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 Mr. Jiang Jin-Yuan
Date: December 15, 2007
Place: Ru Fong Jade Workshop
Q: When did you begin to work with Fong Tian jade?
A: In the early 1970's, when I finished my military service, I saw that in the whole Fong Tian area every household was doing work with jade, I was really curious. I also wanted at that time to established my life's work. So, that's why I started doing Fong Tian jade processing. In the heyday there were 70 or 80 processing plants. Some focused on mining, others on finishing the pieces and still others were wholesalers. The finishing plants were all family-based. The government at that time was promoting the idea that your living room, could also be your factory. Everyone really got to work on this. We wanted to get out of poverty. The moment I saw this thriving scene, I wanted to join. At that time I received orders for bracelets and rings. Later in the 80's this industry pretty much ran it's course. But I decided to stay in this business, anyway, right until now.
During the Japanese colonial period, they mined asbestos from Lao Nao Mountain. They'd pick up green stones together with asbestos and, seeing it wasn't asbestos, they'd throw it into the valley below. This kept happening right until we were freed. Then, it was only later, when a student from Cheng Gong Univeristy, Liao Xue-Cheng, found that these green stones were jade. Only then did people really pay attention and the mining trend started. Fong Tian jade is a type of jade called nephrite. And that's a kind of "soft jade." The jade from mainland China and Myanmar are a different kind, called the hui-type sparkling jade (jadeite).
After 1981, this whole industry started a down-trend. It just seems to me that here I am, living at the base of Lao Nao Mountain. I know how great this Fong Tian jade is and now it's overlooked. Something about that is not right and it pains me. In fact, all of us who processed jade, we're partly responsible for the down-turn in Fong Tian jade. That's because we turned out shoddy work and were rather short-sighted without a vision. Fong Tian jade breaks easily. At the time, we wanted to get ahold of huge quantities of the rock, so we used TNT to quarry. We just blew down the rock in the mine. Using this method, 70% of the stone was cracked.
People wanted more and more profit from export and they sold these cracked pieces. In order to hide the cracks we used wax or heavy machinery oil, or whatever else we could think of to hide the cracks. Of course, when it dried, the flaws showed up again. All it took was one time for a client to be tricked and they never came back to buy Fong Tian jade again. At that time, a month's salary was just over 2,000NT. All it took was for a person to go up the moutain, get a piece of rock, and lug it back on his back, and he'd earn several thousand NT. So, in the heyday our Fong Tian area had theatres, bars, and over 30 taxies that ferried all the people back and forth. Because of this, some people got into the lifestyle of having money flow through their hands, like water.
A group of us got this idea that the mine be opened for tourism, and we enthusiastically petitioned the Bureau of Mine, of the Mininstry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to support our proposal. So, now if this idea is developed, then next year a project we call "Xun Bao Zhi Lu" (A Journey to Uncover Treasures) might begin. My life I've watched all that has happened in Taiwan's Fong Tian jade chapter. It's been a difficult journey. More than once I wanted to give up. But, this jade and I have been together for several decades, so I'd be remiss to give it up. Luckily, last year the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), Ministry of Economic Affairs supported and taught us how to turn to more tourism-related activities, like DIY jade grinding. This gives our industry a fresh beginning.
Q: How long has Ru Fong Workshop been running?
A: It's been over 30 years. Before we simply were a jade processing plant. About 17 years ago we changed our name to Ru Fong. Last year the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), of the Ministry of Economic Affairs helped us with the plan to renovate our place so it became like it is now.
Before there was a lot of jade. So much that there wasn't enough space to store it. We threw 100's of tons into Hua Lian River. At the time we thought nothing about this. We only thought that the jade in the mountain had an endless supply. The tremendous richness of the Fong Tian area was something that everyone at that time knew. Airplanes going out often had people from Fong Tian. But that rich period didn't even last for 10 years. From the shortsightedness of us in this industry at the time, the image of jade got totally damaged.
Q: What's the plan for developing Fong Tian jade into the future?
A: The Villiage Administration applied to the government for some money. They've already finished a lot of the building for the new Jade Cultural Museum. Recently, there was a meeting with the preparatory committee of the Fong Tian jade culture and people from the industry. They estimated that 10,000,000 NT is still needed in order to be able to open this museum. For this, then, of course we need all the exhibitions set up and everything ready. Everyone hopes that when it's open it feels like a place of rich learning for the visitors, and they'll want to come again. So, for this, there's still more to do.
Q: What's stopping the mine from opening as a tourist spot?
A: The road to the mine has to be improved and a lot has to be done in the mine to make it safe. Of course, a fair amount of money is needed to do this.
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DU Bao-Cai