Huaji Manmo Inscription

One of several stone inscriptions associated with the Batongguan Old Trail (八通關古道) national monument in Jiji, Nantou. Unlike the other carvings, which date to the trail-building campaign of General Wu Guangliang (吳光亮) in 1875, this one was inscribed in 1887 by Chen Shilie (陳世烈), commissioner of the Yunlin Reclamation Bureau, on behalf of his superior, Chen Fangbo (陳方伯). Its phrasing draws on the Qing imperial idiom of extending civilization to the frontier and documents the continuing settlement of Nantou’s mountainous interior more than a decade after the trail itself was opened. Find this one down some narrow country laneways just east of Jiji proper.