Snake Kiln (Shuei Li, Taiwan)

這座台灣最古老、最具代表性的柴燒窯，是我在南投地區的最愛之一。從大學時期知道它的存在以來，十年間我至少去了五次，其中絕大部分是趁著帶外國朋友到日月潭地區遊玩的機會順道參訪，原因無他，看上的就是它的特色與活力，是我心目中最能彰顯出台灣燒窯文化的地點之一。
It's the oldest and most representative firewood kiln in Taiwan, and is also my favorite place in Nantou county in central Taiwan. Since I got to know the place in times of my university studies, I've been to the kiln for minimun five times in ten years. Most of the time, I passed it by with my foreign friends when I took them to the Sun Mook Lake. The reason I always take foreign friends there? Well, it's a characteristic and unique place and is one of the best places to demonstrate Taiwanese kiln culture.

距離我上一次到蛇窯遊玩，已經是六、七年前的事了。此番帶著兩個義大利朋友前去，除了讓他們看看這座獨一無二的窯廠，也有種一己之私的味道，想要去拜訪這位多年不見的老友。在盡我所能地翻譯、介紹了蛇窯的背景資訊以後，兩個朋友就自顧自地到處拍照，我則趁著下雨天遊客稀少，享受著蛇窯難得的清靜。
It's been more than six or seven years since I last visited the Snake Kiln. I took two Italian friends there in June 2006 to see this old friend of mine. After I tried my best to translate and introduce the background information of the kiln in Italian, my friends went exploring the site by their own. I took the chance to enjoy the "quietness" brought by heavy rain. There're indeed very few visitors that day!

廣義地說，蛇窯是可以被歸納到博物館的範疇裡，只是以博物館稱呼，似乎生硬了些，以文化園區稱之，帶給人的印象就鮮活許多，畢竟，在一般人的刻板印象中，博物館多了那麼點死氣沉沉的味道，對這座目前還「活著」的窯廠來說，感覺上是有些格格不入。
Broadly speaking, it can be categorized as a museum. But the term "museum" makes it too serious and people rather call it as "cultural park" for a more vivid image. After all, many people do not like the atmosphere of a traditional museum, and for this "living" kiln the term museum is quite out of tune.

若不是小黑蚊肆虐，我還挺喜歡待在窯身裡面的感覺。昏黃的燈光，被煙炭燻得發黑的壁面，給了我許多的想像空間。燒柴時，柴灰落在陶胚上面，產生了豐富多樣的色彩與古拙的質感，那天竟然讓我想到幾年前在日本美秀博物館看到的天目碗。這樣的聯想也許太過天馬行空，不過這種「回想起」的感覺倒是挺好的，因為自己竟然在四年以後，還能記起當時看到那只碗的震驚。
If not for the little black mosquitos, I enjoy pretty much the feeling staying inside the kiln. The dim light and the coal black walls bring ti me vivid imagination. With the burning firewood, ashes fall onto the terracotta and create various color patterns and antique texture. On that specific day, my mind was brought back to a piece of terracotta bowl I saw in Miho Museum in Japan several years ago. It might be a pretty "far" connection but it's a very nice feeling to think of something that I've seen in the past, coz I still remember the "shock" brought to me when I saw it in Miho four years ago.

這次旅行是九二一大地震以後，我第一次再度回到南投。儘管這次看到的窯體，是2000年重建的新窯，不過我卻有著一種看到老朋友的錯覺。我想，是不是原本的那個窯，似乎已經不是那麼重要了，重要的，是新窯延續下來的文化傳承。
It's the very first time I went back to Nantou after the catastrophic earthquake in 1999. Though the kiln I saw this time was rebuilt in 2000, I still felt like seeing an old friend. Whether it's that very kiln or not is not any more important. The most important thing is the cultural continuity bring to us by the new kiln.