2010年12月11日 星期六

The rest of Danshui

Besides the hustle and bustle of the 老街Old Street, there are many tourist attractions in Danshui, e.g., the Little White House, Ft Santo Domingo, Fisherman's Wharf, Hobe Gun Fort, Danshui Presbyterian Church, etc. There are many lesser-known yet no less important sites such as the three major temples, 媽祖宮, 龍山寺, and 清水祖師廟, plus the 蘇府王爺廟 [described in the last post]. Then there are the always overlooked sites, for example, 淡江中学Tamkang High School and the nearby Foreigners' Cemetery, the Taipei County Martyrs' Memorial, etc. Here we'll offer a quick introduction to these sites and more:

Tamkang High School was started in 1882 by Dr George Leslie Mackay as 牛津學堂the Oxford College. It was formally established and moved to the present site by his son 偕叡廉博士 in 1925. This is the gym, at the end of a long walkway from the front gate:
The walkway is paved with red bricks with some old "撒木耳煉瓦會社Samuel and Samuel Co" bricks embedded, most likely salvaged from other buildings from the 1920s.
Inside the gym, you'll see the portraits of two boxing champions, [l] Jake Martinez (1955-56) and [r] Juan Lazcano (1950-53) on the wall:
During the infamous 228 Incident (1947), one of the students was shot and killed near the post office on Chung Cheng Road. The school principal and two teachers were also arrested and murdered. Here is a memorial on campus:
There are also other landmarks, e.g., the first rugby field in Taiwan, the bell tower, and the 八角耬 (for more, see here by Patrick Cowsill). And near the gym, there is a Mackay family cemetery and next to it, the Foreigners' Cemetery (below) where the 17 heads of French fusiliers marins from the Sino-French war in 1884 might have been buried:
Below is the original Oxford College, located within 真理大學 that used to be where the British Consulate was. The land was leased from the Qing in perpetuity until in the late 1970s when it was sold to the university:
Across the street from 真理大學 is of course the 紅毛城Fort Santo Domingo. Going down a steep slope from this area, you'll run into Chung Cheng Road again. And a short distance going north, you'll come across the tree-shaded boulevard into the Danshui Golf Course, famous since the 1920s.

Walking up the blvd, before going into the Golf Course itself and on the right-hand side, there is a footpath leading up to a new addition, the 一滴水記念館:
It is an old house from 福井Fukui Prefecture in Japan, originally built by 水上勉's father. It was dissembled in Japan and re-constructed in Danshui by volunteers, now a cultural exchange center and a library housing the entire work of 水上勉 and 陳舜臣 [both of whom novelists from Japan]:
On the left side of the entry way, there are the well-visited 滬尾砲台Hobe Gun Fort (built by 劉銘傳) and the usually ignored 台北縣忠烈祠Taipei County Martyrs' Memorial.
Some maybe interested to know that this memorial was built to symbolize the victory over the colonial Japan. This Chinese gate (牌坊, above) used to be a Japanese-style roofed gate (only the foundation now remains; the 2 Chinese style stone lions maybe a post-war addition). And the memorial hall was built on the site where the 淡水神社Tansui Jinja was originally located:
223 individuals plus one group of 72 are commemorated in this hall that include the defender of Danshui during the Sino-French war, 孫開華. The group of 72 is first on the list - KMT revolutionary martyrs already memorialized in Canton, China. Inexplicably, the list also contains the names of three Qing officials who vowed to fight and die for Taiwan but ran back to China instead when the Japanese came to take over Taiwan in 1895.

And back to the soon to be totally altered 重建街 area, here is the famed western style 紅樓 (the Red Castle) owned by the 洪Hong family, now a cafe:
It has appeared in many famous paintings of old Danshui. And right below it, in front of the now demolished 白樓 (the White Castle) is the China Berry tree long associated with 木下靜涯Kinoshita Seigai:
Danshui is rapidly changing into a town of all tourism all the time. And in the back side of Danshui MRT Station, the landfill project continues:
Eventually another tourist bridge that goes nowhere similar to the one in Fisherman's Wharf will be built here. The landfill narrows the span of the river that is certain to impede the flow of water from upstream. It will be interesting to see if Taipei is flooded when the next typhoon hits.

13 則留言:

  1. So, there was a Shinto shrine in 淡水? I didn't know that.

    I sort of assumed that by the 1920s, pretty much any town of any size in Taiwan had a Shinto shrine. Is that right?

    Actually, I don't know anything about Japanese shrines. Were they all "Shinto"?

    I've seen one in TaoYuan that is apparently more-or-less intact and in the original form. How did it escape destruction in the late 1940s? Why wasn't it razed and replaced with an ugly concrete structure?? Strange.

    I think there was a big Japanese shrine in the middle of what today is the big city park in 嘉義, also in 旗山.

    In Taipei, I know there was a big shrine on 中華南路, a couple of blocks south of 西門町,also on 芝山,and on 南海路, adjacent to the (present) History Museum and the Botanical Gardens. And the biggest in the Taipei area was at the site of the Grand Hotel at 圓山, right?

    I also think I'm right in saying that the main Shinto shrine in Tainan became the Koxinga shrine.

    Also, I think I have heard that in many cases, the "martyrs' shrines" (that one sees in many cities in Taiwan today) were also originally Shino shrines. I was told that was the origin of the Martyrs' Shrine in YiLan.

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  2. Hi Scott,

    You are certainly very knowledgeable and well-traveled to boot. Jinja神社, loosely translated, is a village of gods, 100% Shindo. The Japanese emperors trace their origin back to the creators of the world, i.e., they are descendants of the gods. Shindo is essentially a way of preserving the "mandate from Heaven", common claim of rulers in Asia. The establishment of 神社s in Taiwan served two purposes: (1) to show who the boss was and (2) to indoctrinate the conquered that the emperor was the supreme being who therefore must be obeyed. So you are correct, by the 1920s, 神社s were erected everywhere. The one in Danshui was started a little late in 1939; although another smaller but not officially sanctioned one was in existence since 1906.

