*
Homepage

 

02/26 (Thu)

Opening Hours 9:00-17:00
*
*
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.

*
The series of Taiwan Commercial Letters of Tai-yi-hou Papers has released
2017-09-04

Tai-yi-hou Papers of Nagasaki were the documents created and preserved by the Chen family from Kinmen. Chen family had a long history in running business in Nagasaki and these documents recorded their trading business and social activities that they participated from the 1880s to the 1940s when Chen Rui-chun (1840-1908), Chen Shi-wang (1869-1940) and Chen Jin-zhong (1890-1974) were in charge. The Papers contain a huge amount of business letters and historical materials related to Chen’s enterprise operation, family activities, and overseas Chinese affairs. It is definitely the first-hand historical source to research the trade development in modern East Asia and overseas Chinese affairs.

The Institute of Taiwan History and Mr. Chen Dong-hua, the offspring of the Chen family, had signed the agreement to digitalize the Tai-yi-hou Papers in 2012. We acquired the archives five times from April, 2014 to June, 2017 and transported more than 50,000 original items from Japan to Taiwan, including correspondences, account books, code books, receipts, contracts, publications, seals, relics, etc. Based on types and purposes, the Tai-yi-hou Papers are categorized into commercial letters, operational documents, family collections, and the documents of Fujian Guildhall and overseas Chinese affairs. Since the quantity of Tai-yi-hou Papers is enormous and therefore the compiling procedure is time consuming, the archives will open in stages.

Now, the series of Taiwan Commercial Letters is open online. There are approximately 17,000 commercial letters and over 50,000 digital images. All letters are first organized based on which business stores they were from and then classified on the basis of where the business stores located.

The commercial letters are categorized on the basis of different business stores so that readers can easily access letters from each business store. In addition, envelopes, paper, and stamp marks that different business stores used are helpful for readers to understand the history and the operating situation of these different stores as well as their business interactions with Tai-yi-hou. Moreover, “Biography and History” and “Related Material” contain the information about the historical development and the connections between different stores. These letters show the development of different regions and record important historical events so as to present the various features of commercial activities in Taiwan in the 20th century.

Taiwan Commercial Letters, the second series of Tai-yi-hou Papers of Nagasaki, has released now. We welcome the public to access Taiwan Archival Information System and retrieve the materials.

Figure：The letter sent from Taipei Qian-yuan Pharmacy on October 8, 1931.
Identifier：T1001_02_07_052.


11F., South Wing, Building for Humanities and Social Sciences, 128, Sec. 2, Academia Rd., Nangang Dist., Taipei City 11529,
Taiwan Tel: +886-2-2652-5181 Fax: +886-2-2652-5184 【Contact us】
Copyright © 2010 Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica. All Rights Reserved