Chou-Nan Salt Field Introduction
The fishing and salt production industries flourished since the Qing Dynasty, with the beauty of the past reflected in the phrase "the bag is full of fish and salt." In 1824, the establishment of the Chao Nan Salt Field initiated the "golden age" of salt production in Taiwan. Over time, the source of table salt shifted from local production to imports, and in 2002, Taiwan's "sun-dried salt" production came to a halt. To revive the rich salt field culture of Budai, the Budai Mouth Cultural Association envisions "Happy Salt Field Heart Salt Village" and employs "environmental education/activity industries" as a sustainable management strategy, integrating salt field production, daily life, and ecology. This revitalizes the Chao Nan Salt Field, which had been idle for six years, allowing the cultural, tourism, and educational functions of the salt field to be reactivated, enabling visitors to personally experience the old spirit and new charm of the salt field with their own hands and feet. The "Chao Nan Salt Field" is a "cultural salt field," while the adjacent Xin Cuo Zi community (including Long Jiang and Xin Cuo Li) serves as a "cultural salt village," perfectly showcasing the historical depth, local context, and living scenarios of Budai's salt industry from cultural and everyday perspectives. The "Salt Offering Festival" is an important annual event at the Chao Nan Salt Field, where salt workers would prepare offerings to worship the salt fields during significant festivals, thanking the earth and the gods for a bountiful salt harvest. Since 2008, the Chao Nan Salt Field has held the Salt Offering Festival at the end of each year to express gratitude to the land, merging traditional industry culture and forming an important contemporary cultural festival.
