Yushan: From 'Mount Niitaka' to the Highest Point of Taiwan's Soul

30-Second Overview:
Yushan's Main Peak stands at 3,952.430 meters above sea level. It is the highest of Taiwan's Hundred Peaks and, together with Xueshan, Xiuguluan Mountain, Nanhu Dashan, and North Dawu Mountain, is known as one of the "Five Great Mountains of Taiwan." It is also the highest peak in the western Pacific region outside the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its ecology spans a complete vertical distribution from subtropical to frigid zones, and it is a "sacred mountain" in the traditions of the Bunun, Tsou, Kanakanavu, and Paiwan peoples. Today's Yushan is caught in a tug-of-war between the boom in mass mountaineering and the carrying capacity of high-mountain environments. It attracts more than one million visits each year, while also facing severe challenges from waste pollution and altered wildlife behavior.

On June 28, 1897, the Meiji Emperor formally issued a proclamation naming Taiwan's highest peak "Mount Niitaka" (Niitakayama), meaning that it was more than two hundred meters higher than Mount Fuji in Japan proper. The naming was both a geographical discovery and a political declaration: the highest point of the Empire of Japan had now moved to the clouds above this mountain on a southern island.

Sacred Mountain and Refuge: The Spiritual Home of Indigenous Peoples

Long before imperial survey teams arrived, this mountain had already been a sacred and inviolable presence in Indigenous cosmologies: a place of origin, a refuge, and the destination of souls. Its geographic status as the highest point was only a label later attached by outsiders.

For the Bunun people, Yushan is known as Tongku Saveq (or Usaviah, Saviah, Saviq). "Tongku" means a summit slope, while "Saveq" is connected to legends of a great flood, the place where ancestors took refuge and where souls ultimately came to rest, symbolizing the spiritual home of the people. According to tradition, in ancient times a great flood submerged the earth, and the ancestors of the Bunun survived by fleeing to this mountaintop; through the struggle between a giant crab and a great serpent, they secured space to live ¹.

The Tsou call it Patungkuonʉ (or Pattonkan), meaning "shining mountain" or "mountain of quartz." Their legends say that the ancestors of the Tsou originally lived atop Yushan and later migrated to the Alishan area because of flooding. The Kanakanavu call it Tanungu'incu, while the Paiwan call it Kanasian (or Kasetaivang/Kacalisian). These rich names reflect Yushan's deep significance in Indigenous cultures as a symbol of origin, shelter, and sanctity, long predating any name given by outsiders ².

Shifting Power Behind the Names: From Mount Morrison to Yushan

Outsiders' gazes attached different political and cultural labels to this mountain. As early as the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1685), the Taiwan Prefecture Gazetteer had already recorded the name "Yushan," describing it as a mountain that was "extremely high, with clouds and mist covering it above... white like silver." In Qing-era documents, Yushan was also called "Batongguan Mountain" or "Snow Mountain," because from afar its snow looked like silver ³.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Western navigators named it "Mt. Morrison" after the captain of a British merchant ship. In the early Japanese colonial period, the Japanese government considered other names, such as "Zhennan Mountain" and "Dainan Mountain" (evoking the phrase wishing longevity as enduring as the southern mountains), before the Meiji Emperor ultimately settled on "Mount Niitaka," because it was more than 200 meters higher than Mount Fuji. During the Second World War, the mountain even became part of a military code: the operational phrase for the attack on Pearl Harbor, "Climb Mount Niitaka 1208," borrowed the symbolic meaning of the empire's highest peak ⁴.

📝 Curator's Note: The history of a mountain's names is a condensed history of Taiwan's colonization and self-identification. From a refuge in myth, to imperial glory, to today's spiritual stronghold of Taiwan, Yushan has always been there; what has changed is how we look up at it.

After the war, the Nationalist government restored the name "Yushan," drawing on the meaning of something "clear and lustrous like jade." The summit marker also underwent dramatic changes. During the Japanese colonial period, the remains of a Shinto shrine known as Niitaka Shrine once stood there, and were removed after retrocession. Later, a bronze statue of Yu Youren was erected for a time to bring the "height" to 4,000 meters. Today, a massive stone stele engraved with "Yushan Main Peak 3952.430 meters" and English text quietly overlooks the island ⁵.

A Vertical Ecological Laboratory: A Biological Island of Glacial Relicts

What makes Yushan truly astonishing is hidden along its vertical climbing route: in just a few kilometers of horizontal distance, it compresses a complete climatic gradient equivalent to traveling from Taiwan to Siberia. Yushan is the highest of Taiwan's Hundred Peaks and, together with Xueshan, Xiuguluan Mountain, Nanhu Dashan, and North Dawu Mountain, is known as one of the "Five Great Mountains of Taiwan." The Yushan range includes the Main Peak, East Peak (3,869 m, foremost among the Ten Great Ridges), West Peak, South Peak, North Peak, and others. The first five peaks are relatively accessible, while the latter four routes are more difficult. Together they form the core of Taiwan's mountain system, surrounded by unusual rock formations such as Fengwei Rock. In the western Pacific region, excluding the Kamchatka Peninsula, Yushan is the highest peak and has exceptionally high topographic prominence ⁶.

