Under the guidance of the soul of the past life, Su Zhaoxu, a railway madman, wrote books, made realistic models and opened a museum.

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It is not easy to interview railway madman Su Zhaoxu. We have to overcome many of his taboos that "this cannot be written and that is difficult to say". We also have to face some unrealistic cognition or imagination: "because my paintings are masterpieces, there is no way to check the price." so the museum is afraid to borrow it for display "(so Van Gogh, Monet and Zhang Daqian are not as good as you?" ), "you haven't seen anyone like me who studies science but knows art and literature." (, there is Chen Zhifan far away and Zhang Shiguo is near. ), "wait a minute, there are two Ah Piao behind you, let me talk to them" (Hello, Ah Piao, welcome to join the interview! Not to mention his tiresome elite arrogance: "it's strange that you don't even know that" (isn't that why reporters interview experts? ), "how many words do you need to answer this question, I can tell you exactly" (so the report is verbatim, and the reporter is just a typewriter? )

However, to understand the background of Su Zhaoxu's growth and the obstacles in his life, it is not difficult to outline the reasons why he jumped out of common sense. Feeling good about himself is often the manifestation of an inferiority complex. Fortunately, it shakes off those annoying obstacles, like brushing the dust off the grass nunnery, and the temple he built with his lifelong obsession stands towering in front of him.

The DL-37 diesel train made in Germany in 1976 is currently on display in the Chiayi Railway Park. (photography / Yang Yuyun) the relationship between the continuation of this life and the past life of the train

A photo taken at the age of 3 or 5 should be Su Zhaoxu's oldest memory of the train. In the photo, he looks at the steam locomotive displayed in Chiayi Park, next to other children covered in mud. With memories of past lives and this life, he seemed to have no feeling for ordinary amusement equipment. Instead, he fluttered his wings in front of the locomotive and chattered with unfinished words. "I remember later I explained to the children at play how the train engine worked." Of course, he could not say the technical terms such as gears and cylinders, but he analyzed the structure of the engine by hand, as if he had perspective eyes and could see through the operating logic in the steel body.

"I am very impressed with this. I don't understand why I had that kind of knowledge when I was young. When I grew up and had experience, I knew that it was the 'subconscious' leading." Su Zhaoxu said.

The memories of past lives and this life are also repeated in the dream. Since the age of 3 or 5, Su Zhaoxu often had the same dream, in which he flew back to the Japanese occupation era and flew to the side of the Alishan railway under construction, and the railway laying workers were respectful to him.

These mysterious and inexplicable situations continue to appear in life, which not only deeply affect Su Zhaoxu's self-identity, but also give him a sense of mission. During the interview, he repeatedly described his relationship with trains and railways as "deep in the soul" and "the guide of the soul". He uses all kinds of energy to continue the experience of the train in the past life, and wants to burn himself for the survival of the railway culture in this life.

Alishan Railway (Photo courtesy of Su Zhaoxu) Guardian interests Poor children cultivate themselves by themselves

Although she is the only child in the family, Su Zhaoxu is introverted and lacks independent opinions. Coupled with the fact that the previous four sisters live with open teeth and claws, Su Zhaoxu's childhood is neither favored nor quite repressed. The only way to get emotional is to ride a bike to chase a train. "I watched the train go away and the tracks disappeared at the end, hoping that one day I could get on the train and go far away." Su Zhaoxu said that in the days when he had no say, watching the train was a manifestation of his free will. Just standing by the railway track and smelling the smell of sleeper oil can give him a sense of spiritual liberation. He named the secret base of the train, the observation platform of the farmland and fertile fields as "his own sky", and ranked it as the first sky and the second sky in order. A kind of "only take a ladle to drink" waiting calmly, early for this Chiayi child's life, set the unremitting tone.

In the 1970s, Taiwan translated and published the Japanese Takeshima era's "Train. Railway Map" and "Steam engine car Map". This is the first train book in the Chinese world, and all railway fans are crazy about it. Later, the department store began to sell train models, and train fans were a treasure. But Su Zhaoxu, a poor child, can only stand in front of the window of a department store drooling or watch the children of rich families show off with picture books.

Unwilling to be absent like this, in an era when there was no photocopier and could not afford a camera, Su Zhaoxu wanted to own the contents of those books, so he had to borrow them from the library and copy them word by word. As for the model, it is made of thick cardboard and popsicle sticks. Su Zhaoxu said emotionally that if his family had been well-off, he might not be what he is today. "at that time, I had to hand-copy, hand-draw, and hand-work, but accumulated a great deal of creative energy." Later, when he published books, drew pictures, and opened model museums, Su Zhaoxu's various artistic skills all originated from the expediency of those years and the self-cultivation of poor families.

The models made by Su Zhaoxu, including trains, stations, platforms and railways are all lifelike. (photography / Yang Yuyun) from "Biography of Taiwan Railway" to "Building a Railway World Outlook"

Relying on a lot of reading, inch by inch railway, inch by inch woven into the map of Su Zhaoxu's brain. Train fans and railway enthusiasts who have been trapped in Chiayi in their youth, once they leave their hometown, immediately take a step and witness the map in their heads with their feet. Since his freshman year, Su Zhaoxu has accumulated travel expenses through work and study. After four years of university, two years of master's degree, and two years of military service, he spent eight years with footsteps as a needle and figure as a thread, stitching himself on the railway tracks all over Taiwan, listening to the rumble of the train and identifying the history of each kind of car body. great gains are accompanied by great satisfaction.

In 1993, Su Zhaoxu went abroad for the first time. He applied for a short-term overseas trip to Tokyo by the China Productivity Center, which he said was an "eye-opener". After that, he began to set his eyes on railways all over the world, chasing trains and railways almost every year, as far north as Norway and south as New Zealand, and even climbed Mount Qomolangma base camp when surveying the Laj Railway (Lhasa to Xigaze). He walked, he took notes, he drew, he photographed, he looked far away, and was alone close to the behemoths that crossed the mountains, circulated supply and demand, loaded and cluttered, and those tracks that gave rise to many stories from construction to operation. I am glad that my life is not desolate because of these experiences.

Write a book and build a museum to benefit more students

Because Ruan Zhaoxu was cash-strapped, Su Zhaoxu inevitably slept in the open and tasted hardships when he inspected the railway. when he got home, he took a solo picture under the lamp, and he tirelessly wrote a book. For example, he is not enough for the rest of his life, or "chasing after soldiers." since the publication of his first book, "Taiwan Railway nostalgic Journey," in 1998, he has been handing over painstaking works at an astonishing rate of two books a year. Today, he has published 48 special books on railways, making him the expert and scholar with the largest number of professional works in the field of traditional Chinese railways in the world, and has been recommended many times as "good books for everyone to read" and affirmed by two Jinding awards.