Chou and his friends' form of politicized and liberal expression naturally attracted the attention of the authorities. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to shut the place down. In 1997, the Ministry of Finance (財政部) moved to take control of the property and a long rescue mission initiated by artists and academics ensued and eventually succeeded in preserving the teahouse as a designated heritage site under the supervision of The Taipei City Government's Department of Cultural Affairs.
As time progressed and Wistaria habitues made names for themselves in politics and the arts, Chou and his teahouse have remained an undisturbed corner of Taipei.
Long associated with Daoism, Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism and seen as a cultivated pursuit that refines one's moral character, tea-drinking culture aids self-enlightenment and spiritual cleansing, Chou believes.
"The values of tea culture are threefold: it's therapeutic to the body, self-cultivation and life-as-art. While the first is a basic requirement, self-cultivation is a core need and without it, the third aspect would be rootless and could easily fall prey to commercialism," said the gray-haired activist.
The gray-haired sophisticate aims to revive the refined cultural tradition of tea drinking that was renounced by Chinese intellectuals during the May Fourth Movement (五四運動).
"The denial of cultural heritage prevents us from understanding who we are ... . The creation of culture can't be rationally planned; it is without purpose, emerging from spontaneity and contingencies that are the manifestation of our cumulated pasts," said Chou, who, has entered a new phase of life striving to open a new cultural horizon nurtured by ancient Chinese ideals.
In the pre-democracy era when voices of dissent were silenced by the dictatorial regime, Chou stood up to be heard. Twenty years later, he chooses to quietly practice and cultivate the cultural aesthetics that are fast disappearing in the capitalist world.
RSS