History

Wu Zhuo-Liu Memorial Home (吳濁流故居)

August 19, 2017 in Photo Post, Hakka, Travel, Hsinchu

The historic residence of one of Taiwan’s leading modern literary figures, Wu Zhuo-Liu (吳濁流) recently opened to the public after the Hsinchu government both restored and renovated the traditional Hakka-style home into a memorial museum for the iconic author.

The house which is located in Hsinchu’s Hsinpu township (新埔鎮) offers visitors a glimpse into the life of the man who authored several influential novels and helped to shape the notion of a distinct identity for the people of Formosa that wasn’t “Chinese” or “Japanese” but solely Taiwanese.

Before we start, I'm going to be honest - I had no idea that this house was the home of someone as historically significant as Wu Zhuo-Liu nor did I even know who he was - I just passed by and saw the words "Memorial Hall" (紀念堂) next to a beautiful old home and decided to check it out.

Later, when I started to do research for this blog however I quickly found out that I was walking around the home of a giant of modern Taiwanese history and a person who I was absolutely sure that I would like.

Mr. Wu was not only an advocate of a separate Taiwanese identity but described for the world the history and harsh reality that the people of Taiwan have had to face for the past several centuries.

After learning a bit about the man and his life, I knew that his books had to be added to my collection and I went out right away and bought an English version of his "Orphan of Asia" (currently reading) and a Chinese version of "Fig Tree" (無花果).

I'm only halfway through the first book, but I can tell you that I'm extremely happy that in my ignorance I happened upon this Memorial Home as it helped me learn more about the struggle the Taiwanese people have endured for hundreds of years up until today.

Wu Zhuo-Liu (吳濁流)

Wu Zhuo-Liu (吳濁流) was born as Wu Jintian (吳建田) in 1900 just a few short years after the Japanese Colonial Era began. Mr. Wu, a Hakka from Hsinchu’s Hsinpu Village grew up in Japanese occupied Taiwan and despite hailing from a family of farmers, received a formal education in the Japanese Education system.

As an educated man Wu spent much of the first part of his life teaching in the Primary School system. At the age of 41 he quit his highly respected job as a teacher and took a job as a reporter in China where he spent fifteen months in Nanjing (At that time the capital of China) writing about the war that had enveloped the nation.

When Wu returned to Taiwan in 1943 he continued working as a journalist and also started to write novels and short stories based on his, and the experiences of his fellow Taiwanese people. In 1945 he penned what would become his most famous work titled the “Orphan of Asia” (亞細亞的孤兒) which highlighted the ambiguity felt in the hearts of Taiwanese as to their conflicting sense of identity and is a book that even today people can still relate to.

In 1968, Wu published his memoirs, an autobiographical look at life during the Japanese Colonial Era and then the Republic of China era. The book continued with the themes of his growing political conscious and search for identity. Both realistic and politically charged, its description of the events of the 228 Massacre and the repressive nature of the Chinese Nationalists who controlled Taiwan with an iron fist were enough to earn it a swift ban by the authorities due to the fact that discussing such things was taboo at the time.

Unfortunately Wu died in 1976 and at the age of 76 and was ultimately unable to see the lifting of Martial Law or the end of the repressive White Terror period which he had endured for much of his life. His contribution and his courage however are widely respected today in Taiwan and his books are a constant reminder of the tension the Taiwanese people have had to endure over the last century with regard to who they really are.

History and Design

Thanks to the efforts of the Hsinchu City Bureau of Cultural Affairs (新竹市文化局), the Wu Zhuo-Liu Memorial House (吳濁流故居) recently re-opened to the public after several years of renovation and restoration.

This memorial house is but one of the historic homes of Hsinpu village that has been restored (or is in the process of being restored) and opened to the public over recent years. Hsinpu Village has become an extremely important place for the Hakka people of Taiwan thanks to its wealth of cultural history and more importantly due to the fact that Yimin Temple (義民廟), the Mecca for the Hakka people is situated within the village.

