While history is mostly presented through text and images, is it impossible for audio, as ephemeral as it is, to be a part of history? It was this question that drove the Changhua County Government’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs to launch its “sounds of history” digitization project.
“There is usually less emphasis on history preserved in sound, but it is an element that could complement our understanding of history from text and imagery,” bureau Director Chen Wen-pin (陳文斌) said.
Using radio stations as an example, Chen said the voice and tone of radio hosts offer a glimpse into the unique atmosphere of an era, while the advertisements shed light on the social and economic conditions.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau
One of the great sources of preserved audio is the Radio Taiwan International (RTI) branch in the county’s Lugang Township (鹿港), he said.
While the branch is now shuttered, its location on the coastline and relative proximity to China made it an ideal place from which to broadcast psychological warfare programs and gather intelligence following its establishment in 1966, Chen said.
The station holds the world’s only extant recording of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) speech after he swam across the Yangtze River on July 16, 1966, in which he urged young people to “train themselves in the rivers and sea,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau
China has even contacted Taiwan to purchase the recording, Chen added.
Orders for Taiwanese intelligence agents operating in China were also broadcast from the station, often as numerical codes, he said.
As such, the station was deemed a military compound and assigned a military garrison, Chen said.
“Hopefully the building that housed the station could be converted into a museum about the Cold War, playing the sounds and voices recorded as the station was broadcasting to the region,” he added.
Another source of preserved audio is the 65-year-old Kuo Sheng Broadcasting Station in Changhua City, Chen said.
The station’s archives hold tens of thousands of vinyl records and tape reels, many of which contain interviews with celebrities and advertisements, he said, adding that the center is a veritable treasure trove for archived audio material.
Changhua County, home to many troupes that have existed for more than a century, is an established center for Beiguan and Nanguan music, and the recordings of the troupes should be digitized and preserved for future generations, he said.
Recordings of interviews with White Terror era victims should also be preserved, Chen said.
As Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese) is the primary language spoken around the county, the unique dialects in different areas should also be preserved, he said.
The ease of travel has led to the withering or outright disappearance of some local dialects, such as the Lugang dialect and the dialect in the Yongjing Township (永靖) area, he added.
Some dialects only exist in the memories of elderly people, and if they are not recorded soon, they will disappear forever, Chen said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS