Alumnae of the Chang Jung Girls’ Senior High School, the first to offer a Western-style education in southern Taiwan, are celebrating its 132nd anniversary by visiting the newly repaired main building.
Established in 1887 when Taiwan was still governed by China’s Qing Dynasty, Chang Jung was the first girls’ senior-high school — at the time a private institution — to offer Western-style classes.
The school required the young women to have unbound feet and taught them how to write, count and embroider. The students also took English, music and etiquette lessons from the English nuns.
Photo: Liu Wan-chun, Taipei Times
Liu Tsai-sang (劉採桑), 98, said that the girls’ dormitory was on the second floor of the “Red Building,” named for its color.
“There was even a piano classroom, which was a rare sight in Taiwan,” Liu said.
Su Lan-tzu (蘇蘭子), 90, said that the school was strict about the girls’ looks and designated a different hairstyle for each grade, such as a pageboy for those in their first year and a braided ponytail for those in their fourth.
Tu Shih-shu (?士淑), 90, said that students needed to learn how to make coffee and tea, proper drinking etiquette and styles, appropriate dress, and how to socialize.
Chen An-ching (陳安靜), 94, brought an embroidery piece to the celebration that she finished as a student at the school 76 years ago.
The style of the building is a mix of Western architecture and sanheyuan (三合院), a traditional style used for Han family houses.
A three-year renovation project was recently completed. Most of the repairs were required because of termite damage and the effects of a typhoon in 2012, which blew off many roof tiles.
The school is considering turning a section of the Red Building into a school museum, dean Tsai Yu-min (蔡玉敏) said, adding that the school would call on all alumnae to donate photographs, mementos or accounts of their school days.
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