The town of Jiadong in southern Taiwan is remembering the late doctor, poet and activist Tseng Kui-hai, a man who lead a campaign to save local historical sites. Tseng died in 2024 and the town is honoring him with an exhibit on his life that will run until June.
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00:00The lotus blossoms are back as southern Taiwan's gentle winter gives way to the warmth of spring.
00:07They've been blooming in this same pond year after year for more than a century.
00:15Here at the old Yang family residence in Jiadong, Pingtung County, not much has changed since the 1920s.
00:22The feng shui pond still runs with water, intricate stone carvings still adorn the walls,
00:28and the complex decorations on the roof, from flowers to elephant heads, show no signs of weathering.
00:34It's all lovingly preserved for tour groups to enjoy.
00:40But were it not for one man, these fine views would all have fallen into ruin years ago.
00:46The lotus blossoms are back as southern Taiwan's gentle winter gives way to the warmth of spring.
00:57Tsang Kwe-hai was a doctor, but it's his poetry and his defense of local culture that people best remember him for.
01:04It started with a Yang family residence.
01:07In 1995, plans to build a road through part of the grounds stirred local resistance.
01:14When I was young, I wanted to build a road through the ground.
01:22But the protests failed to achieve much.
01:25That's when Tsang Kwe-hai stepped in, and what he did set off a chain reaction.
01:32Jiadong is one of the towns in this part of southern Taiwan with a big population of Hakka people.
01:38These are people with Chinese origins, but with their own distinct language, history, and way of life.
01:44Tsang turned saving this one home, the Yang family residence, into a Hakka cause.
01:49Groups from out of town joined in.
01:52At first, the protests were something of a confusing novelty in this small town.
01:56I remember a lot of the elderly people were at the door.
02:01I was curious about what was going on.
02:03Because I don't think this has ever happened in Jiadong.
02:06But the pressure campaign worked.
02:08The planned road was rerouted, and the building and grounds are still here.
02:12More than that, people began to appreciate a local heritage they'd come to overlook.
02:20So when the next battle to save an old building came in 2011,
02:24people were primed to take action.
02:27After a hundred years, the two-story shop and home that local people call Tsang's house was collapsing.
02:33And with the property being used as bank collateral, repairs were impossible.
02:38With a vigorous fundraising campaign, though, Tsang was able to change the right minds.
02:43Today, the building looks freshly restored.
02:46At the time, Tsang spoke to Taiwan's Hakka TV about his thinking.
02:51I'm a person who's thinking.
02:54I'm a person who's thinking.
02:56I've been there for a few months.
02:58I've been to the city hall a few times.
03:00I've been to the local school building a few times.
03:04So I'm a person who's thinking.
03:06I'm a person who's thinking about the future of Taipei.
03:09The people have lost their culture.
03:12The old buildings have fallen.
03:14Tsang Kwei-hai died on the 6th of August, 2024.
03:18He left behind not just verse like this, but a town he'd taught to take pride in itself as a living museum.
03:25Others have now taken up the baton.
03:27Now, within one kilometer, visitors can find five carefully protected historic sites.
03:33And nearby, an old streetscape has been turned into a cultural space named Poet's Walk in Tsang's honor.
03:40In Tsang's house, the building he campaigned for, a small exhibit on Tsang's life runs till June,
03:46a reminder of a person who changed his community.
03:49Eason Pan and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.