Rural Town Remembers Cultural Activist and Poet Who Saved Its Treasures

TaiwanPlus News

The town of Jiadong in southern Taiwan is remembering the late doctor, poet and activist Tseng Kui-hai, a man who lead a campaign to save local historical sites. Tseng died in 2024 and the town is honoring him with an exhibit on his life that will run until June.

Transcript

00:00The lotus blossoms are back as southern Taiwan's gentle winter gives way to the warmth of spring.

00:07They've been blooming in this same pond year after year for more than a century.

00:15Here at the old Yang family residence in Jiadong, Pingtung County, not much has changed since the 1920s.

00:22The feng shui pond still runs with water, intricate stone carvings still adorn the walls,

00:28and the complex decorations on the roof, from flowers to elephant heads, show no signs of weathering.

00:34It's all lovingly preserved for tour groups to enjoy.

00:40But were it not for one man, these fine views would all have fallen into ruin years ago.

00:46The lotus blossoms are back as southern Taiwan's gentle winter gives way to the warmth of spring.

00:57Tsang Kwe-hai was a doctor, but it's his poetry and his defense of local culture that people best remember him for.

01:04It started with a Yang family residence.

01:07In 1995, plans to build a road through part of the grounds stirred local resistance.

01:14When I was young, I wanted to build a road through the ground.

01:22But the protests failed to achieve much.

01:25That's when Tsang Kwe-hai stepped in, and what he did set off a chain reaction.

01:32Jiadong is one of the towns in this part of southern Taiwan with a big population of Hakka people.

01:38These are people with Chinese origins, but with their own distinct language, history, and way of life.

01:44Tsang turned saving this one home, the Yang family residence, into a Hakka cause.

01:49Groups from out of town joined in.

01:52At first, the protests were something of a confusing novelty in this small town.

01:56I remember a lot of the elderly people were at the door.

02:01I was curious about what was going on.

02:03Because I don't think this has ever happened in Jiadong.

02:06But the pressure campaign worked.

02:08The planned road was rerouted, and the building and grounds are still here.

02:12More than that, people began to appreciate a local heritage they'd come to overlook.

02:20So when the next battle to save an old building came in 2011,

02:24people were primed to take action.

02:27After a hundred years, the two-story shop and home that local people call Tsang's house was collapsing.

02:33And with the property being used as bank collateral, repairs were impossible.

02:38With a vigorous fundraising campaign, though, Tsang was able to change the right minds.

02:43Today, the building looks freshly restored.

02:46At the time, Tsang spoke to Taiwan's Hakka TV about his thinking.

02:51I'm a person who's thinking.

02:54I'm a person who's thinking.

02:56I've been there for a few months.

02:58I've been to the city hall a few times.

03:00I've been to the local school building a few times.

03:04So I'm a person who's thinking.

03:06I'm a person who's thinking about the future of Taipei.

03:09The people have lost their culture.

03:12The old buildings have fallen.

03:14Tsang Kwei-hai died on the 6th of August, 2024.

03:18He left behind not just verse like this, but a town he'd taught to take pride in itself as a living museum.

03:25Others have now taken up the baton.

03:27Now, within one kilometer, visitors can find five carefully protected historic sites.

03:33And nearby, an old streetscape has been turned into a cultural space named Poet's Walk in Tsang's honor.

03:40In Tsang's house, the building he campaigned for, a small exhibit on Tsang's life runs till June,

03:46a reminder of a person who changed his community.

03:49Eason Pan and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.

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