Jinshuiying Ancient Path (Fangliao Section) Introduction
The Jhinshuei Camp Ancient Trail starts in Shuidiliao, Fangliao Township, Pingtung County, and traverses the central mountain range, ending at Dawu in Taitung County. The trail is 47 kilometers long, with the highest elevation reaching 1,300 meters. Along the route, there are three major conservation areas: the Jhinshuei Camp Broadleaf Forest Protection Area, the Dawu Taiwanfir Natural Reserve, and the Dawu Taiwan Cypress Natural Protection Area, which have significant plant geography implications and research value, making it highly suitable for ecological and in-depth tours. During the Daoguang period, the plains indigenous people from western Taiwan used this route to collectively migrate to the hinterlands of eastern Taiwan, particularly to Beinan (Taitung). By the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), it was remodeled into a road for mountain opening and tribal management, named "Santiaolun Road." During the Japanese occupation period, it was modified by the Japanese into a patrol road connecting Fangliao in the west with Dawu in the east, thus renamed the "Jhinshuei Camp Ridgeway." Existing cultural sites along the Jhinshuei Camp Ancient Trail include the "Guailun Old Settlement," "Chushui Slope Site," "Jhinshuei Camp Qing Dynasty Barracks site," and "Jhinshuei Camp Japanese Police Station," all of which are valuable historical relics. Notably, Hu Shih's father, Hu Tiehua, served as the Taitung governor during the eighteenth year of Guangxu and utilized this ancient trail to report to Taitung. For hundreds of years, the Jhinshuei Camp Ancient Trail has witnessed usage by the Dutch, Japanese, and the Republic of China eras, becoming the most convenient ridge road for the Dutch, the Beinan people, Paiwan people, plains indigenous people, Han Chinese, and Japanese. It greatly facilitated patrols, missions, commercial transactions, immigration, mail delivery, hiking, and academic research, making it the most historically used, representative, and frequently traveled footpath in Taiwan's history.
