Liao Hung-chi

30-Second Overview

Liao Hung-chi (November 11, 1957 – ), from Hualien, is Taiwan's most representative contemporary ocean literature writer. In 1992, at 35, he abandoned life on land to become a professional fisherman, and in 1996 launched Taiwan's first civilian cetacean research project. He subsequently founded the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation (1998) and the Hualien Formosa Association (2022), and through the "Kuroshio 101 Drift Project" and the "Sperm Whale Pi Project," pushed Taiwanese people's perspective from the shoreline out into the deep ocean. His creative work does not only document the vitality and tension of fishermen's lives — through scientific research and environmental education, he has attempted to build a true "ocean culture" on an island where "seafood culture" has long predominated.¹²³

The "Counterintuitive" Choice of Escaping Land

Liao Hung-chi's literary path began with an escape from the structures of life on land. A graduate of Hualien High School, he had worked as a procurement officer at a cement company and had gone to Indonesia to work in shrimp farming. But the anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia and the interpersonal friction of his land-based career made him yearn for a spiritual outlet. In 1992, in an era when most Taiwanese viewed the ocean as a dangerous boundary, he chose in middle age to abandon a stable job and return to his hometown of Hualien to work as a basic fisherman. At the time, this was widely regarded as being "irresponsible," yet it became the most important turning point for Taiwanese ocean literature.⁴⁵

Curator's note: Liao Hung-chi's turn proves that the deepest Taiwanese stories are often not found at the glittering centers of urban life, but in the marginal waves forgotten by mainstream society.

He was not simply catching fish at sea — he was carrying on a dialogue with the ocean through hook and line. Beyond his early experience on harpoon fishing vessels, he also traveled far aboard distant-water squid-jigging ships, carried out an island-circumnavigation project, and even sailed European shipping lanes on cargo vessels. These rich experiences spanning both coastal and deep-ocean waters allowed his writing to completely shed the aimless musing of a literatus, taking on instead a vitality saturated with the smell of fish and the temperature of sea salt.⁵

"The Mother's Test" from Family

Liao Hung-chi's choice to go to sea met its greatest resistance from his family. In traditional family values, fishing was a high-risk and relatively low-status occupation. His father repeatedly urged him to give it up, even attending one of Liao's book launches and — identifying himself as a reader — raising his hand to ask: "Excuse me, Mr. Liao Hung-chi — when you were out at sea, did you ever think of your parents?" This question revealed the pull between pursuing his ocean dream and the emotional bonds of family. Yet it was precisely this devotion to the ocean that ultimately led him to find what was truly "home."⁵

The Cultural Revolution from "Seafood" to "Ocean"

In the 1990s, most Taiwanese people's understanding of marine life extended no further than "seafood." Liao Hung-chi understood that if no emotional bond were built between islanders and the ocean, conservation would remain empty talk. In 1998, he founded the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation and began systematically training marine interpreters, transforming traditional fishing-and-hunting culture into a culture of ecological observation.⁶⁷

This revolution was not plain sailing. In the early push for whale watching, he faced skepticism from academics about "interfering with ecosystems," and pressure from animal rights groups concerned that commercial whale-watching boats would disrupt cetacean behavior. Practically, he also had to balance commercial operations with ecological education, and to address real challenges such as "noise disturbing wildlife." Liao persisted with the belief that "developing ecological consciousness is about making friends" — only by letting people see cetaceans leaping in the ocean with their own eyes could a genuine will to protect the ocean truly take root.⁴⁵

Kuroshio Drift: Recovering the Island's Great Pulse

In August 2016, Liao Hung-chi launched the "Kuroshio 101 Drift Project." He and his team designed a motorless raft that extended about 45 centimeters above the waterline and about 20 centimeters below it, departing from waters offshore of Dawu, Taitung, and surrendering entirely to the Kuroshio Current. This experiment, lasting approximately 100 hours and drifting to waters offshore of Su'ao, Yilan, was in essence designed to test a conviction he held: Taiwan should not be merely an island turned with its back to the ocean, but a starting point connected to the global circulation of currents.⁸⁹

During the drift, he released 99 glass floats carrying messages, symbolizing a dialogue with the ocean. The voyage produced the book Kuroshio Drift and was documented in the film The Man and His Sea. He found that when speed slows down, the fish and birds on the sea grow larger, and the world becomes quiet and vast. This "slow observation" led him to redefine Taiwan's territory — territory should not end at the coastline, but should extend with the Kuroshio into the endless Pacific.³⁵

Curator's note: Drifting is not going wherever the current takes you — it is the highest form of freedom that comes after surrendering control. This is precisely the maritime character that island Taiwan most lacks.

The Late Commitment: The Sperm Whale Pi Project

Even in his later years, Liao Hung-chi has not stopped going out to sea. In 2022, he founded the Hualien Formosa Association and launched the "Visiting Pacific Sperm Whales Pi Project" (2023–2025). This project grew out of a promise he made to a sperm whale he named "Hualien Xiangxiang." Through systematic research, he discovered that sperm whale groups arrive in the Hualien sea area in batches from March to October each year; this area may well be their birthing and nursing ground, confirming the importance of eastern Taiwan's waters as an "ocean oasis."¹⁰¹¹⁵

Literary Achievements and Social Contributions

Liao Hung-chi has an extensive body of published work. The Fisherman, Whale Life, Whale World, Drifting Prison, and From the Deep Sea are collectively known as the "Ocean Quartet" and are classics of Taiwanese ocean literature. His literary achievements have received wide recognition: he has won the China Times Literary Award and the Wu Cho-liu Literature Award, and in 2019 received the 41st Wu San-lien Award in the prose category. In 2024, he was presented with the Ministry of Education's "Lifetime Dedication to Social Education Award," recognizing his long-term contribution to ocean education.³⁵

He has served as writer-in-residence at Ocean University and taught at Tzu Chi University, Dong Hwa University, and other institutions, continuously guiding younger generations toward the open ocean. For him, the ocean is a book he could spend his entire life writing without reaching the end — and he is simply the courier trying to translate the language of seawater into words, building a bridge between the concrete jungle and the deep blue that will never be taken down.¹¹²

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