Wunfu Elementary School in Kaohsiung opened its new rural culture hall on Dec. 21 last year. The hall is filled with artifacts that used to belong to the late collector Chen Sheng-hsiung. In the course of his life, Chen collected several hundred early rural farming and daily-life implements, all of which he donated to Wunfu Elementary School for it to set up a cultural hall, so that students could get a feeling for the wonders and pleasures of country life.
Wunfu Elementary School’s rural culture museum consists of five educational theme sections. The Taiwanese countryside section is for daily-life objects such as ceramic jars and rice vats. The rural life section contains domestic implements like wicker baskets, a sewing machine, gift baskets, a vanity dresser, a straw cape and a washstand. The kitchen section has food and cooking implements like a mortar and pestle, a steaming basket and a pantry cupboard, as well as a fishing tackle basket for sea angling. The farming and harvesting section contains work implements such as a five-prong rake, a hand rake, a tiller, a claw plow, scrapers, threshing and winnowing machines and a buffalo cart. Finally, the teaching and learning section contains work tools, toys and other antique items kindly donated by people from various walks of life.
When Chen was a young man, he was keen on calligraphy, paper sculpture and photography. When he got older, his favorite activities were jade carving and hill walking. Two years ago he put his collection on show in the school and he visited the school many times to give explanatory talks. Before he died, Chen donated all his artifacts for the school to keep.
Photo courtesy of Wunfu Elementary School
照片：文府國小提供
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
高雄市文府國小的鄉土文化館去年十二月二十一日成立，館內全是已故收藏家陳勝雄的收藏品，他生前收集早期農村農具及生活用具數百件，全捐給文府國小成立文化館，讓學童感受農村生活的美妙與樂趣。
文府國小的鄉土文化館，分屬五個教學主題區，台灣農村區展示陶甕、米甕等生活用具；農村生活用品區收藏籐箱、裁縫車、禮籃、化妝台、簑衣、面桶架等居家用品；灶腳間展示舂臼、粄床、菜櫥、海釣型釣具簍等飲食廚具；耕作、收成農作區收藏五爪耙、手耙、碌碡、蜈蚣犁、刮板、脫穀機、風鼓車、牛車等勞動用具；最後教學區則是各界熱心捐贈的勞動器具、童玩古物。
陳勝雄年輕時熱中書法、紙雕、攝影，年長時酷愛雕磨玉石、登山活動，兩年前他將收藏品在學校展示，他還多次到校親自解說，生前並將全部文物捐給學校收藏。
（自由時報記者方志賢）
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