Jinshuiying Old Trail (Fangliao Section) Introduction
The Jingshui Camp Ancient Trail starts in Fangliao Township, Pingtung County, at the Shuidiliao area, crossing over the Central Mountain Range and ending in Dawu, Taitung County. The ancient trail stretches 47 kilometers, with its highest elevation reaching 1,300 meters. Along the route, there are three major protected areas: the Jingshui Camp Broadleaf Forest Protected Area, the Dawu Taiwan Cypress Nature Reserve, and the Dawu Taiwan Fir Nature Reserve, which have significant botanical geographic implications and research value, making it an excellent spot for ecological and immersive travel. During the Qing Daoguang era, the plains indigenous peoples of western Taiwan utilized this route for collective migration to the eastern mountainous region near Beinan (Taitung). By the eighth year of the Guangxu reign (1882), it was renovated as a road for opening mountains and pacifying indigenous communities, named the "San Tiaolun Road." During the Japanese colonial period, it was modified by the Japanese as a security road to connect Fangliao in the west with Dawu in the east, and was renamed the "Jingshui Camp Crossing Trail." Cultural heritage sites that still exist along the Jingshui Camp Ancient Trail include the "Old Community of Guzi Lun," the "Chushui Slope Site," the "Qing Dynasty Camp Site of Jingshui Camp," and the "Jingshui Camp Police Station," all of which are valuable historical sites. Notably, Hu Shi's father, Hu Tiehua, served as the magistrate of Taitung during the eighteenth year of Guangxu and used this ancient trail to report to Taitung. For hundreds of years, the Jingshui Camp Ancient Trail has gone through the Dutch, Japanese, and Republic of China eras, becoming the most convenient cross-island route for the Dutch, Beinan people, Paiwan people, plains indigenous peoples, Han people, and Japanese. It significantly aided in patrols, missions, commercial transactions, immigration, mail delivery, hiking, and academic research, making it the oldest, most representative, and most frequently used trail in Taiwan's history.
