府城舊事 * My Old Memory of Tainan City
張東瀛
2016-11-16
In Taiwanese, we say "It-hú, Jī-lo̍k, Sann-báng-kah." "It-hú" refers to old Tainan city. In 1949, I was born in the "Pillar Phop" a small lane opposite the Tainan Confucian Temple. Because I have lived in Tainan since I was a child, I remember many old things about Tainan.
The longer one lives, the easier it is to miss the past time. Especially now that the air and water pollution is quite serious, the buildings are everywhere, which reminds me of my hometown and neighbors who lived in the alleys of the "Yamuliao market" when I was a kid. Our old house was in the back yard of an old house on Chong'an Street. After the Allied forces bombed Tainan, many houses collapsed. As long as the house can live in, there will be people renting it.
The bungalow we rent was very small, although it is one bedroom and one living room, plus a kitchen and toilet, at most it is almost thirty square meters. There are no buildings or tap water nearby. At first, we took water from a well, and after several years, we used a hand pump to extract groundwater for drinking.
The north side of the Yamuliao market was called "Suann-poo-thâu-á (The head of mountain hill)" in ancient times. It is close to the ancient cemetery. There is a lot of lime buried underground. A lot of sediment will be found after the groundwater is boiled. Although most of the people living nearby are poor families, the neighbors get along well. I often rely on neighbors to help me when I have problems at home. We have lived in Yamuliao market for nearly 30 years. Later, because of the widening of the road, the old home was demolished, but the market remained.
Opposite the market is the primary school I used to study. This school was a Meiji Girls' School for Taiwanese girls in the Japanese era. At that time, students from the night department were also recruited, and older girls who were out of school were enrolled. After the war, the Meiji Girls' Public School was changed to Chenggong primary School, which is both male and female. I graduated in 1961.
There is a San'an Temple in the market, and there is a steep and long slope on the left hand side of the temple. For a while, we set up a stall on Minzu Road to make a living at night, pushing the cart home, and it was very difficult to climb the hill. At this time, people at the temple entrance will come to help. At the top of the slope is the home of Tainan gentry Mr. Xu Bingding. There is also a county town god’s temple in the alley opposite the school. There are two black and white impermanence in the temple. At night, only a small lamp was lit in the temple. If I walked in front of the temple, I would recite Tang poems and be bold, and I never dared to look back.
When I was in the primary school, I had to walk through the market to the school every day. A heavy rain ditch flooded the bridge, and the sweet potato seller came over and carried us across the bridge one by one. Behind the primary School is Chihkan Tower. There used to be a staircase in the school that could reach Chihkan Tower. When class is over, everyone likes to run to Chihkan Tower, playing hide-and-seek in shirts and ancient clothes.
Outside Chihkan Tower is a clearing. There are many big banyan trees inside, and there is a recreational stage next to it. Therefore, the open space next to Chihkan Tower is also commonly known as Recreation Terrace. The elderly nearby gather under the banyan tree to chat every day. Many dim sum stalls come here to do business. The fist-sellers who sell plasters often work hard here. The back door of Chenggong primary School is the Terrace Plaza. After school everyone ran to the square to watch people play a monkey show. When walking around, I am most afraid of meeting a teacher.
Next to Chihkan Tower, there is also a place that sells snacks called "Tsio̍h-tsing-khū." There are porcelain shops, paper money shops, sausage stalls, small restaurants near Tsio̍h-tsing-khū. There are also milkfish porridge, eel noodles, bowl cakes, rice cake and Sishen soup. The Tsio̍h-tsing-khū at night is very lively. The entire Minzu Road runs from the nursing school to the Ring of West-gate Road, with bright lights on both sides. Row upon row of vendors, stall after stall. Some people sell clothes and some sell groceries. Some people are doing magic tricks, others are playing tricks, punching and selling medicine. The ring next to the stone mortar is called Xiao Gongyuanzi. To the south of the small park, there are high-rise shops on both sides of West-gate Road. There are theaters, cloth houses and several gold jewelry shops.
There is a big shopping mall diagonally across from the theater. It is called "Asakusa" in Japanese. In addition to fish and vegetables, Asakusa shopping mall also has imported products from north and south. What's more special is that there are many cloth shops, ready-made clothes dealers, tailor shops, button shops and commission shops. It is a good place for local people to marry their daughters and do dowry. Go inside the big shopping mall and you will find the "Sagariba (Shengchang)" specializing in snacks. Tainan's most prestigious dim sum stalls gather here. It is a pity that after the big market burned, the dim sum stalls in Sagariba were scattered another places. .
