Chapter One: Introduction
This thesis intends to explore the possibility of trans- forming colonial remains into postcolonial heritage. That is to say, it is an attempt to see how locality reproduction can be mediated by the practices of co- lonial heritage. Thus in the first chapter we began with a discussion of the major conceptual context: memory and locality. The memory approach allows an in-depth overview of colonial heritage as a con- testing field of memories with diverse social frame-
works. When applying the memory approach to‘co- lonial heritage’—the phrase itself is an ambiguous combination—memory recollection presents a fun- damental gap between the material fabric and the sense of place with which a local heritage is normally endowed. This gap implies the difficulties heritage practitioners may face when dealing with colonial heritage in the postcolonial context.
The first chapter has provided a framework for this research, taking three dimensions of the framework into consideration: the global heritage mechanism of colonial built heritage, the theoretical threads of memory and locality in examining the nature and ambiguity of colonial heritage, and the scale and cri- teria of selecting case studies from Taiwan’s Japa- nese colonial sites.
Taiwan’s heritage policies and conceptualization pro- cess mainly reflect influences from international in- stitutions.‘Heritage’is a new, imported concept and often shows an interpretative gap from the Chinese translation ofwenhua zichan文化資產. This impor- tation was in accordance with globalising forces in the post Cold War re-composition of world order, and Taiwan’s domestic social change in the wake of fast-paced industrialisation, urbanisation and politi- cal democratization. As Taiwan’s heritage policies and practice mostly refer to conventions and models legitimated by international institutions such as UN- ESCO and ICOMOS—even though Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations—it is necessary to know the global context within which Taiwan appro- priates these international conventions. A part of this chapter has elaborated this global framework in rela- tion to cultural and colonial heritage.
Chapter Two: Japanese‘Heritage’ in Postcolonial Taiwan
This section examines the ambiguity of representing Japanese colonial heritage in Taiwan. The conceptual significance ofheritage, memory and place are ex- plored and used to examine the general phenomena of interpreting Japanese colonial remains as local heritage. The first part discusses the gap between heritage intentions and the colonial fabric. It begins with the ambiguity of embedding heritage, a term closely associated with concepts of volition, identifi-
cation, people and ownership (Howard 2003), in the material remains left by people who are geographi- cally remote and even historically antagonistic to the current local community. This section further pre- sents the phenomenon of the memory boom in Tai- wan in the 1990s and 2000s. This memory boom was a consequence of political and economic changes during the period, namely the‘era of local- ism’. The latter part of this chapter presents the de- velopment of heritage discourses and practices with- in the context of‘community building’. It examines how Japanese colonial remains entered the category of‘heritage’in Taiwan and shows the link between this ‘heritagization’ process and emerging localism, and also the pro-Japanese attitude shaped within the structure of dual colonialism.
Chapter Three: Single Case Study: Jinguashi Mining Remains
This thesis began its discussion at the scale of the global heritage arena before reducing its perspective to the nation of Taiwan. In Chapters Three and Four it then moves to concrete sites in a micro-frame. In order to reveal problematical issues of heritage prac- tice generated in the postcolonial context, this re- search will focus on an in-depth single case study and a multicase study. The case studies are divided into two parts: the first part (chapter three) concen- trates on a single case, the Jinguashi Mining Re- mains; the second part (chapter four) examines the four remaining sites as a multiple case study. The single case study aims to provide an in-depth per- spective and to serve as the discussion basis for the multicase study.
This chapter on the Jinguashi Mining Remains delves further into the issues of representing Japa- nese colonial heritage from four dimensions: con- tested memories resulting from layered colonialism; issues of the top-down community approach in re- presenting the site as an ecomuseum; colonial ambi- guities which emerged from interpretative activities in the process of heritage making; and difficulties in reproducing locality within the postcolonial actor network. This case exemplifies many local heritage- building initiatives within the prevailing localism in contemporary Taiwan, as well as the role of the emerging local governments in this memory boom.
The authorised discourses of community-building and the implementation of heritage activities have been re-appropriated in the locale and revised in on- going negotiations.
