Indigo plants—a family of plants prized for their natural indigo—have been woven into the fabric of Hakka life for centuries. The natural indigo these plants yield gave the craft its soul. Introduced to Taiwan during the period of Qing rule, indigo dyeing once flourished across Miaoli County, Nanzhuang Township, and Beipu Township (Hsinchu County), serving as an essential skill for Hakka women in clothing production and family income. Industrialization and the rise of synthetic dyes eventually pushed the ancient craft into obscurity. Today, Zhuo Ye Cottage in Sanyi Township, Miaoli, is breathing new life into this tradition—transforming indigo from a source of color for cloth into an ingredient for creative cooking.

Zhuo Ye Cottage CEO Wang Huiying has built the operation around a guiding principle: returning to the land. All dye production draws exclusively from indigo plants grown on the property. Traditional cultivation and dyeing are notoriously sensitive to weather, sunlight, and soil conditions—variables that make consistency difficult to achieve. Wang leads a team dedicated to reviving the indigo fields, working alongside academic partners to improve dye stability. She has also extended the plant's applications into skincare, developing an all-purpose balm using botanicals from the grounds. Through hands-on dyeing workshops and a line of clothing and textile products, Zhuo Ye invites visitors to experience the quiet beauty and warmth of natural indigo firsthand.

Indigo at the Table: Rooted in the Land

Zhuo Ye Cottage also offers a creative vegetarian menu built around locally sourced organic ingredients, with dishes that rotate with the seasons. Signature items include the Hakka Slider—a playful reinvention of the traditional tsháu-á-kué (mugwort rice cake)—alongside Pearl Vegetable Rolls filled with jicama and Hakka pickled mustard greens, Five-Spice Country-Style Bean Curd, and Pineapple Satay King Oyster Mushrooms. Most distinctive is the kitchen's use of natural indigo extract: a gradient-hued shokupan (Japanese milk bread) loaf, cheesecake, and ice cream, alongside colorful taro balls and tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), all tinted naturally with plant-based pigments.

Zhuo Ye has done more than revive a forgotten craft—it has restored a quiet confidence in local culture. Looking ahead, the retreat plans to introduce smart agriculture systems to improve the consistency of indigo cultivation and management, with the goal of building a complete ecosystem: from raw material to processing to finished product. From field to harvest to dining experience, Zhuo Ye Cottage has become something rare—a fully self-sustaining space where cultural practice and daily life are one.

☛　Zhuo Ye Cottage has been selected as one of the Ministry of Culture's inaugural 100 Culture Bases.