Understanding soil and terroir
Taiwan has ethnic diversity to match its soil diversity, with at least four major ethnic groups. Each has brought different methods of soil use and related cultural practices. The Han Chinese, for instance, brought wet-field farming, which led to rural Taoyuan being dotted with irrigation ponds.
“The word fengtu [literally ‘wind and earth’] refers to the terroir and culture fostered by a place’s land and climate.” The oldest soils on Taiwan are estimated to be those of the Linkou Plateau. Over millennia, the nutrients in the soil have been washed away, leaving behind high quantities of iron oxide, which makes the soil red and highly acidic. “This soil was one thing that brought Taiwan into the global spotlight,” says Hseu, who explains that Taiwan grew renowned for its teas in large part because of its soil. Taiwan’s laterite (red clay) plateau from Linkou to Taoyuan and Hsinchu used to be famous for the teas it produced. The Bagua Plateau, straddling Changhua and Nantou, produces songbo evergreen oolong. In Eastern Taiwan, farmers at Wuhe in Hualien’s Ruisui Township are growing the newly developed Taiwan honey-scented tea, while the Luye Highland in Taitung has been producing tea since the Japanese era. “Tea bushes like acidic soil, and the clouds and fog that come with the high elevation of the plateau promote tea leaf growth. That connection between tea leaves and soil is quite representative of Taiwan’s culture.”
“By understanding a place’s soil, you can understand its terroir and culture.” Hseu cites the famous rush weaving industry of Dajia in Taichung, which arose only because some of the land there was dry and saline, and no good for growing anything else. Today the Jianan Plain is described as the granary of Taiwan, but the farmland there used to be described as “fields at the mercy of the weather.” Despite having richly mineralized soil, they lacked sufficient water resources. Local food supplies were thus dependent on frequent rainfall.
It wasn’t until ample water was provided by the Jianan Irrigation system, designed by Japanese civil engineer Yoichi Hatta and completed in 1930, that the character of the local soil changed and rice production on the Jianan Plain burgeoned. “Yoichi Hatta in fact was always thinking about how to improve the local soil,” says Hseu.
Soil scientists find their interest being piqued constantly in daily life. When Hseu watches the French Open, he considers how little red clay is found in temperate zones. Building clay tennis courts there must be quite expensive. The Japanese archipelago features dark volcanic soils, and the infield in the film Kano reflected that. Fans of American baseball may notice that if a broadcasted game is in Florida, which is in the subtropics, the field’s dirt is reddish. But if the game is in Seattle, which is in a volcanic zone, the dirt is appropriately dark. Hseu is thus able to connect soil to culture and daily life for us.
There is a long history of people using clay to make bricks and ceramics.
Taiwan’s global renown for tea is closely connected to its soils.