In conjunction with the Hsinchu City Bureau of Cultural Affairs and the Hakka Affairs Council (客家委員會) the village has been revitalized in recent years and the promotion of Hakka culture, cuisine and history has made it as important location for the people of Taiwan to travel to learn about the nations history.

Hsinpu has several historic ancestral homes that are quite similar to the Wu Zhuo-Liu Memorial House and if you’re interested in Taiwanese history, Hakka history or viewing the beautiful Hakka architecture of the past, a day-trip to Hsinpu will not only allow you to view some of these historic homes but also allow you to enjoy some amazing Hakka culture and cuisine at the same time.

Some of the other historic houses in the village include:

*There isn't a lot of information available in English about these beautiful ancestral homes, but I'll be making a post about them in the coming weeks to explain them in a little more detail.

The Wu Zhuo-Liu Memorial House (like most of the houses listed above) is a traditional style Hakka “sanheyuan” (三合院) courtyard style home that is most identifiable by it’s “U” shaped design. The house was constructed sometime around 1840 and was the home where Wu Zhuo-Liu grew up and also where the rest of his family has lived and farmed up until recently.

Sanheyuan-style homes were very common in Taiwan before the Japanese Colonial Era and are often still quite prevalent throughout the countrysides of Taiwan. The problem for these older buildings is that the majority of them have become dilapidated over the years and in most cases have been abandoned or are being demolished in favour of a more modern style home. Preserving them can often be a bit difficult due to the humidity of Taiwan and the amount of earthquakes that rock the island.

Link: Hsinpu Ancestral Shrine (Already demolished)

The two longer wings of a sanheyuan are known as the “Hu-Long” or the “protecting dragons” (護龍) and is where you would find the bedrooms, living rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, etc. The main section of the building that connects to the two wings is sometimes translated into English as the “Inner Protector” (內籠) but is also what I usually refer to as the “Ancestral Hall” (室德堂) in these Hakka-style homes. In truth it is a bit difficult to literally translate what “室德堂” means into English but in simple terms it is the central part of the home where you’d find not only the main entrance to the house but also the ancestral shrine which meets you at the front door.

While these courtyard-style homes are prevalent throughout Taiwan and not unique to Hakka culture, one of the things that differentiates a Hakka home from some of the others is the ornate decorations on the roof and exterior walls. If you visit this home (or any of the others in Hsinpu), be sure to pay attention to the beautiful ceramic designs on the roof and the awnings which have been beautifully re-coloured and restored during the restoration process.

Link: Synapticism - A Traditional Home in Dacun 大村三合院

Link: Synapticism - Sanheyuan homes in Taiwan

Now that the home is open to the public, the rooms have been emptied and displays have been set up which not only introduce the life of Wu Zhuo-Liu and his family but also the function of each room. There are displays in the kitchens that help teach the people of today as to how people in 1840s Taiwan lived. The displays and exhibits set up within the house are non-intrusive and allow people to learn about the home in a way that doesn’t involve too much modern technology.

If you visit you should also make sure to tour the surrounding grounds of the building and check out the historic trail nearby where you’ll find a nice little lake as well as beautiful Taiwanese cypress trees and also a bit of nostalgia for an old Canadian like myself - Maple trees!

Getting there

Getting to the Wu Zhuo-Liu Memorial Home can be a bit difficult if you don’t have your own means of transportation. Unlike some of the other homes I mentioned above, this one is not situated within the downtown area of Hsinpu village. The home is on the road that connects Hsinpu Village (新埔) in Hsinchu County with Longtan Village (龍潭) in Taoyuan.

There is a bus that connects both villages but it only runs three times each day and you’re likely to get stuck waiting by a rice paddy for a few hours if you choose this option.

If you absolutely have to rely on public transportation I would recommend taking a train or bus to Jhudong (竹東) and from there transferring to a bus that takes you into the downtown area of Hsinpu village and then hiring a taxi.

