《A Happy Childhood in Sanxia》
After moving to Taiwan, Ashan’s family, with the help of Uncle Lin, rented a house in Zhongpu, just outside Sanxia Township. Though the house was small, the picturesque landscape of Sanxia, with its mountains and rivers and its simple, honest residents, felt like a paradise to Ashan’s family after their many hardships.
When Ashan’s family moved into their new home, they attracted the attention of their neighbors, as they were the first family from another province to move into this small community. Ashan was curious about why people were whispering in a language he didn’t understand, but he clearly heard many people mentioning his nickname, "Ashan." (*)
Their landlord, Mr. Zhou, had a grandson named Zhou Dachuan, who was two years older than Ashan. Dachuan became Ashan’s first friend in Taiwan. It was the end of 1950, and Ashan was nearly seven years old. His mother enrolled him in the first grade at Sanxia Elementary School, while his older sister started the second year of middle school.
At that time, the government was promoting Mandarin. But the local children had difficulty to understand Ashan’s home tone Mandarin. Conversely, Ashan couldn’t understand the local Taiwanese Mandarin. As a result, Ashan quickly learned Taiwanese and soon became friends with the neighborhood children.
Although Ashan’s mother didn’t speak Taiwanese well, her easy-going and sincere attitude gradually won the acceptance of the neighbors. She was skilled at knitting sweaters, and when the neighbors noticed that Ashan and his sister wore sweaters hand-knitted by their mother, they started asking her to knit sweaters for their own children. This gave Ashan’s mother an additional income, which, although small and irregular, was very helpful for the family’s tight finances. At that time, rural life was tough, with children often bringing simple lunches of rice and pickled radish to school and usually going barefoot or wearing wooden clogs. With her additional income, Ashan’s mother bought chickens and ducks. This meant that Ashan sometimes had eggs in his lunchbox and got his first pair of sneakers for the New Year. Like most children, though, Ashan would take off his sneakers, sling them over his shoulder, and walk home barefoot after school.
To Ashan, Sanxia was truly a paradise, just like the children’s songs: a little river in front of the house and hills behind it.
After school, Ashan often climbed trees to pick guavas or caught shrimp and fish in the river. The fields and ditches were full of loaches, and his family’s chickens and ducks kept him busy. Ashan often imagined the ducks were his troops and he was their commander, leading them on adventures to find worms in the woods or bugs in the fields. Even using watermelon rinds, he could get the ducks to follow his commands obediently.
* Note: In early Taiwan, local people referred to those from other provinces as "A-Shan," which was actually a derogatory term at the time.
《三峽的快樂童年》
阿三一家人來到了台灣之後，經由林叔的安排，在三峽鎮外的中埔租了一間房子。雖然房子並不大，但是三峽風景秀麗，有山有水，民情純樸，對阿三一家人在歷經苦難之後，真可稱為世外桃源。
阿三一家人搬進新居的時候，引起不少左右鄰居的圍觀，因為他們是這個小地方搬進來的第一家外省人。阿三也覺得奇怪，為什麼這些人都在竊竊低語，說著一些聽不懂的話。但是他很確定，在這些圍觀的人間，許多人都提到他的小名「阿三」(*)。
阿三家的房東是位周老先生，只有個孫子叫周大川。大川比阿三大二歲，這是阿三在台灣第一個認識的新朋友。此時是民國卅九年底 (1950 年)，阿三已經進入七歲了。阿三媽帶著阿三進入了三峽國民小學一年級就讀，大姐也進入三峽初中唸二年級。
當時政府正推行國語，阿三的家鄉國語，小朋友們聽不太懂。小朋友的台灣國語，阿三也聽不太懂。所以阿三很快的就學會了台灣話，於是與週遭的小朋友們都打成了一片。
阿三的媽雖然台灣話說得不好，但是隨和及誠懇的態度。慢慢地被鄰居們接受了。她織毛線衣的手藝不錯。當鄰居們發覺阿三及大姐身上的毛衣，是阿三媽親手織的後，紛紛委託阿三媽為他們的孩子們織毛衣，因而阿三媽就多了一份收入。雖然數目不大，也並不固定，但是對阿三全家經濟拮据的當時來說，卻是助益很大。尤其在當時鄉下的人生活都很清苦，小孩子上學帶的便當只有白飯及蘿蔔乾，腳上大多都不穿鞋，或是穿著木屐。阿三媽有了這份收入後，就買了雞鴨來養。於是阿三便當裏便有時會有雞蛋了，過年時也有了第一雙球鞋。不過阿三和大多數的孩子都一樣，一放學就把球鞋背在背上，赤腳回家去。
對阿三而言，三峽真是一個天堂，就完全像兒歌裏唱的一樣：在家的門前有小河，後面有山坡。
阿三下課後常常在樹上採芭樂吃，要不就在小河裏摸蝦捉魚。田裏、溝澗裏又多的是泥鰍，家裏又養了雞及鴨，忙得阿三不亦樂乎。阿三常把鴨子當做是部隊，自己當作指揮官。常常帶著鴨子們到處巡視，到樹林裏挖蚯蚓吃，到田間找小蟲吃。就是用西瓜皮，也可以把鴨子們整得服服貼貼。
* 註：早期臺灣籍人士稱外省人「阿山仔」，在當時其實是一種不禮貌稱呼。
1950s Sanxia. The devotees' faith and devotion during the deity procession were faithfully captured on film.
1950 年代的三峽，信衆們對於神明繞境的信仰與虔誠被忠實的拍攝記錄下來。