A sizeable Republic of China (ROC) map in the Legislative Yuan showing Nanjing in China as the capital has been replaced by a collection of maps depicting Taiwan throughout the past 400 years.
The original “begonia” map, so named because it resembles a begonia leaf, depicts an extended swath of ROC territory, notably including Outer Mongolia.
As it hangs near a busy stairwell on the second floor of the Legislative Yuan compound’s Red Building, the map often serves as a backdrop for media interviews.
Photo: Hsieh Chun-ling, Taipei Times
It has often drawn criticism for being anachronistic, but the legislature has delayed replacing it citing the absence of a correspondingly large map that better reflects current reality.
However, the opening yesterday of an exhibition hall in the Legislative Yuan Assembly Affairs Museum’s Democratic Discussion Park in Taichung has afforded the legislature an opportunity to find the map a new home.
As the exhibition is to move to the Taipei legislative compound today, the map has been taken down and given to the museum.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) yesterday invited the public to “read” Taiwanese history through the new display.
It is as though excerpts from a textbook were gathered on one board, allowing the viewer to consider Taiwan through the locus of its history, Chen said.
The juxtaposed maps offer a view not only into the different countries that have converged on Taiwan, but more importantly into the ways Taiwan’s position has been differently viewed by the world, she added.
The display includes the famous map made during the Kangxi Emperor’s reign at the turn of the 18th century, as well as Dutch, English, Belgian, French, Italian and German depictions of Taiwan between 1580 and 1864.
Maps after 1895 were created by Japanese colonial rulers, with another notable addition showing a map of Taiwan’s forests made just after the ROC assumed governance in 1946.
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