Chapter Four: Multiple Case Analysis
Here four sites are analysed: Tongxiao Shinto Shrine, Ciaotou Sugar Factory, Qingxiu Yuan and Jingjunfu Residences. The case of Tongxiao Shinto Shrine ela- borates on the contested nature of Japanese colonial sites in Taiwan. Owing to the dual colonialism struc- ture of Taiwan, interpretative activities represent the negotiation of memories of generations and social groups in connection to the site. The case of Qingxiu Yuan, also a religious site, identifies a controversial situation between different ethnic groups. However, memory activities have continued at Qingxiu Yuan, which allows the process of makingsites of memory
to continue. This process has been stopped in the case of Tongxiao Shinto Shrine, and no ongoing in- terpretative activities have been held since renovation was completed in 2005. In the cases of Ciaotou Sugar
Factory and Jiangjunfu Residences, community in- itiatives were crucial to the conservation and devel- opment of the area. Heritage activities have evoked feelings of belonging, rootedness and pride in both cases, and initiated civil awareness, strengthening the sense of community. However, the trend of heri- tage commoditisation in close relation to the ideol- ogy of development and global consumerism seems to underlie these autonomous acts. Regarding the case of Japanese built heritage, this underlying strength ironically links with the image of Japan in the mass-circulation of media commodities. As a re- sult, the sense of locality and rootedness shaped by community-building heritage activities must inevita- bly face co-optation by commoditised Japanization. Further observation is required to see whether the grassroots initiatives may transform the coloniality of the site to locality production, or whether we will witness a merger with global consumerism. Will these sites eventually become like many other exotic tourist sites representing commoditising homogene- ity rather than locality?
When I first entered the Zhanghuawudedian彰化武
德殿 (butokuden in Japanese) in Zhanghua 彰化 City in 2007, I noticed an interesting hybrid of his- torical layers and unconscious use of the past. This is common to many Japanese‘heritage’sites that have emerged over the last two decades.
Inside this newly renovated Japanese building was a modern restaurant. You could order coffee and cake, or some light food. Its remodelled interior was like many other cafes in urban Taipei. The restaurant was run by a private company which had signed a con- tract with the Zhanghua彰化municipal government
for commercial use of this historical site— another example of the famous BOT34 model promoted by
Fig. 2.0.1 ZhanghuaWudedianin July 2007. A waxen statue of a Japanesesamurai(knight, warrior) temporarily stood at the entrance and later was moved to a side of the building. Photo was taken by the author.
34. BOT: Build-Operate-Transfer is a form of project financing, wherein a private entity receives a concession from the private or public sector to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility stated in the concession contract. This enables the project proponent to recover its investment, operating and maintenance expenses in the project. In Taiwan, the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects (Act for PPIP) was promulgated in 2000, since then BOT has become a model for cutting down the government expenditure, accel- erating development and improving public service. See the official website of PPIP: http://ppp2.pcc.gov.tw/pcc_2010/en/ Introduction.aspx (accessed 23 August 2011)
Fig. 2.0.2 Altar of the martyrs of the ROC at Zhanghua Wudedianin July 2007. Photo was taken by the author.
the state government. Amid the urban, casual atmo- sphere of this café, an altar with tablets inscribed with names stood in the middle of the building. Visi- tors found themselves in front of this altar immedi- ately after entering the space.
The names on the tablets are those of the national heroes and martyrs of the Republic of China (ROC). In the postwar period, many Japanese colonial sites were deliberately demolished or used for different functions by the KMT (Kuomintang國民黨; Chinese Nationalist Party) government, particularly religious and political sites. The Zhanghua butokuden rep- resented Japanese nationalism and Shinto beliefs35,
and was therefore a target for remodelling36. It was therefore transformed into a martyrs’ shrine (zhon- glieci忠烈祠) for the worshiping of national heroes (Chen Xin-an 1997, 26). In 2001 the building was nominated as a municipal‘historic building’(歷史建
築)37 and received subsidies from the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA)38for restoration. The renova- tion was completed in 2005, and the building was planned to be opened in 2007 as a restaurant run by a contracted enterprise39. Interestingly, the altar of the martyrs was not removed and was worshipped by restaurant staff with no understanding of who they worship and why. Rather than respecting the martyrs, these restaurant staff worshipped because of their folk belief: showing respect to a spectral power in order to guarantee one’s safety and smooth business. During my field visit in the summer of 2007, a man- ager told me that the altar was going to be concealed behind a cloth printed with colourful images in order not to scare the customers.