There was a Rangchengzhen cake shop in Tainan during the Japanese era. The "shortcakes" they make are very delicious. The owner Guo Rang, known as "Master Rang" is from Nanshi Street. In ancient times, almost all the people living near Nanshi Street were descendants of the Guo family. The Xiluo Temple is now the ancestral temple of the Guo family. The main god of the temple is the ancestor of the Guo family. His descendants are honored as "Holy Kings." In many places in Taiwan, especially fishing villages near the sea, the "Guangze Zunwang" enshrined is the "Holy King" of the Guo family. The square in front of Xiluodian is called "guankou". There is a Fengshen Temple on the right side of the square, and Jieguan Pavilion on the left. Officials of the Qing Dynasty came to Taiwan by boat and went ashore. People in Tainan often say, "If Haikou is clear, the sky will clear." Haikou refers to the area from the official pavilion to Anping. When I was in primary school, I often went hiking in Anping Castle. The road I walked at that time was the waterway from Anping to Jieguan Pavilion in ancient times.
There is a social education hall on Minquan Road in Tainan, which was formerly an soldier's club. It was called the public hall earlier. Behind the public hall is the "Wu Garden". Wu Yuan is a private house garden built by Tainan salt merchant Wu Shangxin in 1830. It is about the area between Minzu Road, Gongyuan Road, Minquan Road and Zhongshan Road. The scale at that time should be ten times as large as it is now.
Wuyuan’s original pavilions, waterside pavilions, rockery and waterfalls were among the four famous gardens in Taiwan at that time. The property rights of Wu Yuan in the Japanese era were transferred to the Tainan State Department. In 1911, Tainan State Hall built a public hall and a willow restaurant on the side of Minquan Road. Build Four Spring Garden Hotel on Gongyuan Road, and build a library at the corner of Minzu Road and Gongyuan Road. After the war, the Four Spring Garden was taken over by the Kuomintang, and the library was sold to businessmen to build an department store by the Tainan City Government. The landscape of Wuyuan is almost completely different.
When I was young, my classmates and I climbed a wall made of coral stones and sneaked into Wu Garden. Although the rockery was still there, other buildings were in disrepair for a long time, and weeds grew everywhere. Later, the Tainan City Government tried to demolish the public hall and Wu Garden. Fortunately, after fierce resistance from the citizens, the public hall and Wu Garden were finally restored and preserved.
Minquan Road is a major east-west road. To the west of the public hall, there is a God's Temple across Gongyuan Road. At the end of Minquan Road is the Narcissus Palace. The market next to it is called Shuixiangong Market. In the evening, the fishing boats enter the port, and the market fishmongers and vendors are full of voices. The Minquan Route runs east to west, and the terrain is getting lower. The difference between the head of the road and the end of the road is about the height of a house. Therefore, there is an old saying in Tainan that "The elevation of the steps in front of God's temple is equivalent to the eaves of the Narcissus Palace."
