verdant water’s play,

A still pool of jade before the dam’s stand,

Deep in shaded green flows Jiufen’s way.

Chinaberries bloom purple, blushed mulberries sway,

Golden rice bends to the touch of hand,

Seasons turn, painting the earth’s clay.

On our soil, time’s river will stay,

In this river of time, a beautiful culture planned,

Felt, not told—beyond what words can say.

Shu-Ying Lin

Written during Typhoon Sepat, August 17, 2007

Must the River Be Thus? O Fortunate River!

The river bends—must it be made straight?
The river runs clear—why now soiled and dark?
The river comes and goes at will—why dam and block its way?
This is a land of waters—how is it now a road of waste?

The river is a gathering of fish and birds,
a cradle for all lives born of the waters—
why now so foul, so still,
reeking, lifeless, breathless?

The river was once home to fish—
why do they now float belly-white, death-stricken?
The river once mirrored sky and rainbow—
why now thick with oil and blackened film?

The river was a hall of music—
of murmuring streams and chirping wings—
why now a sluggish underworld
where no fish thrive, no crab remains?

O fortunate river, if fortune still be yours!
Here stands the home of the powderpuff trees,
here the proud chinaberry rises by your side.

O fortunate river—what grace, what virtue?
We long, we yearn, we hope—
that beautiful Wufen Creek*
may yet become
the fairest river of Taipei.

Yu-Yang Yang

Note: Wufen Creek (五分港溪, romanized Wufengang) – once part of the old Shuangxi River in Beitou, Taipei.