This is a familiar situation at many Japanese ‘heri- tage’sites in contemporary Taiwan. From the 1990s onward, the status of Japanese sites gradually trans- formed from being considered a poisonous leftover of imperialism to‘sites of memory’. In 1991 two Ja- panese colonial buildings were the first to be desig- nated as ‘historic monuments’, and since 2002 a large number of Japanese sites have been designated
35. emph type="italic">Butokuden(武徳殿;ぶとくでん) repre- sented burgeoning Japanese nationalism after the First Sino- Japanese War in 1895. The Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society (大日本武徳会Dai Nippon Butoku Kai), founded in Kyoto, con- structed a large number ofbutokudenin Japan and its colonies. The operation of those centres was mediated by the police system to promote the nationalist spirit ofbudō(武道) (the spirit, form and life style of martial arts). The Zhanghuabutokudenwas the martial arts centre for the Taizhong prefecture during the period ofbutokuden construction. The butokuden was also a spiritual space for mental training. According to the research of Chen Xin-an (1997, 3-50), during the Japanese colonial period many schools treated martial arts such as kendo and judo as a method of expanding one's moral and spiritual education. Some elder alumni of Xinzhu high school shared with Chen some of their experiences of attending meditations in thedōjō(道場; a place for practicing martial arts exercise hall or gymnasium) every morning during their school days in the Japanese period. The placement of the altar was a representation of this spiritual function. In 1917, the Japanese police announced‘keishin’(敬神; God honouring), which combined worshipping and martial arts practice inbutokuden. This was extended to the educational system during the war period. The Ministry of Education
announced in 1937 that all the schools should set altars in the dōjō. In colonial Taiwan, alters were placed in mostbutokuden, including the Zhanghuabutokuden.
36. After the Japanese period, most colonial remains were removed or changed by the KMT (Kuomintang國民黨) in an effort to eliminate any reminders of Japanese rule. Thebutokuden buildings were kept as martial arts training centres for the police of the KMT government. Some buildings were turned into Zhongshan Public Halls (Zhongshan tang中山堂) or centres of living supplies for military personnel, public servants and teachers (jun gong jiao fuli zhongxin 軍公教福利中心) (Chen Xin-an 1997, 1-2). The Zhanghua martial arts centre was later transformed into a martyrs’shrine (Zhonglieci忠烈祠) for the worship of national heroes.
37. According to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, a
‘historic building’(lishi jianzhu歷史建築) is a heritage level legally lower thanguji古蹟(Historic Monument).
38. Subsidies from the Local Museums project (地方文化館計
畫).
39. The restaurant was in fact not in operation after my visit. This was due to problems surrounding an architectural license. My visit in 2007 was during a trial promotion of the restaurant.
as heritage sites and received subsidies from the state government for renovation. These subsidies were closely related to the state’s Integrated Community- Making Programme. Under this scheme, the status of Japanese colonial sites was dramatically changed to places of local pride and local memory; many sites were expected to become catalysts for the invention of community identity and economic revival. In the process of architectural renovation and management after renovations, however, the ambiguity of repre- senting‘heritage’, or a‘site of memory’, is inevitably revealed. This ambiguity refers to the drag between
‘foreign’ and ‘local’ in representing ‘Japaneseness’ at a site of local identity. It also refers to the impact of structural colonialism that continues in postcolo- nial society, and to representations of Japaneseness in relation to the image of Japan within the global consumerist framework. Moreover, this ambiguity emerges from an environment where locality and community has been enthusiastically promoted by the central government. Projects in making sites of memory on the local level were greatly supported by subsidies from the central government. Nevertheless, this top-down prospect of locality confronts the actor network of local society. Constructing a collective past of Taiwan has always been a dynamic process. Local actors are not simply passive receivers. Each has a separate framework of memory, and strategi- cally reacts to the authorised prospects. Within this actor network, the Japanese past is re-edited and sometimes contested by different actors for their var- ious prospects of locality. As a result, some of these sites have been transformed to sites of memory, while others eventually became deserted ‘mosquito halls,’40losing their connection precisely to the local communities which are supposed to be their owners under the scheme of community-making.
