The former residence of influential physician Mao Chao-chuan, an 85-year-old house located in Tainan’s Lioujia District, has recently undergone a two-year restoration to transform it into the “Chuan Residence 1936 Youth Co-creativity Base.” As well as being run by local youth, the building will serve the local community as a heritage museum and library, and as an exhibition and performance space for local arts and culture.
Mao’s father, Mao Wei-lin, was the head of what was then Lioujia Village during the Japanese colonial era. After attaining a medical degree in Japan, Mao Chao-chuan returned to Lioujia Village to practise medicine and went on to become a Tainan City councilor after World War II. The Mao family married into the families of Wu Hsin-jung — a famous physician and contributing writer to the Taiwanese literary journal **Literature of the Saline Land** — and physician Wang King-ho, known as the “father of blackfoot disease.”
In 2018, the building’s current owners, married couple Lee Ya-hui and Wu Chih-cheng, learned that the Mao family home was up for sale and entered into negotiations to purchase the property.
Photo courtesy of Tainan City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau 照片:台南市政府文化局提供
In 2019, Lee and Wu obtained a grant from the Ministry of Culture to cover 50 percent of the restoration costs and received an additional 20 percent subsidy from Tainan City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau. With funding secured, a two-year restoration project commenced.
The main timber-framed building was built during the 1930s in the Japanese style, using a monochrome color scheme and incorporating decorative elements in pale yellow hues. The adjoining outhouse is constructed from reinforced concrete in the modern style, with large windows and S-shaped balustrades, and faced with pale yellow ceramic tiles, imbuing it with a 1960s design aesthetic.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
Photo courtesy of Tainan City Government Cultural Affairs Bureau 照片:台南市政府文化局提供
有八十五年歷史的六甲區望族毛昭川故居,歷經將近兩年的整修計畫,最近修復完工,後續將化身為「川宅一九三六青年共創基地」,除了由在地青年進駐營運,也將與社區合作,發展文物館、圖書館、藝文展演等相關使用,與在地情感連結。
毛昭川的父親毛維麟,為日治時期六甲庄長,毛昭川於日本取得醫師資格後回鄉從醫,戰後曾任台南縣議員;毛家並與「鹽份地帶文學家」吳新榮醫師、「烏腳病之父」王金河醫師聯姻。
二○一八年,現任屋主李雅惠、吳志成夫婦得知川宅要出售即洽談購得。
二○一九年,該夫婦獲文化部補助毛醫師故居百分之五十修復經費,台南市政府增額補助百分之二十,展開將近兩年的修復工程。
故居的主棟木造建築約建於三○年代,為日本樣式造型,以黑白色系點綴淺黃色系,附屬建築則為鋼筋混凝土結構的現代樣式造型,大面窗戶開口、S符號金屬欄杆、淺黃色磁磚搭配呈現六○年代設計語彙。
(自由時報劉婉君)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into