Rediscovering the Forgotten Legacy of Kenting's Sisal Industry

Take a stroll through the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition and you'll discover a unique aspect of what the Kenting National Park has to offer.

Sense of Wander: ★★★★★

At the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition in Pintgtung County, a sisal plant catches the eye with its impressive stature.

PINGTUNG, Taiwan — The searing summer heat and harsh winter gales reigning over the Hengchun Peninsula — on the southern tip of Taiwan — makes it a unique habitat that only the toughest plants could survive. 

In addition to the diverse range of plant species in Kenting National Forest Recreation Area, which is home to more than 1,000 species, the sisal plant — a foreign species — found a welcoming home amidst Hengchun's otherwise inhospitable conditions.

In 1901, the sisal plant was introduced from Central America to Taiwan by the US consul James Davidson. In less than 50 years, the Hengchun Peninsula had emerged as the hub of Taiwan's sisal industry.

Hengchun is known for its three treasures (sanbao): sisals, onions, and Gangkou tea. While onions and Gangkou tea continue to thrive in the region, traces of sisal’s legacy can only be found at a lesser-known location that illuminates the bygone era of the region’s once-thriving sisal industry in the 20th century.

The Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition (瓊麻工業歷史展示區), located in Kenting National Park on the southern side of Longluan Lake, is just a 10-minute ride away from Kenting Street.

Sisal, also known as Jingma, Siershama, or Jialuoma in Chinese, is a member of the Agavaceae family, the same genus used by American aboriginals to distill the popular spirit tequila. Native to regions around 25 to 26 degrees latitude, sisal is a perennial herbaceous plant renowned for its versatile uses: the plant yields fibers that could be used for making ropes, fishing nets, and various other products.

A small field of sisal plantation can be found at the entrance of the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition in Pingtung County, Taiwan.

This automatic decorticating machine, imported from Britain, was a marvel of technology during its time. It could produce up to 3 tonnes of sisal fiber per day, but it also came with a hefty price tag of NTD 1,170,000.

A miniature model recreates the scene of workers laying out sisal fibers to dry on a rack. Sisal fibers require ample sunlight and air to dry properly, making Hengchun's sunny and windy climate an ideal location for sisal industry.

As soon as one enters the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition, visitors are welcomed by fields of sisal plantations. While the plants may resemble pineapples at first glance, a closer inspection reveals their distinct differences.

There are two main species of sisal: the green-leaf and the white-leaf. While the former is cultivated in Taiwan, the latter is rarely grown due to its low-fiber quality. Green-leaf sisal — characterised by its spikeless leaf margin — thrives in fertilized soil with high humidity and temperature, producing top-quality fibers despite yielding less quantity than white-leaf sisal. Apart from Hengchun, green-leaf sisals were also grown in Hualien and Taichung.

While wandering through the sisal plantation, it is fascinating to see sisals at different stages of growth. Some sisals are newly planted, while others have reached maturity. Among them, there are a few sisals that are about to reach the flowering stage, with their stalks reaching heights reminiscent of the betel palm trees typical of Pingtung County.

It turns out that sisal plants only bloom in their 8th to 9th year and die after flowering, with the fallen fruits around the plant serving as nourishment for new sisal to grow. This explains why it is not uncommon to see young sisal plants growing next to mature ones. While sisal is now cultivated on a much smaller scale than in its heyday, the plantations still offer visitors a glimpse of what the industry was like in the past.

The complex consists of a few historic buildings. Among them is one room that displays the full range of machinery used in the factory.

Within 48 hours of harvest, the sisal leaves would undergo fiber decorticating process, with the help of a hand-operated decorticator, in order avoid the sisal leaves from dehydration.

Once decorticated, the sisal fibers require ample sunlight and air to dry properly. Hengchun's sunny and windy climate makes it an ideal location for this stage. After drying, the sisal fiber is sprinkled with oil, then grouped in packs to be placed on the hackling machines. The hackling process is carried out on machines number 1 to 6, from number 1 to 6, allowing the different-size teeth to comb through the dirsordered sisal fibers into arranged stripes.

After the hackling process, stripes of sisal fiber are then twined into single strands of yarns, which would be done on a twine machine. The single yarns are then combined to form a thicker sisal rope using the rope-making machine.

This building inside the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition houses a diverse range of machinery once used on site.

The exhibition room showcases a wide range of machines that were used during the peak of Taiwan’s sisal industry.

The so-called "hackling machine" was used to comb and straighten out the tangled sisal fibers.

This is an example of what a finished sisal rope would have looked like at the end of the production process.

The Taiwan Fiber Company was established in 1913, and the importation of the machinery in 1919 marked the beginning of a thriving sisal industry. Among the old buildings dedicated to different exhibitions are architectural remains, such as that of a red-bricked dormitory from the heyday of sisal production. This dormitory would have housed the workers who oversaw the plantation and production line.

To meet the demand for hawsers used in Japanese ships during World War II, sisal was extensively cultivated in the area. The historical presence of the Japanese can still be seen through a well-preserved stone torii, a traditional Japanese gate commonly found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine that makes the transition from the mundane to the scared, which stands among the ruins.

In addition to fishing nets and ropes, fibers extracted from sisals can be made into a wide array of products, including base fillings of spring mattress, sisal shoes, shower brush, hammock, among many others. On display, we also see how Taiwan’s aboriginals adopted sisal fiber to weave traditional clothing.

After the colonial period, the government of Taiwan assisted the sisal industry, expanding the plantation area up to 5,611 hectares in Hengchun area, which was 55% of nation-wide sisal cultivation. In 1953, Taiwan’s annual sisal production was ranked second second in the world, behind India. At its height, sisal industry brought wealth to the locals of the Hengchun Pennisula.

The decline of the sisal industry began with the invention of synthetic fibers, as nylon rope replaced sisal rope. From 1970 to 1984, the plantation shrank to 980 hectares, with much of the land being converted to the cultivation of onions and watermelons. The factory closed in 1983 due to the high cost of producing sisal fiber and the competition from lower-priced hemp products. The area was later transformed into "The Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition Area" that we see today, open to visitors since 1995.

From a cultural perspective, it is a pity to see that the sisal industry, which played a significant role in shaping the area, is no longer thriving. But from an environmental standpoint, the decline of the industry has had positive effects. The mass cultivation of sisal posed a significant threat to the ecology of Hengchun, as tropical forests along the coast were logged to make way for sisal plantations. This led to the destruction of hundreds of hectares of forest, the remains of which have been designated as an "Ecology Protection Area". Moreover, the waste and juice extracted from sisal during the production process contaminated nearby rivers and affected the ecology of the ocean, leading to coral bleaching in the vicinity. Therefore, the decline of the sisal industry has been beneficial to the preservation of the local ecosystem.

Despite the negative impact of the sisal industry on the environment, I still find the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition to be one of my favourite places in southern Taiwan. It allows me to learn about the fascinating history of the once-thriving sisal industry and appreciate the resilience of the sisal plant to thrive under adverse conditions.

If you ever plan a trip to Hengchun Pennisula or Kenting, be sure to add the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition to your itinerary. Take a stroll through the sisal plantations and you'll discover a unique aspect of what the Kenting National Park has to offer!

Sisals are planted among the architectural remains found inside the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition.

A torii gate, which is a traditional Japanese gate found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine, is well-preserved and on display at the Sisal Industry Historical Exhibition.