Hidden in the bustling streets of Shilin District in Taipei City lies an elementary school established in the Ching Dynasty. Founded in 1895 by the Japanese after their victory in the first Sino-Japanese War, at the conclusion of which the Chinese ceded control of Taiwan and Penghu to Japan, Taipei Municipal Shilin Elementary School (TMSES) is Taiwan’s first and oldest public elementary school.
“The school was established as part of the Kominka Movement, whose goal was to turn Taiwanese into loyal subjects of the Japanese emperor,” according to Peng Hsin-wei, current principal of TMSES. “The movement was not entirely successful, as several rebellions took place at our school that resulted in the deaths of six Japanese teachers.”
The casualties did not affect the determination of the Japanese to educate the people of Taiwan. But they were faced with a formidable task.
Most children who received schooling at all during that era attended private schools which taught the standard Confucian texts known as the Four Books and the Five Classics. Few Taiwanese had any interest in going to schools set up by the Japanese, a disinclination that was all the stronger because few people wanted to be assimilated by their occupiers.
In such an atmosphere, the Japanese school had no choice but to accept students of all ages and from all walks of life. “It is really interesting to look at old photos and see how graduates in the early years were composed of old men, young teenagers and women holding children,” Peng said.
Some subjects offered back then are similar to those offered now—language, mathematics, science, geography and music. Other courses, however, have long since fallen off the curriculum. Chief among these is farming, which instructed students at the lower levels how to grow tomatoes, and upperclassmen how to plant and harvest wheat. The crops would eventually be sold in local markets.
Having lived through the fall of the Ching Dynasty in 1911, the period of Japanese rule (1895-1945), and the Republic of China on Taiwan (1949-present), the school is a reflection of the changes in Taiwan over the last century or so.
“The establishment of TMSES symbolizes the transformation of Taiwan’s educational system, from one with private schools run by Confucian scholars, to public schools where students follow a well-planned course of study. The school played a very meaningful role in Taiwan’s modernization,” Peng pointed out.
One of the greatest features of TMSES is its Room of School History, in which documents, photos and objects from the Japanese colonial period are preserved.
Two items in the room are especially worth noting. One is the diploma of one of the earliest graduates of the school, obtained after negotiation with his descendants. The other is an 1896 painting of the Confucius Temple in Tokyo by Chu Asai, a Japanese painter known for promoting Western-style art in his homeland.
“The temple was destroyed in a fire triggered by the 1923 earthquake in Tokyo. As this painting is an important piece that fully records what the landmark structure looked like back then, Japan has offered to exchange either 40 classrooms or one activity center for the painting, but we turned down their proposal,” Peng said.
Since its establishment in 1895, the school has nurtured many outstanding alumni, including professor Tsao Yung-ho, artist Lai Wu-hsiung, poet Yang Yun-ping and numerous legislators.
The school currently has 62 classes and 1,600 students. One of the greatest challenges TMSES is faced with—one common to many other elementary schools in Taiwan—has been declining enrollment figures.
For TMSES, this has resulted in fewer classes and a cut in the number of teachers, according to Peng. “We used to have more than 5,000 students,” he lamented.
“Regardless of this challenge, education provided by TMSES is still widely supported and approved by parents, as evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of our students come from other school districts,” Peng pointed out.
Since taking up his post in August, according to Peng, he has often pondered the question of what his mission should be as head of the 115-year-old school, asking himself what is the connection between the past and the present, and how the faculty and students of the school should relate to its past.
“The conclusion I’ve come up with is we should inherit the past and create the future, finding a suitable path between the past and present, to make good use of the advantages passed on to us and to allow students to obtain the greatest development through participation.”
According to Peng, the school not only focuses on the intellectual development of students, but also on nurturing good habits, attitudes and healthy lifestyles, as well as cultivating character.
Thus the school carries out such activities as praising students with good manners in public and awarding classes that do a good job cleaning up restrooms for three weeks in a row.
In fact, TMSES is not the only school in Taiwan with such practices. Every elementary and secondary school in the nation requires its students to clean the school grounds during a certain period every day.
Asked to comment on his philosophy of education, Peng replied, “To me, education is a sacred profession that helps students achieve their goals in life. It is worth devoting one’s life to, because an educator can have such a deep and lasting effect on people, especially at the elementary school phase.”
Indeed, the benefits of good values, habits, skills and attitudes learned at this stage can last a lifetime.
The purpose of education, it has been said, is to form a complete human being. This is by no means an easy task, as illustrated by an old Chinese proverb, which says, “It takes 10 years to grow a tree; but developing a person takes a century.”
Such an important endeavor has been the mission of TMSES since its founding in 1895. Year after year for over a century now, it has educated the nation’s youngsters and helped prepare them for the challenges of adulthood. Now the torch has been passed to Peng and other teachers at the school. If TMSES can persist in its old traditions and spirit, the school is sure to nurture many more outstanding students in the years to come.
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw