The Song of Mountain, Forest and Sea

Taiwan is an island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of mainland China. For centuries, the island has had a diverse mix of cultures and languages . The indigenous tribes on the island are distinctive examples . Their languages are classified as Austronesian languages close to those of the inhabitants of today's Philippines, Indonesia or New Guinea and Polynesia. Taiwan has thus become the platform where you can see the influences brought by the migrants from Pacific and Indian Ocean islands. The literary tradition of the Taiwanese  is very rich, although they do not have their own writing system. The key to choose these three stories is the title of the book loosely hidden by the topics of the selected stories. It contains the natural elements that make up the world around us. In this book we find poetic stories about fire, water and the earth. They are stories full of known archetypes of humanity. We learn about the long journey to the end of the world and shooting down of the Sun, a story not unlike the well-known legend "Beauty and the Beast". We also find the well-known battle of the archetypes of good and evil in the story of the natives' victory over the monsters.

This wonderful book with three indigenous stories, which shows the world Taiwanese culture and legends through delicate but colorful illustrations, will not disappoint discerning readers of any age.