Are there any people from Central Taiwan that have a had a significant historical and cultural impact on the country as a whole? If so, are there any museums dedicated to these individuals?
It is part of an assignment with my university. My stateside counterparts will be visiting the Joshua Chamberlain museum in central Maine, and I am supposed to find a Taiwanese equivalent. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
The Righteous Thief Liao was born in Taichung. He was a widely known folk hero, kind of the Jesse James of Taiwan, during the Japanese Period. Although he was born and raised in Taichung his major escapades were up in the greater Taipei area and he was finally gunned down in Taipei. His tomb/memorial is right across the river from Tamshuai, I think the town is called BaLi.
take care,
Brian
[quote=“brianlkennedy”]The Righteous Thief Liao was born in Taichung. He was a widely known folk hero, kind of the Jesse James of Taiwan, during the Japanese Period. Although he was born and raised in Taichung his major escapades were up in the greater Taipei area and he was finally gunned down in Taipei. His tomb/memorial is right across the river from Tamshuai, I think the town is called BaLi.
take care,
Brian[/quote]
Thanks, that sounds interesting. Is there much to see at the tomb?
Lin Xiantang 林獻堂 (1881-1956) was a prominent right wing opponent of Japanese rule in Taiwan. He was the head of the Lin family of Wufeng (not to be confused with the Lin family of Banqiao). The family had an important camphor business in the 19th century, owned vast tracts of land in Taichung, and went into banking and insurance in the 20th century (Changhwa Bank, Mingtai Insurance). Lin founded the Taiwan Culture Association in the early 1920s but split from the left wing controlled anti-Japanese movement led by Jiang Wei-shui. Lin was elected to the first Taiwan Provincial Assembly in 1946 but after 228 lived in Japan in self-imposed exile after falling out of favor with the KMT (despite the Lin family’s long-standing ties with the Chinese nationalist movement both in Taiwan and China). He has a tomb and a famous garden (萊園) in Wufeng. He also founded the First Taichung High School.
The Koo family is from Lukang and continues to play a very important role in Taiwanese business (Chinatrust Bank) and politics (Koo Chen-fu , diplomat to China, Koo Kuan-min, prominent independence activist). The Lukang Folk Arts Museum is their ancestral home…
These two families would be a good place to start–and because of their wealth they have left a lof of stuff around.
[double post]
Thanks Feiren, both of those sound promising, the tomb/garden of Lin Xiantang especially. It’s nice to know there are options near Taichung; I was afraid I’d have to make a trip to Taipei!
I just returned from Lin Xiantang tomb/garden in Wufong: It was closed! They seem to be renovating the place in order to gear it up for mass tourism. The old man I spoke to said it would be closed for at least another six months. Too bad, because it really looked like an interesting place.
I guess next weekend I’ll have to check out the Lukang Folk Arts Museum instead.