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Du Xiang-guo Papers (杜香國文書)

Author: The Archives of Institute of Taiwan History

Du Xiang-guo was a member of local gentry and industrialist in Dajia Town, Taichung County. His father, Du Qing, was dedicated to improving quality of Dajia Straw hats and mats and exporting them to Europe and the United States. Being a successor of his father’s business, Du Xiang-guo was active in manufacturing and financial industry. The Du Xiang-guo Papers, with coverage date from 1908 to 1946, contains his correspondence on business matters, diaries during attending schools, and literary works.

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IV. Lin’s Footsteps in France

On November 14, Lin and his sons arrived at the City of Light, which referred to Paris. In his diary, Lin Xian-tang thought Paris had both lightness and darkness, but there was more good than bad. In his diary, Lin said the streets in Paris were beautiful and ordered. Also, the historical sites in Paris could remind people of history. In addition, Paris was an international city where many visitors visited. As a result, it was common for citizens in Paris to meet foreigners. In other words, Parisians did not regard foreigners as outsiders, which was totally different from people in other countries. In fact, people who had not visited Paris usually imagined Paris as a beautiful city. In their mind, the life in Paris must be luxurious and dissolute. In fact, most of the Parisians had a plain life. Even though there were some streets with many places of entertainment, the places were actually mainly for foreigners. This is so called a little darkness in light. (See Figure 6 & 7)

Figure 6: The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan on November 14, 1927.
(Source: The Diary of Mr. Guan-yuan, the digital archives of the Archives of Institution of Taiwan History)
Figure 7: The Paris Station and Porte Saint-Denis.
(Source: Michael H.Finegan Collections, the digital archives of the Archives of Institution of Taiwan History)

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