The Zhanghua butokuden is one example among many of Japanese heritage sites which were‘rehabi- litated’ in the ‘era of localism’.41This chapter aims
to provide a framework for subsequent analyses of such case studies. We begin with a discussion of the paradoxical phrase‘colonial heritage’, revealing the inevitable ambiguity of its interpretation. Consider- ing the distinctive complexity and multivalence of Taiwanese experience and memory of Japanese colo- nialism, particularly since the 1990s, the ambiguity of Taiwanese conceptualisation of Japanese colonial sites is all the more profound. During the‘era of loc- alism’ that accompanied Taiwan’s democratization and the decline in KMT dominance, Japanese colo- nial sites were changed from being official places of hatred to ‘sites of memory’ in the government narratives and heritage policies. Nevertheless, local perception of colonial sites was not necessarily in ac- cordance with official narratives. In the 2000s, nu- merous Japanese sites were designated as heritage. At the same time, disagreement still existed, for ex- ample in the case of the renaming of Taoyuan Mar- tyrs’ Shrine to Taoyuan Shinto Shrine. These Japa- nese sites have been incorporated into diversified conceptualizations and appropriations by postcolo- nial actors. These local actors had been active within the framework of the‘predominant thoughts’(Halb- wachs 1992). They responded to the government nar- ratives or reinterpreted and appropriated the narra- tives strategically. In doing so these local actors sometimes challenged decisions made by the bureau- cratic system, resulting in changes; sometimes, their acts reinforced authorised discourses. Discussions on the representation of Japanese sites in Taiwan allow a close look into this dynamic. In the case of the Zhan- ghuabutokuden, despite the architecture being in the style of the Japanese imperialist period and rich in Shinto associations, it was registered as a cultural heritage site and renovated using government subsi- dies in expectation of the reward of tourist revenue and local identity. At the same time, the site remains
‘foreign’to the postcolonial community for various reasons. Local communities have attached their own distinct memories to this site, while the intention of the local government was to use it for local tourism. The memory discourses propagated by the central authorities have not always fit the memories of local communities, and especially the different reinterpre-
40.‘Mosquito hall’(wenzi guan 蚊子館) is a phrase used to satirise the states of these buildings; constructed and renovated by the government with a large budget, they are now left unattended as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
41. Era of localism,defang shidai地方時代, refers to the 1990s and 2000s when Taiwan gained enormous attention in many fields. A“new era of localism”(xin defang shidai新地方時代) was
anticipated by Chen, Qi-nan in 1997. The phrase was taken from the Japanese counterpart (Lü 2002, 24).
tations of Japaneseness have caused disagreement. The dynamics represented by heritage activities at Qingxiu Yuan Temple are an example of this: the grassroots’ activist organization who managed the temple from 2003 to 2010, tried to reconnect the tem- ple to the past of the Japanese immigrants and the earlier indigenous community. The reinterpreting ac- tivities of the organization on the one hand raised di- verse opinions among the postcolonial indigenous communities; on the other hand, they were chal- lenged by intentions of the local government in turn- ing the site into a tourist attraction through bringing in a popular image of Japan.
The second section of this chapter examines the his- torical context of this ‘era of localism’. The state community-building initiatives of this time lasted for one and a half decades (1994-2008), and provided a supportive environment for heritage-making. Within this environment, the recollection of local memories prospered under government support and grassroots endeavours. The traces of Japanese colonialism, once suppressed by the postwar KMT regime, evoked diversified memories and provided fields for claiming one’s own past. In using the colonial sites of