The Taoyuan Department of Cultural Affairs plans to file a request with the Ministry of Culture to upgrade the status of the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park from a municipal heritage site to a national one.
As Lee Teng-fan’s (李騰芳) Ancient Residence in Dasi District (大溪) is the only national heritage site in Taoyuan, the department on Sunday said that it had commissioned a consulting firm to thoroughly evaluate the city’s four municipal historical sites in the hopes that their status could be upgraded.
The evaluation results suggest that the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park meets the requirements to be designated a national heritage site, the department said, adding that it would file the request by the end of the year.
Photo: Hsieh Wu-hsiung, Taipei Times
The other three municipal historical sites in Taoyuan are the Ching Tzi Ting (敬字亭), the mini-pagodas dedicated to the pursuit of scholarly excellence in Dasi; the Shengjiting (聖蹟亭), or Pavilion of Sacred Relics, in Longtan District (龍潭); and the Shengjiting in Jhongli District (中壢).
Department Director-General Chuang Hsiu-mei (莊秀美) said that the Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park is in the best condition among Japanese shrines nationwide, preserving a lot of architectural elements authentic to Japanese culture.
If the ministry approves the request, it would be the first national heritage site in the city, Chuang said, adding that it would be the pride of Taoyuan.
During the Japanese colonial era, Japan built about 200 shrines across Taiwan, including the Hsinchu Shrine and Kagi Shrine in Chiayi City, both of which are bigger than those in Taoyuan, she said.
After Japan switched its diplomatic allegiance from Taipei to Beijing in 1972, the Ministry of the Interior issued an executive order demanding that all Japanese shrines be torn down, she said.
The Taoyuan Martyrs’ Shrine and Cultural Park, which contains the former Taoyuan Shrine, although smaller, is one of the few that remains, she said.
The location gained prominence due to the Taiwanese film Kano, which was released in 2014 and became a hit, as the scene where the coach and other baseball players gathered for the first time was shot there.
The city government has twice carried out repairs to preserve the shrine, which is managed by the city government, Chuang said.
Management of other spaces in the park would be outsourced to private firms, and they would serve as locations for school field trips, environment or history lectures, exhibitions and performances, she added.
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