Writer / Chia Chi Liang Photo/ Basir Yang、Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government

Wu Family Garden Arts Centre is one of the few places among historic sites where visitors can see the juxtaposition of buildings left by different regimes. From the Qing dynasty all the way through the Japan Ruling and the Republic of China, there are the Wu Family Garden of classical Chinese style, the wooden structured Willow House of Japanese style, the Former Tainan Public Hall with European Mansard style roof, a modern glass curtain addition, an outdoor amphitheater, and the high-rise building of the Far Eastern Department Store nearby. The landscape here is like a parchment that has been scoured and rewritten, adding variations over time. The fragmented and discontinuous landscape is an imprint of the shifting of political power in the history of Tainan. For this very reason, strolling amongst these historical buildings is an experience both nostalgic and fascinating, as if walking through a time lapse film.

Splendor in the Past
In early Daoguang reign (1821-1850), Qing Dynasty, salt magnate Wu Shangxin bought the garden of He Bin, an interpreter during the era of Dutch rule. Wu built the classical Chinese garden imitating the style in Zhangzhou, an area in Fujian, China, featuring elegant elements such as pavilions, corridors, rockery, terraces and ponds. Literati, officials and gentry gathered here, composing poems and enjoying a drink. The Wu Family Garden was known as one of the Four Great Gardens of Taiwan, along with Lin Family Mansion and Garden in Banqiao, Beiguo Garden in Hsinchu, Lin Family Mansion and Garden in Wufeng.
　　In the early years of Japanese rule, the buildings in Wu Family Garden were often used by the Japanese for gatherings. The Wu Family first gave the land on the west side (a section of today’s Minquan Road near the Gongyuan Road intersection) to the Japanese to build the Four Seasons Inn. Later, the Japanese bought the Wu Family Garden, and built the Former Tainan Public Hall. It was the first public building for civilians and the officials to hold gatherings in Taiwan during the Japanese Rule. It provided the venue for various conventions, lectures, exhibitions, memorial events and welcoming parties. The Japanese also built the Tainan Library, Tainan Municipal Swimming Pool, Yagishita Canteen, Japanese-style house, and Noh stage, etc. on the original garden site. The terraces and pavilions on the north side of the garden were preserved, making it a complex for entertainment, education and gathering.
Years of Turmoil
　　 Soon after the end of World War II, the Nationalist Government came to Taiwan. The Tainan Public Hall was renamed Zhongshan Hall, and was at the disposal of the military. The sudden influx of population turned the Wu Family Garden into a site for temporary shelters and crowded also with stock poultry and livestock. The once elegant garden became filthy and congested, and falling into decline. In 1955, the Taiwan Provincial Government revamped the site, and established the Tainan Social Education Hall. The squared pavilion and bungalows in the Wu Family Garden were converted into dormitories, and the Japanese-style houses were turned into the Recreation Hall. Exhibition rooms was added to the east, and the stage was expanded. Social educational activities were then introduced. Before the establishment of the Tainan Cultural Center in 1984, it was an important venue for holding art and cultural activities in Tainan.
　　The Social Education Hall also underwent several changes, such as the addition of the Comprehensive Activity Center, the reconstruction of the Social Education Building, renovating the garden landscape, and reclaiming the long-occupied front building space. There were also proposals to demolish this site for the construction of commercial buildings and parking lots, putting the Public Hall in danger of being abandoned. Eventually, the architectural legacy from the Japanese Ruling Period were preserved with the transformation of Taiwan’s cultural assets ideology. In 1998, the Public Hall was designated as a municipal monument and listed as one of Tainan’s important cultural assets because of its Mansard style roof, Ionic columns, and elaborate decorative embossed patterns on the walls. At the end of 2006, the park was completely renovated in its present form.

Blending Old and New, New Lives Emerge
　　After the renovation, in the concept of idle space reuse, the space in Public Hall has been actively utilized. The Former Yagishita Canteen from the Japanese Ruling Period is now run by Yeh Tung-tai as a tea house. The character for Yagi, or 柳, was deconstructed into “十八卯”, or Day Break 18. Tea art and tea ceremony culture are promoted here. The "Fucheng Tea Sealing Day" has been held every year in the twelfth lunar month for fourteen years. Wishes are written down on notes, tea sealing poems are transcribed, and sealed along with tea leaves in a jar, to be opened again in the future. It is as if the scene of literati composing and chanting poetry in the Qing Dynasty is recreated. The underground exhibition room and indoor performance hall of the Public Hall continue the cultural mission of the past, with workshops, film exhibitions, concerts, and dramas being staged here one after another.
　　What is most interesting is the environmental theater and specific field performances that often take place here. The existing spatial environment and historical context are used to explore the content and meaning of the performances. For instance, Dancecology’s “Dawn, Preserved” danced on the green grass; Tigiloubeen Creative Group’s “Stories of Chikan X Mitsuru Nishikawa” summoned the Japanese writer Mitsuru Nishikawa who historically actually visited the Public Hall; and MDF Troupe, made up of elderly performers, created a repertory play for the historic site; and “Curry Bone's Travel”, produced by Step Out from Macau, allowed the audience to wear headphones and wander between urban memories and illusory scenes.
　　Various forms of rebirths have sprouted here: the interweaving of real and fictional stories, and the passage and staying of visitors among the historic site, all contributed to reconstructing the historical acknowledge of where we came from, and enriched our imagination and perception of the city. The existence of the Wu Family Garden Arts Center not only reminds visitors of how the city came into being through the ups and downs, but also preserves and continues to create collective memories of the local community.