It is the 1st anniversary of the opening of Taichung Literature Museum. Starting from today the Bureau of Cultural Affairs presented the “Mother Literature: A Special Exhibition” and “Chen Qian-wu Special Exhibition.” In the “Mother Tongue Literature: A Special Exhibition,” there is an interactive zone “Huge Tree’s Foot: The Philosophy of Life.” It allows people to “draw lottery poetry.” These fortune slips printed with old sayings pass down the wisdom of mother tongue bringing people lots of fun. Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-ying also drew the lottery in the opening ceremony, and she drew the poem “Kam-guān tsò gû, m̄ kiann bô lê thang thua” (She will do whatever jobs available to make a living, not worrying about unemployment.” It surprised her much because she was born in the year of the Ox.

Located on Lequn Street, West District, Taichung Literature Museum (Former police quarter during the Japanese rule) is a historic building announced by Taichung City Government. It was opened officially in August last year. The Bureau of Cultural Affairs celebrates it by presenting a dual-theme exhibition. The “Mother Tongue Literature: A Special Exhibition” is the first mother tongue special exhibition sponsored by a regional government. As to “Chen Qian-wu’s Poetry” Special Exhibition,” it exhibits the manuscripts, photograph, and other valuable relics of the first director of cultural center in Taiwan, inviting visitors to learn something about the daily life of this respected poet.

In the press conference of the opening ceremony, Deputy Mayor Lin expressed that it is one of the important missions of this generation to promote mother tongue. Taichung City Government endeavors to construct an immersion environment for the teaching of mother tongue, meantime holds exhibitions to provides visitors the opportunity to learn mother tongue. She also reminisced the Chen’s contributions in promoting mother tongue education. Especially, she thanked Chen’s wife and son to lend his manuscripts and other relics to make this exhibition possible.

Lin Cheng-mo, the Executive Officer of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs expressed that mother literature has been developed for 300 to 400 years. The focus of this exhibition is modern literature. It displays the folk literature published in the Church News starting from 1885. Executive Officer Lin said, “Taiwanese is more pleasant for reciting instead of singing.” The major reason is that it has many different tones. It is the first time for the Bureau of Cultural Affairs to “play with this 8-syllable rhyme,” providing people with the opportunities to understand the fun of Taiwanese intonation.

“Circle of Voices – A Special Exhibition on Mother Tongue Literature” has collected 50 texts by more than 40 mother tongue writers for exhibition. Starting from intonation, rhyme, ballad, poem, novel, and more, it presents the beauty of different genre of mother tongue literature. In this exhibition, there are 7 zones, starting from the development of literature and historic change to the genre of literary representation. There is an installation “Eight-syllable of Taiwanese” to allow visitors to understand the beauty of the pitches of Taiwanese tones. In the “Huge Tree’s Foot: The Philosophy of Life”, an interactive zone, with the interactive design of “drawing lottery poetry fortune slips,” it allows people to understand the wisdom and old sayings accumulated at the “huge tree’s foot.”

Chen’s wife Hsu Yu-lan and Mr. Chen Ming-tai give substantial support to “The Drummer of Life – A Special Exhibition on Chen Qian-wu’s Poetry.” They lend many of Chen’s publications, manuscripts, photographs, stationery, and other relics to exhibit different facets of the everyday life of this respected senior poet. Many of the relics in this exhibition are displayed for the first time, being highly valuable. It exhibits the poet’s creativity and his sense of mission to literature, the promotion of culture, and his contributions in conducting international literary exchange between Taiwan and other countries. The dual-theme exhibition will continue until March 30 in the next year.

“Dual-theme Special Exhibition”
Theme: “Voices – A Special Exhibition on Mother Tongue Literature” and “The Drummer of Life – A Special Exhibition on Chen Qian-wu’s Poetry.”
Time: September 22, 2017 to March 30, 2018 (Closed on Mondays)
Venue: Taichung Literature Museum (38, Lequn Street, West District, Taichung)
Official website: www.tlm.taichung.gov.tw/