The Hualien Archeological Museum opened to the public on Sunday, giving a permanent home to 800,000 artifacts, including a 1,240kg stone trough considered the pride of the museum and a jade burial pendant that inspired its logo design.
To house the museum, the Hualien County Government received a NT$72 million (US$2.54 million) grant from the Ministry of Culture to renovate Shoufeng Township’s (壽豐鄉) Fengtien Market (豐田市場), which was originally built in 1984.
At the opening ceremony, Bureau of Cultural Heritage Deputy Director Wu Hua-tsung (吳華宗) praised the museum as an inspiration to the rest of the nation for providing local historical and cultural education.
Photo: Wang Chun-chi, Taipei Times
The founding of the museum is a large step forward for local archeology, showing that every area has its own history, National Cheng Kung University Institute of Archeology director Liu Yi-chang (劉益昌) said.
Other local governments should emulate Hualien County and bring their artifacts home, he said, adding that he would be willing to personally offer tours in the county to pass on knowledge of past cultures.
The museum is to provide educational programming and conduct research, in addition to storing and displaying artifacts in its three main galleries.
Exhibitions are to focus on the 3,500-year-old jade culture in eastern Taiwan presented from an archeological and experiential perspective, with the goal of getting visitors to “understand the value of historical objects.”
Due to its distinctive design, a 1,000-year-old jade burial pendant serves as a clear representation of the Huakangshan culture (花岡山文化), traces of which were uncovered at an archeological site of the same name on the bank of the Meilun River (美崙溪) in Hualien City and elsewhere in the county.
The artifact inspired the museum’s logo, which intertwines the pendant with an archeological pit to represent continuing dialogue between the past and present.
The museum’s most prized treasure is a massive stone trough, its only artifact that has national cultural asset status, as the rest have yet to be evaluated.
Peng Chun-yuan (彭群元), who donated the trough after it was discovered on his land, said at the opening that he was “happy it is receiving so much attention.”
The quartz and mica slab was found at the Yuemei archeological site (月眉遺址) in Shoufeng Township, which contains artifacts from the Huakangshan culture.
Archeologists believe that it was brought down from the Central Mountain Range, but since trough-shaped stone tools such as this are rare, its purpose is still unknown.
The Hualien County Cultural Affairs Bureau said that entry is free during the soft opening, while operating hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 9am to 5pm.
The museum is to be closed from Lunar New Year’s Eve on Feb. 11 to Feb. 13.
OFFLINE: People who do not wish to register can get the money from select ATMs using their bank card, ID number and National Health Insurance card number Online registration for NT$6,000 (US$196.32) cash payments drawn from last year’s tax surplus is to open today for eligible people whose national ID or permanent residency number ends in either a zero or a one, the Ministry of Finance said on Monday. Officials from the ministry revealed which days Taiwanese and eligible foreigners would be able to register for the cash payments at a joint news conference with the Ministry of Digital Affairs. Online registration is to open tomorrow for those whose number ends in a two or three; on Friday for those that end in a four or five: on Saturday
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) officials are investigating why a Starlux Airlines flight to Penang, Malaysia, returned to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport nearly two hours after takeoff yesterday morning. The airline said in a statement that Flight JX721 to Penang took off from Taoyuan airport at 9:20am. “After the dashboard showed a signal of an abnormality in the hydraulic system, the captain followed standard operating procedures and returned the flight to Taoyuan airport for safety precautions,” the airline said, adding that the flight landed safely at the airport at 11:04am. The airline arranged for the passengers to have lunch after the flight landed and
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
RSS