There are quite a few cool things that you can see while walking around the downtown core of Hsinpu, so I recommend a stop by the historic town to check out some of the historic mansions, temples and of course to eat some Hakka flat noodles (客家粄條).

Address: #10, Jupu Village. Hsinpu Township, Hsinchu (新竹縣新埔鎮巨埔里五鄰大茅埔10號)

The recent renovation and restoration of the iconic author’s family home is not only an attractive destination for lovers of Taiwanese literature, but also those who respect the contribution Mr. Wu made to help promote the idea of Taiwanese identity to the world.

The subjects of his books dealt with topics that were quite sensitive when they came out but stand up to the test of time and still help the Taiwanese of today understand their history and why they should be proud to be Taiwanese.

The house is beautiful and walking around a traditional home like this can also teach people what life was like in Taiwan before all these modern high rise buildings were constructed. If you are in the area, I recommend a visit and think that a walk around the property can be a great learning experience.

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

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Disappearing History - Taichung Park

June 04, 2017 in Rant, Photo Post, Japanese Colonial Era, Taichung

Taichung Park (台中公園) is a 10 acre park situated within the downtown core of Taiwan's central Taichung city. The park is the oldest in the city with a century year history dating back to the early stages of the Japanese Colonial Era.

The expansive park is an important recreational area for the people of Taichung which features several important pieces of Taichung's history mixed in with the jungle gyms, basketball courts and a lake for kayaking and canoeing.

Originally known as Nakanoshima kōen (中之島公園) the park was constructed in 1908 and has been listed by the Taichung City Government as a protected historical site owing to the various historical monuments on site.

My first post about the park focused on its most famous landmark, the beautiful century-old Mid-Lake Pavilion (湖心亭). The park however has a few other historical landmarks which (for the most part) date back to the Qing Dynasty.

With this post, my purpose won't be to focus on history of each of the historical monuments found within the park (although I will provide a few photos of them) but instead focus more on something that really irritated me and something that has actually been bothering me for a while.

Let me start with a bit of a backstory - A few weeks ago an article surfaced from the Japan Times with the title: "Taiwan: Where Japanese go to feel at home on vacation" which romanticized the Japanese Colonial Era and the cultural and historical relationship that the people of Taiwan share with Japan.

The article had good intentions but ultimately caused a bit of an 'uproar' in the expat community here in Taiwan with people commenting on some of the historical errors and colonial mindset within. Personally, I thought that despite a few factual errors, the article more or less made its point that the people of Japan hold a high level of respect for Taiwan.

This country is a popular choice for Japanese who want to get away, but also a safe place where they will be treated with kindness and respect - which the article admits can often be a bit difficult due to the historical pain the Japanese inflicted throughout Asia during the Second World War.

Wang-Yue Pavilion (望月亭) from the Qing Dynasty.

The feeling appears to be quite mutual for the people of Taiwan who choose Japan as one of their most popular tourist destinations.

That being said, there is no denying that terrible atrocities were committed against the Taiwanese people during the colonial era. These "incidents" as they have become known are well-documented - especially those against the Indigenous people of this island where there are gruesome photos that show some of the terror inflicted upon the people of this land.

On the other hand, the Japanese helped to develop Taiwan with modern infrastructure, education and healthcare - In the short fifty years that the Japanese controlled Taiwan the island experienced tremendous growth in its development. Its safe to say that without the infrastructure left by the Japanese that the Economic Miracle (臺灣奇蹟) and rapid industrialization that made Taiwan one of the Asian Tigers (亞洲四小龍) would never have happened.

How does this all relate to Taichung Park?

When the Second World War ended and Japan surrendered to the allies, the legal status of Taiwan came into question. The result was an ambiguous decision to allow the Republic of China to assume control over the island despite the political situation being both disputed and unresolved according to international law.

