The junior corps had been looking forward to the interview with president Qianqing Zhan, because ever since the summer of 2015, Hakka language master Mr. Zhan had been teaching Raoping for families at Jing Siou Elementary School every week, and he would always bring fruits for the students, telling stories in Raoping Hakka. On November 23, the corps finally came to visit the president’s farm, which Mr. Zhan claimed to have 60 years’ history and cover about 5,868 square meters. There were thousands of orange trees in the farm, as well as 700 pear trees. After Mr. Zhan took over his father’s business, he has grown more than a hundred kinds of fruits and flowers in recent years and been selling them to support his four generation family. Mr. Zhan named the farm Qingshun Farmland. Qing is Mr. Zhan’s first name, while Shun is his wife’s. So and so, the corps followed the president, listening to his introduction about the plants and stories of Raoping Hakka. It was indeed a precious class!

Mr. Zhan said that Zhuolan Raoping Hakka is always a local language, and in the summer of 2011, he organized Zhuolan Raoping Hakka Association to promote the language. Before long, it caught the eyes of Hakka Affairs Council and they included the language in the materials for Hakka proficiency certifications for beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Mr. Zhan hasn’t taken a day off; he, Yicheng Zhan, and Peifeng Zhan have been volunteering teaching Raoping Hakka for families every Wednesday night. Besides that, they also went to tell stories in Raoping Hakka for kindergarteners and schoolchildren. They all communicate in Raoping Hakka whenever there are events or activities, such as town meetings and club activities. Recently, they successfully promoted Raoping cultural activities, such as Dragon Dance (千歲龍), Raoping Horse Dance (饒平布馬), Zhuolan Raoping Story-Telling with Bamboo Clappers (卓蘭饒平唸謠打竹板), National Raoping Hakka Story-Telling Contest, Changhua Yongjing Raoping Hakka Exchanges, and so on.

Speaking of Mrs. Qiu, Mr. Zhan said she is like a well in a desert, watering the long abandoned Changhua Raoping Hakka language and making it sprout. Mrs. Qiu started her Raoping Hakka class in Zhuolan, February 2012, and passed the intermediate and advanced level certification in November. After receiving Hakka teaching certificate the following year, Mrs. Qiu set up student Hakka clubs, Hakka learning classes for families, and community Hakka courses. In September, she even took six parents and children to join the National Raoping Hakka Story-Telling Contest in Zhuolan. Besides that, she also became a member of Tao Chu Miao Raoping Association and planned the 2014 Changhua Raoping Hakka exchange events for each Raoping Association in Taoyuan, Hsinchu and Miaoli. In 2015, she guided 16 parents and children for the National Raoping Hakka Speech Contest. Now, she is guiding the corps for this research project and helping them set up a website for International CyberFair contest. Her revival of Raoping Hakka is indeed impressive and respectable; Mrs. Qiu is truly a good example for promoting Taiwan Raoping Hakka.

Mr. Zhan praised Mrs. Qiu as a multi-talented woman, who is good at writing literary and historical works, and well experienced in teaching. She also makes good use of technology to help revive Raoping Hakka, guiding the Junior Corps to record the progress of the revival, which will soon be spread to different corners of the world. She is the right talent we need. Thanks to Mrs. Qiu’s efforts, Zhuolan Raoping Hakka Association is inspired to do more for the revival. Mr. Zhan indicated that the Raoping Hakkas in Changhua, Zhuolan and Hsinchu were all originated from the same place. However, as time went by, those Raoping Hakkas moved to different cities and counties, though those settled in Hsinchu and Miaoli Zhuolan kept the language intact, the ones in Changhua couldn't prevent it from being Taiwanized. Fortunately, we have Mrs. Qiu today, who successfully revives Changhua Raoping Hakka. This is an important task. We believe Changhua Raoping Hakka ancestors would also appreciate Mrs. Qiu’s hard works. Zhuolan Raoping Hakka Association will also support Mrs. Qiu’s reviving plan fully.

Mr. Zhan’s farmland sits on a higher level, from where one can see beautiful mountains of Zhuolan and eagles would hover over from time to time. Mrs. Qiu said that singing Raoping ballads at farmlands is the best, so she and another Hakka master, Peifeng Zhan, started teaching the corps to sing Raoping Hakka ballads and recorded it as one of the audio teaching materials. She uploaded the file and shared within Line group as well as the Changhua Zhuolan Raoping Hakka Group on Facebook! Lastly, after Hsinchu Raoping Hakka Association’s alliance with Mrs. Qiu, Zhuolan Raoping Hakka Association also gifted Mrs. Qiu and Changhua Raoping Hakka family groups two association flags, asking the Hakka masters to sign on the back of the flags as vows to work together on reviving the language. Changhua Zhuolan Raoping Hakka shall always thrive!