Tang Li-fang (唐麗芳), chairwoman of the Yunlin Storyteller’s Association, has promoted storytelling and reading since the early 2000s. She and other association volunteers previously used their homes as venues for activities in order to save on operating costs, but in late 2007, Tang found an ideal base for the group. That year, the Cultural Affairs Department of the Yunlin County Government in southern Taiwan invited the storytellers to manage the former residence of a township chief, a traditional Japanese-style home completed in 1929 during the Japanese colonial era (1895–1945). “We’re taking part in the revitalization of a historical building and also benefiting by finding a great home for our stories,” Tang says.
Such public-private partnerships are playing a leading role in the long-term preservation of Taiwan’s cultural heritage, which includes historical sites, as well as intangible resources such as local languages, traditional craftsmanship and religious beliefs.
Following the passage of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act in 1982, for example, some historical buildings underwent costly restorations only to sit idle and once more fall into decay, says Lin Hui-cheng (林會承), dean of the School of Culture Resources at Taipei National University of the Arts. But extensive revisions to the act in 2005 included support for private organizations to take over the management of designated sites, with the result that many structures are now assets rather than liabilities.
“It’s not realistic to expect the government alone to take care of cultural heritage sites, although it does need to play a major role, especially with regard to funding for maintenance or renovation,” says Tang, whose association relied on private fundraising and government financial assistance to transform the old Japanese-style home into the Yunlin Storyhouse. “It was a nice surprise, but it’s also a beautiful burden,” she says of the opportunity to use the space. “The structure itself has a lot of stories to tell, which coincides with what our association does. However, it requires a lot of effort to maintain the historical building and keep it intact.”
The effort is paying off, though, as visitor numbers to the story house rose from 22,000 in 2008 to 80,000 in 2012. Tang’s association now organizes an array of activities including painting, reading, storytelling, writing and arts and cultural performances, which are popular with locals as well as tourists.
Modern-Day Success
Similar successes include Taipei’s Red House, which was built in 1908 as Taiwan’s first public market, listed as a Class III historical site in 1997 and is now a thriving center for live performances and businesses in the cultural and creative industry. Likewise, the government has supported the restoration of a number of historical buildings in the outlying islands of Kinmen, Penghu and Matsu, and assisted in their conversion into guesthouses, which are becoming quite popular with visitors.
Sites protected under the cultural heritage act are chosen for their artistic, cultural, historical or scientific value, and span Taiwan’s prehistory, the Spanish and Dutch periods in the 17th century, Ming dynasty rule in Taiwan (1662–1683), Qing dynasty rule in Taiwan (1684–1895) and the Japanese colonial era.
Glove puppet performer Chen Xi-huang has been identified by the Ministry of Culture as a master of the art. (Photo Courtesy of Bureau of Cultural Heritage)
The three major categories of items in the act are “monuments,” “historical buildings” and artifacts. Currently there are about 780 monuments around Taiwan and roughly 1,100 each of historical buildings and artifacts. Monuments are a broad category of sites sub-divided according to whether they are overseen by the central, special municipality or local government. Among the 90 nationally designated monuments, for example, there are ancestral shrines, bridges, forts, government offices, residences, temples and train stations. Historical buildings are more loosely defined, and fall under the jurisdiction of special municipalities or local governments only. There are also nearly 40 cultural landscapes, 120 folk customs and 180 traditional arts under government protection.
Stanley Wang (王壽來), director-general of the Bureau of Cultural Heritage (BOCH) under the Ministry of Culture (MOC), says the good management and appropriate reuse of restored sites is vital to their maintenance, and thus, long-term protection. “In recent years we’ve been working closely with local governments and private sector partners on facilities management and maintenance to ensure the sustainable use of the country’s cultural assets. Private sector involvement is important given the immense vitality of such groups,” he says.
The BOCH also collaborates with universities on restoration projects, runs training workshops for historical and cultural workers, publishes good-practices guides and reviews the legal framework for cultural heritage preservation.
In 2012, the bureau announced an award scheme aimed at recognizing excellence in the management of state-owned cultural properties. Yunlin Storyhouse was among the seven winners chosen for the inaugural award this year. Wang says he hopes the prize will encourage greater participation by nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and volunteers in heritage conservation.
