TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A sculpture was unveiled to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the arrival of legendary Slovak adventurer Maurice Benyowsky at Yilan County's Nanfangao Tofu Cape on Wednesday morning, per Yilan County Government.
The location is thought to be where Benyowsky came ashore in 1771, becoming the first European to land a ship on Taiwan's east coast. Such an expedition was perilous, as the area was deemed ungovernable by Japanese colonialists and Chinese settlers due to violent clashes with Indigenous tribes.
Born in 1741, in what was then the Kingdom of Hungary but is now Slovakia's Trnava Province, Benyowsky was by turns a military officer, adventurer, and author of the posthumous titles, "Memoirs and Travels of Mauritius Augustus Count de Benyowsky, Volume I and II."
The memoir recounts his military operations in Poland, his exile to Kamchatka (eastern Russia), his escape and voyage through the northern Pacific Ocean, and his eventual return to Europe. The "Memoirs" make many fantastic claims, many of which have been disproven, though they offer verifiable incidents of bravery and heroism.
Historians agree Benyowsky began his fantastic voyage when he and other prisoners and villagers commandeered the leaky Russian supply ship, "St. Peter and St. Paul," and used it for their escape, sailing to the Ryukyu Islands and then Taiwan, where they visited Suao for 16 days.
With supplies dwindling, he came ashore with shipmates and interacted with the Kavalan people, who fed them, though upon returning to their ship, the first of many battles ensued. Benyowsky would later meet a Spaniard from Manila, Don Hieronimo Pacheco, who lived among the Indigenous people for seven or eight years.
Benyowsky later meets an Indigenous prince who is delighted that he fought a rival village. After being feted with food and treasure, the adventurer decided to continue his journey back to Europe to rejoin his wife and son.
To commemorate this historical event and deepen bilateral friendship, Slovakia's Trnava Provincial Government presented a 3-meter-tall sculpture weighing 500 kg, made from bronze, which was unveiled by Yilan County Acting County Magistrate Lin Mao-sheng (林茂盛) and other distinguished guests.
The work draws inspiration from oak leaves and golden amaryllis, plants from both countries, and includes a backlight that illuminates the sculpture at night. Yilan County Government has been inviting Slovak folk dance teams to participate in the Yilan International Children's Folklore and Folkgame Festival since 1999.