According to the latest information from Yushan National Park, this "biological island of species left from the Ice Age" possesses extraordinarily rich ecological diversity:

Particularly worth noting is that the Lele River basin has the densest population of Formosan black bears in Taiwan. The Taiwan-endemic Alishan salamander is also found at the world's southernmost limit for salamanders. Yushan is a "biological island of species left from the Ice Age," with vertical ecological zones ranging from subtropical to frigid environments, giving it exceptional scientific value ⁷. On scree slopes above 3,850 meters, the environment is extremely harsh: strong winds, low temperatures, and intense ultraviolet radiation. Plants here, such as Leontopodium microphyllum, have evolved thick fuzz or waxy leaves, taking root in rock crevices at an extremely slow pace and displaying the remarkable resilience of Taiwan's alpine flora.

Challenges and Controversies: When a Sacred Mountain Becomes a "Life List" Item

The history of climbing Yushan is a history of movement from exploration to popularization. In 1896, Japanese Army Lieutenant Nagano Yoshitora, or in some accounts Saito Otosaku and others, first reached the summit using the Batongguan Historic Trail. In 1898, the German Karl T. Stöpel became the first Westerner to summit. During the Japanese colonial period, scholars such as Honda Seiroku, Torii Ryuzo, and Mori Ushinosuke conducted repeated surveys. With the opening of the Alishan-to-Yushan trail in 1926, mountaineering gradually became more widespread ⁸. After the war, Yushan became a symbol of something Taiwanese people "must climb once in a lifetime," embodying a shift from colonial glory to local identity.

Today, with the implementation of the "open forests and mountains" policy, summiting Yushan has become a "must climb once in a lifetime" item for many Taiwanese people. Yet this enthusiasm has also brought a heavy cost. According to statistics from the Yushan National Park Headquarters, about one million visitors enter the park each year, generating as much as 250 kilograms of trash in the mountain areas annually, not including human waste that is difficult to handle ⁹.

1. The struggle over environmental carrying capacity: Paiyun Lodge has roughly 92-116 actual beds, depending on the period, and requires a lottery. In peak season, the success rate can sometimes fall as low as 1-3%. The fee is about NT$480 per bed, and sleeping bags can be rented. As a result, many hikers choose a "single-day push" from the Tataka trailhead. However, a single-day ascent requires excellent physical fitness and high-altitude acclimatization. Those with insufficient conditioning often trigger mountain accidents; altitude sickness and falls into ravines are among Yushan's most common causes of tragedy ¹⁰.
2. Changes in wildlife behavior: Around Tataka and Paiyun Lodge, yellow-throated martens, alpine accentors, and even Formosan macaques have developed serious "begging" behavior after prolonged contact with human kitchen waste and feeding. Over time, their natural foraging instincts gradually decline, and consuming human food can also harm their health. For this reason, the Yushan National Park Headquarters strictly prohibits feeding wildlife, with violators subject to fines of up to NT$3,000 ¹¹.
3. Leave No Trace and waste disposal: The Yushan National Park Headquarters strictly promotes the Leave No Trace (LNT) principles, requiring hikers to carry all trash, human waste, and human food back down the mountain in order to reduce environmental impact. Porters must carry supplies up the mountain, and hikers should value their labor and jointly maintain the cleanliness of the mountain environment ¹².

📝 Curator's Note: We carry trash up the mountain, yet carry away the wildness of wildlife. To truly love the mountains is to learn restraint in our desire to "get close."

Looking Ahead: How Should We Look Up at This Mountain?

Yushan's significance lies in the fact that it has always been there, as Taiwan's backbone. It was once a spiritual stronghold and a symbol of creation and refuge for Indigenous peoples; it was once the crown of an empire; and it is now a totem of contemporary Taiwanese identity, embodying the transformation from colonial symbol to local spirit ¹³.

When we talk about "summiting Yushan," perhaps we should not focus only on the stone marker reading 3,952.430 meters, or on the fierce winds and scree slopes near the wind gap. The real challenge is whether, while pursuing personal achievement, we can learn to coexist with this fragile ecosystem. As the Leave No Trace (LNT) principles advocate: carry all trash, human waste, and human food back down the mountain, and be considerate of the labor of porters. The best visit leaves nothing but footprints and takes nothing but memories ¹⁴.

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