    The officially sanctioned 神社s were far larger and better constructed of course. After 1945, in an effort to erase the presence of Japan in Taiwan, symbols of the Japanese rule, i.e., the 神社s therefore must be destroyed. The ones you have visited all have been altered ranging from minimal defacing to only remnants of old structures.

    The one in Taoyuan has escaped demolition possibly because the immediate post-war chief of Taoyuan county was a teacher of Japanese language in the colonial era who had the discretion of how (not) to convert it to a Martyrs' Memorial.

    The rest including the one in Danshui did not fare so well. Most have been re-built as MMs:

    嘉義: only some stone lions, ishidoros and a small building are preserved.

    旗山: now a Confucian temple.

    YiLan: the torii was re-labeled 忠烈門, and the main hall re-built as an MM.

    "In Taipei, I know there was a big shrine on 中華南路, a couple of blocks south of 西門町,also on 芝山,and on 南海路, adjacent to the (present) History Museum and the Botanical Gardens. And the biggest in the Taipei area was at the site of the Grand Hotel at 圓山, right?"

    (1) No, the one on 中華南路 had long disappeared which was adjacent to the red brick building, the latter started out as a market place.
    (2) The one in 芝山 is now a library of sorts.
    (3) The one on 南海路 was rebuilt into 南海 Academy, only a small part of the original bridge can still be seen.
    (4) Indeed the Grand Hotel was built on the site where the Taiwan Jinja once was. Only some stone lions are still there. Part of this jinja was destroyed when an airplane crashed into it while attempting to land in the now Song-shan airport (in 1944, I think).

    "I also think I'm right in saying that the main Shinto shrine in Tainan became the Koxinga shrine."

    No, this is incorrect. The Shindo shrine was based the Koxinga Temple built by 沈葆禎 [Governor of Taiwan] in 1874. In 1896, it was converted into the first jinja in Taiwan although it still honored Koxinga and his Japanese mother. After the war, it was reverted to the now 延平郡王祠.

    Thanks for the interesting comments. "Tokyo Story" is also one of my favorites, BTW.

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  3. 作者已經移除這則留言。

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  4. , I may not have labeled them correctly as to location.


    Shinto shrines around Taiwan

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506490@N00/sets/72157625605584802/

    past-and-present composites

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506490@N00/sets/72157602583636536/

    Old Tainan

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/21506490@N00/sets/72157594172826399/

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  5. Very impressive collection. Thank you very much.

    The Tainan Shrine is no more. Part of it is now 公十一parking garage. And the rest is on the grounds of 忠義國小. This shrine honored 北白川宮能久親王, who in 1895 led the Royal Guards in invading Taiwan. He died from either injuries or cholera soon after Tainan surrendered.

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  6. You mean the elementary school which is on the east side of the Confucious temple? I know that area quite well. Very interesting, thanks for the info.

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  7. Yep, that's the one, west of Confucius Temple on No 2 忠義路二段. Across the street is the underground parking garage where the original jinja hall was located. Inside the gate of the elementary school, on the left there is still an old Japanese house which was the original jinja 休憩所 (rest place).

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  8. "Part of this jinja was destroyed when an airplane crashed into it while attempting to land in the now Song-shan airport (in 1944, I think)".

    ~Wow, that would be a very interesting story to learn about!

    ~Also, I noticed recently there is a large Shinto concrete light behind the Police Station ~ (Old Taipei Zoo area - across from the Fine Arts Museum) on ChungShan N. Road in Taipei. Would you happen to know if it was from the old Taipei bridge or shrine? Just curious.


    EyeDoc, I would like to add your Tainan shrine comments to my Taipics/Tainan page, would that be ok with you?

    -marc

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  9. Hi Marc,

    I thought the demise of the Taiwan Jinja was pretty well-known. Maybe not then. I'll post something about it soon. Ishiroro = stone lantern, not concrete - most were erected by donors whose names would appear on the base. The old Taipei bridge did not have any ishidoros, so what you have found is probably from the Jinja itself. I am surprised that it is preserved at all.

    And you are welcome to use the comments on your site.

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  10. Thank you Eyedoc for your explaination. For your reference, I posted the photos of the Ishiroro here (taken last week at the Flower Expo):

    http://taipics.com/ishiroro.php

    If needed, there are many old photos of the Taipei Shrine here:

    http://taipics.com/taipei_shrine.php
    http://taipics.com/bridges.php

    One thing that I've never seen are construction photos of the Grand Hotel. I think that would be an interesting story to tell if you ever have the chance to come across any information on that building.(I remember the roof fire in 1995.) Another interesting building in Taipei was the Railroad Hotel, now the site of the ShinKong Building near the train station. Some photos can be found at these links.

    http://taipics.com/hotels.php (color pic)
    http://taipics.com/hotel_tags.php
    http://taipics.com/taipei_gates.php (map)

    A brief reference to the 1945 bombing raid that destroyed the hotel can be found here:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Taipei

    Lastly, I posted your Shrine comments here:

    http://taipics.com/tainan3.php

    I edited them somewhat, I hope it is acceptable to you. (and Scott)

    Thanks again, EyeDoc. I am in Danshui often, perhaps we can have coffee or a beer together sometime in the future?

    ~marc

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  11. oops, color pic of the Railroad Hotel is here:

    http://taipics.com/taipei1.php

    The previous link is just B/W.

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  12. It is Ishi"d"oro - sorry for the typo.

    Sure, let's get together. I am reachable at hmcheng542@msn.com

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