The Chinese Nationalists under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek (at the time) were in the midst of a brutal civil war with the Chinese Communist Party and when the situation took a turn for the worst, they retreated to Taiwan with a few million refugees setting up shop here with the ultimate goal of regrouping and 're-taking' the mainland to restore democracy in China.

That never happened.

The Second World War caused a lot of resentment for the Japanese and the Chinese refugees who escaped to Taiwan had a hard time understanding why the people of Formosa didn't particularly share the same opinion of the Japanese.

Due to that bitterness (and in an attempt to convert the people of Taiwan into "Chinese" citizens), the KMT enforced a strict Mandarin-only policy while tearing down or repurposing buildings of Japanese cultural or religious significance.

The deliberate destruction of these buildings was a point of contention in one of the arguments I had with the article I shared above. It was suggested that the Chinese Nationalists didn't actually destroy everything that the Japanese built which was partially true - The new (colonial) regime only destroyed what they couldn't use for themselves.

Once well-established on Taiwan however things changed and those buildings which were relics of the Japanese Colonial Era started to disappear. I took some time to search information from the Ministry of the Interior which in the 1970s approved an initiative to "clean up" (destroy) any of the remaining buildings of Japanese cultural influence. I'm including the text of that announcement at the bottom of the post for reference (I won't bother translating).

The idea was that if the buildings couldn't be repurposed in a way to either solve the housing crisis or serve a new role, they were destroyed. Of the over 200 Shinto Shrines in Taiwan during the colonial era, only a handful remain today. The same goes for the Martial Arts Halls - There were once over seventy of them around the country with only a dozen remaining in existence today.

In recent years some of Taiwan's local governments have made an effort to rectify the mistakes of the past and have classified some of the surviving buildings as historical properties and have given them protected status. Sadly though the damage has already been done and many of Taiwan's historic buildings of Japanese origin were torn down or desecrated to fit a certain political narrative.

This leads me to my point

My visit to the Taichung Park was solely to walk around with friends and take some photos of the Mid-Lake Pavilion. I honestly had no idea about any of the other historical aspects of the park although I had heard from my friend Alexander that there was a really cool pavilion from the Qing dynasty that I should check out.

While walking around the park however I noticed something that seemed out of place - There was a walkway that was lined with stone pillars, something that once would have had lanterns. There was also a set of stairs that led up to two bronze horses and a statue in the distance.

From what I've learned over the past few months with regard to the design of Shinto shrines it amazed me that I was walking around a former Shinto shrine. I've done extensive research about the remaining shrines in Taiwan and if there were to be one in the Taichung Park, it most certainly would have come up.

I knelt down to look at the stone pillars which had some 'fading' Chinese characters on them but looked like they were purposely vandalized with the words scratched out. I rubbed my fingers along the indents and the word read: "昭和..年" which refers to the specific year of Emperor Hirohito's reign that the Shrine was completed.

I continued walking up the path and walked up a set of stairs which led me to two opposing Bronze Horses (銅馬), yet another piece of evidence that a Shinto shrine once existed in this space. The horses were actually in great shape, but yet again, something wasn't right. The Chrysanthemum seal, the symbol of the Japanese royal family was purposely scratched out on the torso of both of the horses.

This behaviour is something that I've unfortunately had to become accustomed to in my search for Japanese-Era buildings - Some people have gone out of their way to destroy the memories of Taiwan's history and most recently we have seen random acts of vandalism by Pro-China Unification crazies like Lee Cheng-Long (李承龍), who have beheaded statues of Japanese engineers and destroyed century old statues to satisfy his hateful existence and political narrative.

The vandalism of both the horses and the lanterns was yet another example of this attempt to erase history.

The shrine area itself was honestly quite beautiful - It was tree-covered, quiet and peaceful and yet nobody paid any attention to it. While the park was full of people and the other historic relics within had plaques and educational resources set up, the shrine sat alone in a corner and I might have been the only person to notice it.

