City officials inspect historic hotel

The Taipei City government yesterday inspected a historical place where Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙) once stayed, though few Taiwanese people know that the founding father of the Republic of China had visited Taiwan three times.

The 165m2 building near the Taipei Railway Station was formerly named Umeyashiki Hotel (梅屋敷) and served as a hotel during Japanese rule. It was built in 1900, five years after Taiwan was ceded to Japan.

In August of 1913, Sun was on his second visit to Taiwan to meet local revolutionaries and Japanese supporters to discuss a plan to overthrow Yuan Shi-kai (袁世凱), then provisional president of Chian and a warlord.

Due to the lack of historical records and artifacts, the duration of his stay is open to debate. Sun is said to have stayed in the hotel for seven days, although some say he stayed only for one day.

After Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) government took over Taiwan in 1946, the KMT transformed the Japanese hotel into a museum, the Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial House (國父史蹟紀念館).

In 1983, the museum was torn apart and rebuilt at a site 50m north of its original location for Taipei City's underground railway project.

The government later added a traditional Chinese garden to the Japanese building, also know as Sun Yat-sen Park (逸仙公園).

Since the park and structure had been torn apart and rebuilt at a different location, it made listing the area as an official historic site impossible.

Yesterday's inspection was conducted by Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Taipei City government, in a bid to extend the historic building's functions beyond that of just a park.

Lung said that her plan is to make Sun's ideas more lively to the public and to promote the historical relevance of Chungshan N. Road, where the park is located.

In an effort to seek related parties' opinions, National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館) director Chang Jui-pin (張瑞濱), Ritz Taipei Hotel president Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) and Wang Siao-po (王曉波), a history professor at National Taiwan University, were invited to the inspection tour.

To help the museum thrive, Chang suggested offering the memorial hall's abundant collection of historical archives and materials about Sun to the museum for public exhibitions. The museum could also be used to hold intellectual and literary seminars.

"In addition to co-organizing various exhibitions and seminars, we are also delighted to offer assistance in gardening in order to present a more pleasant surrounding," said Lee Kuo-chang (李國章), head of the Division of Culture and Education.

Chang's proposal received support from city officials, but the details have yet to be discussed.

"The problems is that since the Japanese building is so fragile due to its old age, we are worried that too many visitors will damage the delicate architecture," said Damon Deng (鄧宗德), an official with the Cultural Affairs Bureau.