Walking Through the Stories of Old Taipei City— Architecture, History, Culture, Medicine, Education and Religion under the Qing and Japanese Rule

By Intern Tina Hsu徐瑩婷

Route: Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall→East Gate of Taipei Walled City→Taipei Guest House→President's Office→National Taiwan University Hospital→228 Memorial Park→National Taiwan Museum→Land Bank→Chenghuang temple

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon as we followed our experienced tour guide, Ho, Liang Cheng for a little walk in Zhongzheng District of Taipei. Dr. Ho used to be a dentist at the NTU Hospital. Before retiring, he would use his leisure time to participate in touring events, study historical sites and documents, practice English and Japanese, and volunteer in doing tour. He has even written several books on Taiwan’s historical sites, which he holds dearly and hopes to share it with more people. Now that he has retired, he devoted himself to share the passion he has for Taiwan’s history and architecture-especially monuments and temples. Wandering through the old Taipei buildings with Dr. Ho’s incisive explanation, it sure feels like taking a time machine back to the Qing Dynasty and Japanese-ruled Period.

Our first stop was The National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (aka CKS Memorial Hall), it is a Taiwanese national monument which is erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of Taiwan. Dr. Ho mentioned that the golden roofs for the National Theater and National Concert Hall represented Chiang Kai-shek’s glory, and the blue roof, white walls and the red “ru yi” pattern of Chinese blanket of the monument in the Memorial Hall Square stands for the spirit of Blue Sky, White Sun and Red Ground (freedom, equality and universal fraternity). Interestingly, the 89 stairs that lead to the entry of the hall, represents Chiang Kai-shek lived for 89 years, and was in praise of his longevity.

CKS Memorial Hall’s National Theater.

Dr. Ho explaining the hidden symbols in the buildings.

Then we passed the East Gate of Taipei Walled City and the Presidential Office Building. There were five gates built to protect Taipei in the Qing dynasty, as Taipei gradually prospered and became important. The Bao-Cheng Gate (at the west) was taken down in the 1990 era, while the Jing-Fu Gate (at the east), Li-Zheng Gate (at the north) and Chong-Xi Gate(built for an auxiliary southern entrance) was reconstructed during 1966. Although the styles of building may differ from their original appearance, but the remaining four gates stand firmly and proudly today, telling the story of Taipei’s glorious past.

The Presiesdential Office Building was formerly the Office of the Governor-General during the Japanese colonial period, and has thus played a significant role as the center of political power for close to a century. The 130 meter-wide facade faces east down multi-lane Ketagalan Boulevard reflects the concerns of its Japanese architects, who often oriented important structures toward the rising sun at the head of long avenues. The 60-meter tower at the center of the building was the tallest structure in the Taipei Basin during Japanese rule. Nowadays, the Presidential Office Building still stands as one of the most important buildings in Taipei, forever keeping its solemnity.

We headed toward the Medical Humanities Building and the Nation Taiwan University Hospital. The Medical Humanities Building is a 2-story building, with its roof built in Mansard-style and its façade mainly of baroque style with Greek columns. It was once the administrative center of the college of medicine, and where department of public health and dental school located, (Dr. Ho used to study here!). Nowadays it has transformed into a museum, which locals could stop by and visit the temporary and permanent exhibitions freely-maybe also enjoy a cup of delicate coffee and some tasty waffles from the café inside!

Dr. Ho explaining Taiwanese medical education system during the Japanese rule inside the Medical Humanities Building.

National Taiwan University Hospital has always been the most prestigious hospital of Taiwan, which also foster groups of outstanding young doctors each year.

We stopped to look closely at the beauty in the architecture of National Taiwan University Hospital.

National Taiwan University Hospital has always been the most prestigious hospital of Taiwan, which also foster groups of outstanding young doctors each year.

After visiting the two building and being indoors to shelter away from the rain a little bit, we followed Dr. Ho and headed to the 228 Peace Memorial Park. 228 Peace Memorial Park is a historic site and municipal park. This park is reconstructed from the “Taipei Park” built in 1908, in memorial to the victims of the 228 Incident in 1947. Dr. Ho led us to the Taipei 228 Memorial that stands at the center of the park, and we walked to the middle and prayed for the loss of the victims and their family. Dr. Ho then showed us the former radio station, which protestors used to broadcast accusations against the Kuomintang government, subsequently resulting in chains of events, and ushered in Taiwan's period of White Terror. Dr. Ho didn’t let us dwell in the heavy past for too long—as he led us to the National Taiwan Museum at one end of the park and the Land Bank of Taiwan, to explain the architecture styles it features in—yet he did remind that the rights of Taiwanese people nowadays don’t come easy, a lot of former people struggle and fought for our liberty.

228 Peace Memorial Park 

We followed Dr. Ho to the Taipei 228 Memorial to pray for the victims and their families.

The former broadcast speaker.

After a few blocks, we arrived at Taiwan province Chenghuang Temple and the Astoria café across from it. There are several gods in the temple, but the main god is the City God (aka Chenghuang), traditionally, he cooperates with the mayor, who is mainly in charge to look after the people. As we went around the temple, incense and murmurs of prayers swirl up the roof, creating a peaceful atmosphere. Dr. Ho ended the tour at the spot and wished us all a nice day and vacation.

Red lanterns representing good luck in the Chenghuang Temple.

Dr. Ho’s tour always have a broad perspective, along the way we could hear stories or explanations of these ancient buildings from a architectural, historical, cultural, medical, educational and religious point of view—it is through these pieces of stories we put together Taiwan’s complicated past. After the tour, we are also overwhelmed by how the buildings stand strong against the erosion of time, now becoming the witness of the rise of Taipei, which countless formers devoted themselves to the construction of the city’s economics and culture.