Tiger Letterstone Introduction
The Tiger Tablet, located at the wind gap between Taipei and Yilan County on the Caoling Historic Trail, stands at an elevation of about 330 meters. The tablet was erected by Liu Mingdeng, the governor-general of Taiwan. Due to the strong winds that have plagued travelers over the years, the character "Tiger" was inscribed here to convey the idea "the dragon comes with the clouds, the tiger brings the wind," aiming to ward off the wind damage. The ancestors erected this tablet to ward off evil spirits, serving as a reminder for travelers to be particularly cautious due to the frequent strong winds in this area. The Caoling Historic Trail was gradually developed by the indigenous Pingpu people long ago, in order to connect the flatlands on both sides of the Xueshan Mountain Ridge. During the Qing Dynasty, near the coastal area extending east from Aodi in present-day Gongliao District, New Taipei City, there was a Pingpu tribal community collectively known as Sandiao, which still had a population of about 500 in 1917. In the early years, they lived along the coast, especially at the mouths of streams, making a living through fishing, and descendants of the Pingpu people still reside in this area today.
