Military dependents’ village takes on new mission in western Taiwan

2019/11/01

Jianguo Military Dependents’ Village in western Taiwan’s Yunlin County is undergoing an unlikely renaissance on the back of public-private sector efforts preserving local sites of historical interest while creating tourism industry opportunities.
 
 Situated in Huwei Township, the facility was once home to a thriving community of residents. But the end of the Cold War and a re-evaluation of Taiwan’s defensive needs saw the village vacated and fall into disrepair.
 
 Lin Jie-kang, a staffer with Melia Integrated Design—a firm commissioned by Yunlin County Government to rejuvenate interest in the facility by organizing festivals and volunteer cleanup activities—first visited the village three years ago to conduct a general inspection.
 
“There were so many weeds and bloodthirsty mosquitoes everywhere,” Lin said. “It’s amazing to see how much it’s changed since then.”
 
According to Lin, military dependents’ villages played an important role in Taiwan’s history. ‘But today many young people know little about them,” he said, adding that this makes the work of MID even more important.
 
 Military dependents’ villages popped up rapidly around the country after the ROC (Taiwan) government relocated from the mainland in 1949. Populated by officers and soldiers, along with their wives and children, they at one time numbered more than 800 nationwide.
 
 Comprising four small villages, Jianguo was in some respects typical of these sites, though it also differed in certain key ways. The local government’s Cultural Affairs Department said the area hosted farms until two years prior to the end of Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945), when authorities appropriated the land to build houses for air force personnel and their dependents.
 
 In the late 1940s, members of the ROC (Taiwan) air force and their families took up residency. They inhabited existing structures, including warehouses divided into small living spaces, as well as new housing units constructed to accommodate the population influx.

In view of these unique attributes, YCG decided to preserve the community after the last residents moved away in 2005. These efforts are focused on Villages 1 and 2, since the buildings in Villages 3 and 4 are either too dilapidated or were demolished to make way for a correctional facility.
 
 A major breakthrough came in 2017 when the community was included in the Regeneration of Historic Sites Project overseen by the Bureau of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture. This project is part of the Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program, a comprehensive central government initiative aimed at meeting Taiwan’s key infrastructure needs for the next three decades.

With the regeneration of Village 1 underway, MID is stepping up efforts to help rejuvenate and bolster public awareness of the site. Each week, the firm organizes garbage and weed removal activities for groups of volunteers from nearby National Formosa University. During the summer months, it also arranges a five-day working holiday program for college students from around the country.
 
 MID also coordinates the Jianguo Military Dependents’ Village Cultural Festival, the third edition of which took place in mid-August. Last year’s event ran over the course of nine days in December and featured such activities as tree climbing and storytelling sessions led by former inhabitants.
 
 Several nonprofits work with Melia in organizing and publicizing these events. Among them is Jianguo Community Development Association, comprised mostly of former residents.
 
 Simon Liang, the group’s secretary-general, who moved to Jianguo from eastern Taiwan at age 5, said it was sad to see the place where he grew up fall into wrack and ruin. “We are absolutely dedicated to helping revive the community.”
 
The now-68-year-old Liang, who hands out free steamed buns at the cultural festival, is compiling a list of recipes once commonly served in the village. “These dishes could act as a useful reference for restaurants based at the site in years to come,” he said.

Participants in the 2018 Jianguo Military Dependents’ Village Cultural Festival partake in activities once common in the settlement, such as making traditional snacks, climbing trees and watching movies on an outdoor screen. (Courtesy of MID)
 
 Given the central government infrastructure funding, improved public transportation access and strong enthusiasm of former inhabitants, Jianguo is entering a bright new chapter in its history. Once given up for dead, the village is coming back to life.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)