Taiwan has had lighthouses from as early as 1868, meaning they have been around for 149 years. There are, in all, 36 lighthouses around the island, each with their own unique architectural style, having been built over a period including the Qing dynasty, Japanese colonial rule, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) era.
On Mar. 1 the Maritime and Port Bureau established the first lighthouse culture museum in Keelung. The museum will initially display 60 different kinds of lighting equipment, among them the incandescent mantle lamp invented in 1904. When lit, this lamp emits powerful rays, and it would have been the best light source available to lighthouses 100 years ago. A range of different lamps, from incandescent lights and wick oil lamps to carbide lamps, were developed and evolved over the years, and each one of them, marked and mottled, speak of a bygone era.
Lin Chung-fa, who has been a lighthouse keeper in Keelung for over a decade, has previously served on over 10 lighthouses, including on the Pengjia Islet, Cape Fuguei, Sandiaoling and in Hualien. He says that you can enjoy wonderful views as you work, and seeing Taiwan from offshore gives you a feeling difficult to put into words. In his free time he was able to go diving and fishing and to go bird watching and, he says, even with today’s GPS systems, lighthouses still have the ability to make you feel safe and secure.
Photo: CNA
照片:中央社
(CNA, translated by Paul Cooper)
台灣的燈塔建設最早從西元一八六八年起,至今已有一百四十九年歷史,全台總計有三十六座燈塔,建造歷經清代、日治及國民政府時期,建築風格各異。
航港局三月一日在基隆成立首座「燈塔文物館」,初期將展出六十盞各式燈具,其中,一九○四年發明的白熾紗罩燈,點燃後可發出強烈光芒,在百年前可說是燈塔的最佳光源。白熱燈、燈蕊油燈、乙炔燈等各式燈具,隨著不同年代發展演進,每個帶有斑駁的痕跡燈塔器物,都述說著一段陳年往事。
擔任基隆燈塔員已有十年資歷的林忠發先前曾待過彭佳嶼、富貴角、三貂嶺、花蓮等超過十處燈塔。他說,工作還能欣賞美麗景致,從外島看台灣,有種說不出的美感,閒暇時還能潛水、釣魚、賞候鳥,儘管現在已有衛星定位系統,但燈塔仍有穩定人心作用。
(中央社)
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