Tainan is a good place. Although the transportation is not as convenient as Taipei, and the city is not as prosperous as Kaohsiung, Tainan has history, culture, delicious dim sum stalls and a strong human touch. Walking through Tainan's alleys on midsummer nights, you will smell the fragrance of flowers floating from the low walls from time to time. Seeing the lanterns on the roadside, you know that the burden of selling rice cakes and Sishen soup has arrived. In the cold winter night, you can occasionally hear the flutes selling rice milk and almond tea. Many out-of-towners live in Tainan and are often reluctant to move. Just like me, after living for a long time, I became an authentic Tainanese.
臺灣話說「一府，二鹿，三艋舺」。一府指的就是臺南府城。1949年我在臺南孔廟對面的「柱子行」出生。因為從小就住在臺南，所以記得許多臺南的舊事。
人活得越久越容易懷念過去的生活。尤其是現在空氣和水汙染相當嚴重，大樓到處都是，讓我經常想起小時候住在鴨母寮菜市場巷子裏的老家和鄰居。那間老屋就在崇安街那一排好幾落古厝的後段。盟軍轟炸台南後，許多房屋倒塌。房子只要能住人，就有人租，不會太計較。
我家租的平房很小，雖是一房一廳，加上一間廚房和廁所，頂多也差不多十坪而已。那附近沒有樓房，也沒有自來水。起先是打井水吃，過了好幾年才挖一隻手搖幫浦，抽取地下水來用。
鴨母寮市場北邊，從前叫做「山埔頭仔」，靠近古時的墳場，石灰質很重，所以地下水煮沸後有很多沉澱物。雖然住在附近的大多是窮苦人家，然而左鄰右舍都很好相處。家裡有事經常靠街坊鄰居幫忙。我們在鴨母寮市場住了將近三十年。後來因為道路拓寬，老家被拆除，但是菜市場還保留著。
菜市場對面就是我讀過的國民學校。這間學校在日本時代是專門給台灣人小女孩讀書的明治女子公學校。那時候還有招收夜間部的學生，讓失學的年長女孩就讀。戰後明治女子公學校改為成功國民學校，男女兼收。我畢業時是1961年。
市場裡有一間三安宮，廟側有一個既陡又長的斜坡。我們有一陣子夜晚在民族路擺攤營生，推車回家，爬坡時非常吃力。這時廟口的人都會過來幫忙。斜坡頂端就是台南士紳許丙丁先生的住家。學校對面的巷內還有一間縣城隍廟。縣城隍廟裏面有兩尊黑白無常。夜晚廟裡只點一盞五燭光的小燈，我若從廟前走過，就背唐詩壯膽，從來不敢回頭多看一眼。
讀國校時，每天都要經過菜市場走到學校。下大雨溝水淹過橋面，賣蕃薯的爺爺就過來把我們一個個背過橋。成功國校的後面就是赤崁樓。從前學校裏有一座樓梯能夠和赤崁樓相通。下課時大家都愛跑去赤崁樓，躲在戰袍和古代衣服裏面捉迷藏。
赤崁樓外頭是一片空地。裡面有很多大榕樹，旁邊還有一座康樂台。所以赤崁樓邊的空地也通稱康樂台。附近的老人每天聚在榕樹下聊天。許多點心攤來這裡做生意。打拳頭，賣膏藥的江湖好漢也常在這裡拚工夫。成功國校的後門出去就是康樂台廣場。放學時大家跑到廣場看人耍猴戲。到處趴趴走的時候，最怕遇見老師。
赤崁樓旁邊還有一個固定賣小吃的地方名叫「石舂臼」。石舂臼附近有瓷器店，金紙行，香腸攤，小餐館，也有賣虱目魚粥，鱔魚麵，碗粿，米糕和四神湯。夜晚的石舂臼非常鬧熱。整條民族路從護理學校到西門路圓環，兩邊燈火通明。鱗次櫛比的攤販，一攤接一攤。有人賣衣服，有人賣雜貨。有人在變魔術，也有人耍把戲，打拳賣藥。石舂臼旁邊的圓環，叫做小公園仔。小公園往南，西門路兩邊都是高樓店面。有戲院，布莊和好幾間銀樓。
戲院斜對面有一座大商場。日文叫做「淺草」。淺草商場除了魚肉蔬菜以外還有南北貨，舶來品。比較特別的是裏面有許多布店，成衣商，洋服店，紐扣店和委託行，是府城人嫁女兒，辦嫁粧的好地方。大商場再進去，就是專門賣小吃的「沙加里巴(盛場)」。臺南最負盛名的點心攤都聚集在這裡。可惜大市場火燒後，沙加里巴的點心攤就散落各處了。
日本時代臺南有一間讓成珍餅舖。他們做的「口酥餅」，非常好吃。老闆郭讓，人稱「讓師」。是南勢街的人。古時候在南勢街附近住的幾乎都是郭家的後代。現在的西羅殿就是郭家的祖廟。廟中主神「郭聖王」就是郭家的祖先，子孫尊稱「聖王公」。臺灣許多地方，特別是靠海的漁村，奉祀的「廣澤尊王」就是郭家的「聖王公」。西羅殿前廣場叫「館口」。廣場右邊有一間風神廟，左邊是接官亭。清朝官員搭船來台都由此上岸。台南人常說「海口若清，天就放晴」。海口指的就是接官亭到安平一帶。我讀國民學校時，常去安平古堡遠足。那時走的馬路，就是古時安平到接官亭前的水路。
臺南的民權路有一間社教館，之前是軍人之友社。更早以前叫做公會堂。公會堂後方就是「吳園」。吳園是1830年，台南鹽商吳尚新起造的私宅花園，大約是民族路，公園路，民權路和中山路之間的範圍，當時的規模應該有現在的十倍大。
吳園原有亭台水榭，假山飛瀑等林園勝景，是當時臺灣四大名園之一。日本時代吳園的產權轉讓給台南州廳。公元1911年台南州廳在民權路邊建築公會堂和柳屋料理店。在公園路建造四春園旅館，民族路和公園路轉角處建造圖書館。戰後四春園被國民黨接收，圖書館又被台南市政府賣給生意人蓋大樓賣百貨。吳園的景觀幾乎面目全非。
小時候我曾和同學爬過用珊瑚石砌成的圍牆偷偷跑進吳園。當時假山雖然還在，其他建築年久失修，到處雜草叢生。後來台南市政府又試圖將公會堂和吳園拆除。所幸經過市民強烈抗爭，終能將公會堂和吳園整修保存。
民權路是東西向的大馬路。公會堂往西，過了公園路有一間上帝公廟。民權路尾則是水仙宮。旁邊的市場就叫做水仙宮菜市場。傍晚漁船入港，市場魚販，攤商人聲鼎沸。民權路由東往西，地勢漸低。路頭和路尾相差大約一層樓的高度。所以台南有句俗語說「上帝公的門階，水仙宮的雨簷」。
臺南是個好地方。雖然交通不比台北方便，市況也不若高雄繁華，但是臺南有歷史，有文化，還有好吃的點心攤和濃濃的人情味。仲夏夜走過台南的巷弄，不時會聞到從矮牆飄出的花香。看到路邊的燈籠，就知道有米糕，四神湯和擔子麵可吃了。寒冬深夜偶爾還會聽得到賣米乳和杏仁茶的笛聲。許多外地人在府城住下來，往往捨不得搬離。就像我這樣，住久了就成了道地的台南人。
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