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The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Opening of Hualien Port, 1939
The Taiwan Shinminpo News Special – Opening of Hualien Port, 1939

Publication date: 11 Oct 2023
Author: Chu Feng-chung, Kawashima Naoko |Staff member of the Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

The Taiwan Shinminpo and its related newspaper series were the only newspapers published by the Taiwanese during the Japanese colonial era. Among the contents, in-depth special reports on places, events and people are very important historical materials for studies on family histories and local regions. The Institute of Taiwan History has collected almost a hundred local news specials, covering topics such as economy and industry, infrastructure, cultural history, and school education. The issues presented include banana production and industrial economic trends, major infrastructure completion and current political situation, upgrade of towns and villages, rail service resumption and local development. The Taiwan Shinminpo carried what might not be described or documented in regular publications, such as local cultural characteristics and industrial histories, which were precious records for understanding our homeland. With the reference to the news special “Commemorative Special on Opening of Hualien Port” published in The Taiwan Shinminpo on October 1-2, 1939 and other archival collections of Institute of Taiwan History, this article focuses on the completion and opening of Hualien Port in 1939, detailing the construction process and its impact during the Japanese colonial era.

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Identification Description

Title

Du Xiang-guo Papers (杜香國文書)

Introduction

Du Xiang-guo (1893-1947) was a member of local gentry and industrialist in Dajia Town, Taichung County. The documents left behind him are acquired and preserved by the Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica, and some of them are digitized for academic use.

Du Xiang-guo’s father, Du Qing, was a local businessman. He cooperated with other local businessmen to establish the HorThai company and the Dajia hats and mats trading association to improve the development of the industry.  In addition, he used to serve as the director of Dajia Credit Union and executive officer of Dadong Trust Corporation.  Affected by his father, Du Xiang-guo began his business in economic and trade area, and served as manager of Taiwan Securities Co., Ltd, president of Dajia Chamber of commerce, general manager of Penglai Paper Co., Ltd., supervisory manager of Zhongnan Industrial Co., Ltd., and executive officer of Dajia Credit Union. Both the Du’s father and son were active in the business community in Taichung.

The Du Xiang-guo Papers contains more than 500 items, including his correspondence, photos, collected documents, and manuscripts which were created during the period of Japanese rule. More than reflecting intercourse between local families during the period of Japanese rule, those documents, including correspondence with his friends, diaries during schooldays, and manuscripts about his literary works, help researcher understand cultural and educational situations and Du Xiang-guo’s contact with his friends. As for the correspondence on business matters and commercial information, revealing the situation of business development and civil disputes between businessmen, could be the first-hand material for the research into business development during that period.

Source of Collection

Producer: Du Xiang-guo

Coverage Dates

1908 - 1946

‹ Du Xiang-guo Papers (杜香國文書) up Biography ›

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