When I got home I started searching for information right away and quickly found out that the park was once the home of a beautiful Shinto shrine that was named Taichū Jinjya (たいちゅうじんじゃ) or the Taichung Shinto Shrine (台中神社) and like the Tongxiao Shinto Shrine was dedicated in part to Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (閑院宮載仁親王), who died in Taiwan and was elevated to god-like status after his death.

What I do know about the shrine is that it was opened in 1911, a few short years after the Mid-Lake Pavilion and was one of three Shinto Shrines in the city - with the other two being currently being replaced by the Taichung Confucius Temple (台中孔廟) and the Taichung Martyr's Shrine (臺中縣忠烈祠). The shrine ultimately became victim of the same shortsighted nationalistic government policies that destroyed not only aspects of Taiwan's Japanese colonial history but also that of Taiwan's Indigenous cultures and languages in an attempt to erase history and brainwash the people of Taiwan.

While I realize that the reality of the situation is quite precarious and there are negative feelings directed towards Taiwan's former colonial masters, the wonton destruction of Taiwan's history and in some cases parts of its cultural heritage to placate certain political narratives is truly sad. There is history painted all over the streets of this country but it is slowly disappearing due to lack of preservation, governmental policies (like the one below) and modernization.

The history of colonialism is a touchy subject in many places all over the world and yes, it continues to be one here in Taiwan today but the most important thing we can do is to learn from the past and hope that these kind of things won't happen again.

This is the government announcement in 1974 which listed the buildings or sites of Japanese origin that would be dealt with:

清除臺灣日據時期表現帝國主義優越感之殖民統治紀念遺跡要點

內政部於民國63年公布了〈清除臺灣日據時期表現帝國主義優越感之殖民統治紀念遺跡要點〉，臺灣各地的神社，遭到政府與民眾大規模的拆除，僅有極少數被保留下來，使得這些見證日治時期歷史的文化遺產，幾乎消失殆盡，現在的我們只能從極少數倖免於難的神社遺跡中，認識當年的時空環境。

有關本條文內容摘錄如下：

1.日本神社，應即徹底拆除。

2.日據時代遺留具有表示日本帝國主義優越感之紀念碑、石等構造物應予徹底清除。

3.日據時代遺留之工程紀念碑未有表示日本帝國主義優越感，無損我國尊嚴，縣市政府認為有保存價值，應憑據有關資料圖片，分別專案報經上級省、市政府核定，暫免拆除，惟將來傾頹時，不再予以重建，其碑石移存當地文獻機構處理。

4.民間寺廟或其他公共建築內，日據時代遺留之日式構造物，如日式石燈等應勸導予以拆除或改裝。

5.日據時代建造之橋樑，經嵌立碑石仍留存日本年號者，應一律改換中華民國年號。

6.日據時代遺留之寺廟捐贈石碑或匾額，以及日據時代營葬之墳墓碑刻等單純使用日本年號者，暫准維持現狀。

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March 04, 2017 in Photo Post, Urban Exploration, Japanese Colonial Era, Hsinchu

Hsinchu is known around the world for its high-tech industrial park that attracts engineers from all over the world who not only come to work but to see the latest advances in technology as well. The modern history of the Hsinchu area however predates the Science Park by a few centuries and the city we see today is one of the oldest in the country with a long and storied history.

The first settlers in Hsinchu were Taiwan's indigenous people are thought to have inhabited the area for thousands of years. The Taokas (道卡斯族) settled in the coastal plains while the Atayal (泰雅族) and the Saisiyat (賽夏族) made their homes in the mountainous areas to the east.

In 1626, the Spanish established a colony in northern Taiwan and sent missionaries to the area which they named "Teckcham" (竹塹) in order to spread Christianity to the local people. Twenty years later however the Spanish were driven out by the Dutch who met the same fate twenty years later when they were defeated by Koxinga's (鄭成功) army of pirates.

