Anyone who has recently visited the campus of the Taipei Medical University (TMU) might have seen a new monument dedicated to those who have donated their bodies to the school for anatomy lessons and who are called “body teachers” by the students.
The monument, titled Voiceless Teachers, has been erected in a garden approximately 660m2 in size, along with sculptures, benches and a path to allow visitors to take a walk or just rest.
Liu Chien-cheng, who designed the monument, said the four red steel slices that constitute the monument are meant to resemble the slices of tissue samples used in anatomy classes.
PHOTO: CNA
From above, the four slices constitute a cross, which is the symbol for medicine, while the inside lines of the four slices form the shape of the human body, with a stainless steel ball at the center of the formation symbolizing the heart.
“The theme of the monument is that man’s body is but an empty vessel and that only the kindness that originates from the heart will last forever,” Liu said.
He said he got his inspiration from his experience of refurbishing the school’s anatomy building 10 years ago, in front of which the monument now stands.
The designer was shocked at the time to see about 50 human bodies submerged in two huge tanks full of formalin. He realized then that man is no better than animals but for his kindness and compassion for others.
To show his admiration for those who donate their bodies to science, Liu later waived his fee for designing the artwork.
But why did the medical university, which honors its “body teachers” with a religious ceremony every March, decide to commission the monument? There’s a real story behind it, said Chang Chin-chyuan (張清泉), dean of TMU’s Office of General Affairs.
The school made local headlines in 1988 when several infant specimens awaiting disposal were dumped by cleaners in a pit near an incinerator on school grounds. The stench from the decaying corpses sparked protests from residents who lived just outside the walls of the university, prompting the school to bury the bodies on campus in an attempt to calm the outraged neighbors.
Four years later, part of the school’s campus was requisitioned by the city government to make way for a new road. Workers unearthed the infant specimens while building the road and simply dumped them in a landfill.
This led to a new uproar, so the school brought the dirt, along with the specimens, back to the school under public pressure and buried them on campus again.
David Hu (胡俊弘), then-president of the university, and Lin Chen-tai (林鎮岱), then-dean of the Office of General Affairs, promised at that time that they would build a monument to comfort the souls of the dead infants and the other “body teachers” once the school had raised enough funds.
Last year, 72-year-old Lin, who had already retired as dean — although he still served as a teacher — fell while taking a walk near the anatomy building. Although he suffered only minor bruises to his face and body, he had a strange feeling: Was it a gentle reminder from the “body teachers” of his unfilled promise about a monument to them?
He told Hu about his feeling and the two asked the university’s board of directors last year to earmark NT$3.5 million (US$108,883) to build the long-awaited monument and garden.
When the monument was unveiled on May 14, one anatomy professor noted with surprise that the place where the monument stands is the exact location where the infant specimens were finally laid to rest in 1992.
In any case, Lin and Hu both heaved sighs of relief to have finally fulfilled their promise and the people who live near the university and know nothing about the stories behind the monument are glad to have a garden in which to relax after work.
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