Other changes to the act in 2005 shifted sole responsibility for the management of the nation’s cultural heritage to the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs, today’s MOC, rather than splitting the job among several government ministries—a move that greatly improved efficiency, Lin says. The same round of revisions extended preservation efforts to intangible cultural assets such as language and religious beliefs, in line with current international practice. Wang lauds the move, saying the preservation of intangible heritage is just as important as saving physical structures.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines intangible cultural heritage as traditional social practices, rituals, festivals, performing arts, craftsmanship, knowledge, and oral traditions and expressions including language. Among the BOCH’s efforts to preserve intangible heritage, Wang says the bureau identifies important traditional arts and crafts, offers training courses led by senior practitioners in those fields and produces documentary films on related subjects.
For example, since 2009 the BOCH has organized more than 20 four-year projects for master craftsmen and senior performers in traditional arts to pass on their skills and expertise to younger generations. The bureau also teams up with local governments, schools and NGOs to host forums, lectures and workshops. In 2009, the agency helped set up the Association of Traditional Artisans, which now counts among its members more than 100 veteran artisans in a number of culturally significant crafts such as temple painting, stone and wood carving, traditional architecture and jian nian (literally “cut and paste”). In the latter craft, craftsmen first cut small porcelain pieces and then attach them to a stucco frame to create 3-D tiled figures. The association also organizes demonstrations and exhibitions of various crafts, as well as undertakes restoration projects.
The Amis Harvest Festival is the most important rite of the Amis tribe, Taiwan’s largest indigenous group. (Photo Courtesy of Bureau of Cultural Heritage)
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has taken action to preserve a number of local languages. Huang Yueh-li (黃月麗), deputy director of the MOE’s Department of Lifelong Education, says language preservation is critical to maintaining the diversity of Taiwan’s culture and has been one of the ministry’s major policies.
In 2001, the MOE began requiring elementary schools to provide a weekly 40-minute class in either Holo (Taiwanese), Hakka or one or more aboriginal languages. The ministry began subsidizing the cost of similar classes at high schools in 2006, with courses offered on an elective basis or as extracurricular activities.
Li Khin-huann (李勤岸), a professor in the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature at Taipei’s National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), says that the MOE should increase the number of hours allocated to teaching local languages in elementary schools given that childhood is the best period for a person to acquire language. The National Academy for Educational Research (NAER) is considering whether to recommend increasing the time allotted for local languages as it deliberates the new 12-year universal education system, which is slated for implementation in the 2014–2015 school year.
Qualified Language
Another important strategy that encourages local language learning is the development of a certification system, Huang says, as official certificates are a popular addition to the resumes of many job seekers. The MOE has organized the Holo proficiency test annually since 2010, while certification tests for Hakka and aboriginal languages are provided by the Cabinet-level Hakka Affairs Council (HAC) and Council of Indigenous Peoples (CIP), respectively.
Certification will also ensure the quality of local language instruction at elementary schools, Huang says, as the MOE will phase out employment of teachers lacking the relevant certificate. By 2017, only teachers certified in a local language will be allowed to teach such classes.
The MOE has formulated standard spelling and writing systems for Holo, Hakka and several indigenous languages, as well as collaborated with other government agencies, academic institutions and experts to compile a wide range of teaching materials including books and CDs. Several online classes have also been created to ensure language instruction is widely accessible.
In August this year, the CIP launched a website of aboriginal-language dictionaries, a plan that was first proposed by the MOE in 2005. Eventually the site will host 16 dictionaries of languages or dialects of Taiwan’s 14 officially recognized tribes along with Mandarin translations. The project is expected to be completed by June 2014.
Teaching materials in the languages of the Truku (left) and Amis (right) tribes are published by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan to promote the use of mother-tongue languages. (Photo Courtesy of Presbyterian Church in Taiwan)
Since 2006, the MOE has offered funding for a weekly “mother language day” for kindergarten to high school students, during which the target language is used throughout the day, in addition to language competitions and teacher training programs. There are also awards for NGOs and individuals who promote local languages via literary creations, language instruction and other educational activities.
One of the MOE award winners this year was the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) for its contribution to the promotion of local languages. The church established a multi-ethnic committee to promote the use of mother-tongue languages in 2000. Currently, the 15-member committee includes three Hakkas, four Taiwanese and one member each of the Amis, Bunun, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Seediq and Tsou tribes.