Han immigration to the area started shortly thereafter with the Hakka (客家) and Hoklo (閩南) peoples immigrating from Fujian province (福建) across the Taiwan strait to set up a new life on the island. The rulers of the Qing dynasty however had little interest in the island and over the next few centuries they did very little to develop its infrastructure.

When the Qing were forced to cede Taiwan to the Japanese at the end of the first Sino-Japanese war in 1895, the Japanese Empire wasted no time and started to develop the island into what they hoped would be a "model colony."

The administrative capital of the island was relocated to Hsinchu and the city was given a major facelift which saw the demolition of traditional buildings and the famous bamboo wall that surrounded the city. The plan was to make way for modern development with new infrastructure and a railway that would stretch the entire length of the island.

While Hsinchu city became an important political centre for the colonial government, the mountainous portion to the east became a hot-spot for both the mining and logging industries both of which helped to fuel the economic development of Taiwan and allowed the government to fund major infrastructure projects.

The quiet town of Jhudong (Pinyin: Zhudong - 竹東) which neighbours the city and today acts as one of its suburbs was set up by the Japanese as one of the three special economic areas in Taiwan known as a "Timber Industry Village" (林業重鎮) which saw valuable timber transported from the mountains and processed in the town to be later sent to other parts of the country.

In 1940, the "Jhudong Pine Wood Wholesaler and Exporter Company" (竹東鎮雞林里) was established by an influential Japanese businessmen named Kichizo Hirato (平戶吉藏) who brought with him modern technology and methods that allowed for safer and more efficient production.

In order to oversee the modernization efforts of the business and its operations, Japanese consultants and managers were sent to the area to improve all aspects of the business which included the transportation of the timber from the mountainous areas, the construction of a large-scale plant, timber mills, timber ponds, etc.

For more information on the process of how timber was transported into Jhudong and then exported to other parts of Taiwan check out the neighbouring Timber Industry Exhibition Hall across the street from the village.

A small village of was built near (what is today) the Jhudong Train Station (竹東車站) and the timber mills to give the Japanese managers and engineers who would come to the area with their families to work a comfortable life. The houses in the small village were fittingly all made of wood and in Japanese architectural design.

Cats are the primary occupants of the dorms these days.

When the Japanese Colonial Era ended and the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, the business of processing timber became a state-controlled enterprise that benefitted from the modern infrastructure put in place by the Japanese.

With the small village of houses vacated, the government, which was faced with a major housing shortage allowed the people who would be taking over operation of the mills to move in. The government named the village "East Forest New Village" (東林新村) which had a similar name to many of the other military villages (眷村) which were being constructed around the island at the same time.

Today there are around twenty-four houses remaining in the small village of which less than half are currently still inhabited. The uninhabited buildings have fallen into a state of repair and have been fenced off for their protection. The buildings which are almost eighty years of age have stood the test of time, but earthquakes, typhoons and lack of maintenance mean that they need a lot of work in order to be fully restored to their original glory.

Luckily there are active preservation initiatives brought on by non-governmental organizations which have lobbied the local and national governments to help preserve and restore this small village citing its historical importance. The "Protect the Jhudong Timber Dorms" (守護竹東林場宿舍保存行動) is one of those very active groups and from some of the news I've seen them post on Facebook it seems like the government is taking the restoration of this small village seriously.

The news has reported that the Hsinchu county government is in the planning stages of renewing the village and has hired a Japanese architect to oversee the project making the renewal of the village one that is authentic and will allow for these buildings to live on.

I wanted to see these buildings in their original state and even though the houses are in bad shape and have been overrun by a gang of stray cats, it is still a great opportunity to walk through a historic neighbourhood like this.

If you find yourself in Jhudong, take the short walk from the train station to check out not only the Timber Industry Exhibition Hall but also this small village which you are free to walk through at your leisure.

I hope that in the near future I'll be able to return to the village and see the new life given to them thanks to the efforts of the government as well as the people who have fought to protect them for so many years.