THCDC Strengthens Local-Global Ties: Village History Promotion Workshop and Field Research Held Alongside Japanese Scholars


The Taiwan Hakka Culture Development Center (THCDC) and Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology are collaborating in the museum’s special exhibition Founding Hakka and Japan: Another History of East Asian Relations Created by Chinese Overseas. The exhibition’s curator, Assistant Professor Kawai Hironao of Tokyo Metropolitan University, visited Taiwan to perform field research in Dongshi, Taichung and Zhao’an, Yunlin on June 10 and 12. The Village History Promotion Workshop was held in Taichung Municipal Donghua Junior High School with the assistance of Taichung City Dongshi District Office on June 14. THCDC hopes that the activity will encourage local residents to further understand and learn about the Hakka settlement they call home, increasing ordinary people’s knowledge of Hakka village history.

The elders from Dongshi’s Chen Historical House and Lin Historical House enthusiastically shared accounts of the history and culture of their family residences. Hakka residents of Zhao’an, Yunlin were eager to show hospitality, giving detailed explanations for the Hakka surnames, ancestry, and language of Zhao’an. Professor Kawai also took part in the recording and documentation of the Dapu and Zhao’an dialects, which will also be showcased in September’s special exhibition. Any of the 8 Hakka dialects can be heard even in Japan.