Sing ’Olam is an associate secretary-general of the PCT and a member of the Amis tribe. He says the church has been promoting local languages for years through Bible translations, classes, publications, seminars, Sunday gospel services and teacher training. The committee has published a variety of children’s books, dictionaries, CDs, poetry collections and teaching materials in Holo as well as the languages of the indigenous Amis, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Sakizaya and Truku peoples.
“It’s unlikely that lost languages can be revived. An ethnic group disappears when its language disappears. We’ve been promoting local languages with a great sense of crisis,” Sing ’Olam says. “Plus, learning each other’s language can reduce misunderstandings and help create a diverse, multicultural society, so it should be encouraged.”
The best way to preserve Taiwan’s local languages is through education, Sing ’Olam says. Instruction should be made available all the way from primary to university education, as well as at community colleges, he says. Both Sing ’Olam and Li suggest the government should set aside a fixed percentage of the national budget to ensure the continuation of language projects over the long-term.
Li says one positive sign is that more young people are interested in learning Holo as it has become “cool” to speak the dialect. The appeal is evidenced by the rising popularity of the Holo classes he has opened at NTNU. While the establishment of the CIP and the HAC has helped conserve the languages of the communities they represent, Li notes that there is no central agency dedicated to preserving Holo, although the ethnic group comprises more than 70 percent of the population.
As for the conservation of tangible cultural treasures, Lin says the reuse of heritage sites is really just beginning in Taiwan. Still, preservation work has already seen marked progress. Many universities now offer courses on cultural heritage alongside traditional fields like anthropology, archeology, architecture, history and geography. An increasing number of NGOs, individuals and universities, including Lin’s, are also joining in preservation efforts.
“Taiwan’s heritage preservation is finally on the right track and there is a general awareness that the active use of historical sites is what makes conservation significant,” Lin says. “In addition to the endeavors of central and local government agencies, academia, cultural enthusiasts and NGOs have made equal, if not greater, contributions to the nation’s cultural development.”
World Heritage Candidates
Taroko National Park in eastern Taiwan is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, and internationally known for its spectacular vistas of mountains and marble canyons. In southern Taiwan, the Alishan Forest Railway, which ascends Alishan (Mount Ali) in Chiayi County, is often touted as one of the world’s three great high-mountain railways, complete with unique Z-shaped switchbacks, 50 tunnels and more than 70 wooden bridges.
Meanwhile, the annual Amis Harvest Festival is the most important rite of the Amis tribe, Taiwan’s largest indigenous group. The cultural identification of the tribe and life experiences of its elders have been passed down for generations during activities associated with the festival. The belief in Mazu, also known as the Goddess of the Sea, brought to Taiwan by Han Chinese from mainland China some 300 years ago, is another distinctive feature of Taiwan’s immigrant society and marine culture. It is estimated that about 60 percent of Taiwan’s population, or 14 million people, worship the deity.
All the above attractions—Taroko National Park and the Alishan Forest Railway, as well as the Amis Harvest Festival and the worship of Mazu—are among Taiwan’s precious cultural properties selected by the MOC as candidates for the UNESCO list of world heritage sites and intangible cultural heritage.
Taiwan faces an uphill battle in its bid to have its cultural treasures recognized by UNESCO because it is not a member of the United Nations, but that has not deterred the MOC from identifying Taiwan’s most notable heritage sites. The campaign began in 2002 when the ministry invited experts, local governments and communities to recommend potential sites, and then set up a committee to evaluate proposals. The MOC has thus far recommended 18 physical sites and 10 items of intangible heritage for the UNESCO lists.
BOCH Director-General Stanley Wang says the ministry has based its selections on the criteria defined by UNESCO and formulated a standard operating procedure in making its nominations. The careful preparatory work puts Taiwan’s conservation efforts on par with international standards, he says.
For many years, Taiwan has encountered extreme difficulties in participating in international activities due to its isolation in the world community. Nevertheless, Taiwan has made several breakthroughs in joining organizations including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the International Olympic Committee and World Health Assembly (as an observer) under the name “Chinese Taipei.” Wang suggests this might be one way for Taiwan to move forward in its bid to gain UNESCO world heritage status for the nation’s significant cultural heritage.
“A world heritage listing would enhance our efforts to preserve and promote Taiwan’s artistic, cultural, historical and natural treasures so that they could be shared with people around the world and become living heritage,” Wang says. “We won’t give up on it.”
—Kelly Her
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw