The Turtle Island, landmark of Yilan and its legend

When it comes to Yilan county, the special geography of snakelike coastline with the Turtle island to the East, is what most people think about. The Turtle island, commonly known as Guishan island, is an active volcano without any eruption within a century. Normally the island is full of sulfuric smoke with few habitants, though in Ching dynasty some fishermen were there.

It is said that centuries ago, deep down the ocean, there was a dragon king to govern all living creatures. The king had a daughter, who fell in love with the Turtle general and refused the arranged marriage with the royal family. The King was furious and locked his daughter in the bedroom, in case she would see the general again. The general was obedient to the king, but this time he decided to run away with the princess. On the night they ran away from the palace, the Snake commanding general found their escape, and tried to stop them but was flushed to the beach by the tail of Turtle. At this moment, the king showed up and ready to fire at the Turtle, the princess was afraid that the fire would kill innocent civilians, so she turned into Plain to protect them. The Turtle was sad and cried out at her, but under the spell of the king, he became the island and situated there since then. Sometimes, he turns his head to see the princess, and that’s why people now feel strange when we drive through the highway. From different angles, we cannot see his head. The tears of princess turn into rains, pouring into the Lanyang Plain.

Isn’t it romantic? Even until now, locals keep spreading this legend to the next generation, hoping the Kamalan people and cultures can be seen and protected. The song of Princess Kamalan was composed by Tân Bîng-tsiong, whose music was full of traditional instruments with Taiwanese subtitles and lyrics in the clip. If you have a chance to visit the museum, you can click the below link for more details.

http://families.lym.gov.tw/en/index.html