Taiwan’s pioneer in ancient trail exploration and prolific mountaineer-author Yang Nanjun passed away peacefully from esophageal cancer early yesterday morning (the 27th), at the age of 85. Just this July, he had co-authored “The Huānhuān Alpine Trail” with his wife Xu Rulin. The writer Liu Kexiang relayed his final words from his hospital bed, where he remained deeply committed to the exploration of Taiwan’s mountains and forests: “The more mountains I climb, the more I realize how little I know about Taiwan’s geography, history, and culture!” He expressed his hope that future generations would conduct deeper research and promote Taiwan’s ecological and cultural heritage.
Born in 1931, Yang Nanjun volunteered to serve as a young soldier in Japan during World War II. After the war, he struggled to survive in Japan for a year before returning to Taiwan by boat. He began learning Chinese in middle school, later graduated from National Taiwan University’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and worked successively for U.S. military units and the American Institute in Taiwan.
Embarking on a Writing Career at 60
A passionate mountaineer, he delved into Taiwan’s history and tribal cultures through its mountains and ancient trails. Approaching 60, he began his writing career, authoring works such as “Footprints from a Hundred Years Ago in Taiwan,” “In Search of the Moon’s Footprints,” and “The Nenggao Alpine Trail.” He also translated books including “Mountains, Clouds, and Aboriginal Peoples” by Torii Toshio, “Taiwan Exploration Diary” by Ino Kanori, and “A Century of Taiwan in Flames,” a collection of records by several Japanese explorers documenting Taiwan.
Yang Nanjun influenced countless younger people, and his hospice room saw a continuous stream of visitors since mid-August. Liu Kexiang reflected: “To have walked alongside this legendary figure in Taiwan’s mountaineering community is truly one of life’s greatest honors.” The two first connected in the 1980s when Liu Kexiang, then editing the supplement of the Independent Morning Post, published stories of ten explorers. "Yang Nanjun was curious about who had planned the theme and came straight to the newspaper office to find me."
Yang Nanjun trekked across Taiwan’s high mountains while maintaining rigorous scholarship. Liu Kexiang called him “legendary,” saying, “He possessed an immense knowledge of ancient trails and deep understanding of tribal cultures. His writing masterfully combined personal experience with academic insight, propelling Taiwan’s mountaineering scene far beyond the 1970s’ ‘Hundred Peaks’ climbing movement into a broader realm of possibilities.”
Liu Kexiang Praises the “Legendary Mountain Giant”
He believed Yang’s translations of Japanese explorers’ works and his own accounts of firsthand trail explorations “laid two major foundations for Taiwan’s mountain trails and alpine heritage.” “If you were to say Taiwan has two great mountains, one is the Japanese explorer Torii Toshio, and the other is Yang Nanjun — there is no one else.”
Yang Nanjun and his wife Xu Rulin (birth name Wang Suyue) climbed mountains together, co-authored several books including “Walking Together with My Child,” and shared a deep bond. They had a son and a daughter. Yesterday, Xu Rulin described Yang Nanjun wearing his favorite hiking gear and a smart scarf, adding, “Just as he always did when climbing, he left at 4:30 a.m. to seize the fresh morning light!”
Yang Nanjun’s daughter, Yang Xiaolu, who works in ethnology, said that on the 21st of this month, Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chun visited their father in the hospital. At that time, he specifically emphasized the government’s need to work on preserving Taiwan’s slate house cultural heritage.
The family will hold a memorial service (funeral) at 2 p.m. on September 18th at Jinan Church on Zhongshan South Road, Taipei City. In accordance with Yang Nanjun’s wishes, he will later be laid to rest in the Muzha Tree Burial Park.