Qianshan First City Stone Statue Introduction
At the top of Jiujiu Kan, there is a pavilion called "Jingyi Pavilion," inside of which is inscribed "Yunlin County Jingyi Pavilion Record," along with a stone tablet that reads "First City of the Front Mountain," indicating that this county town is the most important town on the western side of Taiwan. (The original stone tablet has disappeared, and the current one is a replica.) Located near the intersection of Section 1 of Qianshan Road, there are stone steps of Jiujiu Kan lying on the hillside, along with a large milky-white stone engraved with the words "Jiujiu Kan," and beneath it, a line of small text stating "Starting Point of the Batongguan Ancient Trail." The Batongguan Ancient Trail was constructed in the first year of the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty (1875) under the leadership of General Wu Guangliang, who mobilized about 2,000 soldiers. At that time, it was called "Zhonglu," and its starting point had two locations: one was Jiujiu Kan, and the other was in the vicinity of Shaliao Village along the Long'en Stream in the township. After the two roads met at Lugu, they crossed Batongguan and traversed the Central Mountain Range to reach Yuli in Hualien, with a total length of 265 li (approximately 154 kilometers), completed in just eleven months, serving as a vital transportation artery between eastern and western Taiwan. For over three hundred years, ancestors crossed the Qingshui River from Linnei Township, going directly along Qianshan Road, climbing the hills to Linqipu (now known as Zhushan). To make the slope easier to ascend, the early settlers built ninety-nine steps out of stones here, known as Jiujiu Kan. Later, a new road was constructed, and due to neglect over the years, the original stone steps of Jiujiu Kan were all destroyed. The current Jiujiu Kan stone steps have been repaired by the Zhushan Township Office in collaboration with the National Arts Season, allowing townspeople to climb and exercise while also evoking the nostalgia of the Zhushan people. Climbing halfway up the Jiujiu Kan stone steps can leave one gasping for breath, recalling how ancestors relied solely on their legs and had to carry loads while climbing the sloping Jiujiu Kan, which was truly difficult.
