Since 1972, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has been established for 50 years. The splendid half century is not only the shared growing memory of the public but also the heritage of contemporary history and culture. This year is the 50th anniversary. The hall especially plans and presents the series activities including “The Exhibition of the Hall History for the 50th Anniversary,” “The Exhibition of the Hall Collection for the 50th Anniversary,” “Roam with National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall App,” the stage show “Renai Road 6,” “Life Aesthetics: The Exhibition of Endless Art Journey,” and “The 50th Anniversary International Conference.”
The opening ceremony of “National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 50th Anniversary” was held first on May 5. To celebrate the important milestone, Director-general Wang Lan-sheng launched the APP animation to interact with Dr. Sun Yat-sen, which symbolized the official start of the 50th anniversary series activities. At the same time, he also held the unveiling ceremony of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s calligraphy work, “Tian Xia Wei Gong (The World for All People).” The work was handed by Prof. Lu Ching-wu, the son of Lu Kuang-wen, to National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for collection in 2001. It is displayed publicly at the hall for the first time.
Written personally by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the calligraphy work is one of several extremely important works of the hall. After the revolt against Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the ROC, to praise Lu Kuang-wen (1892-1964) for his contribution to Gaozhou Uprising and assistance in establishing the Guangzhou governor’s office, Dr. Sun Yat-sen wrote and gave him the four-character horizontal calligraphy work, “Tian Xia Wei Gong,” in person. On December 31, 2001, the calligraphy work was handed by Prof. Lu Ching-wu, the son of Lu Kuang-wen, to National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for collection. Prof. Lu Ching-wu used to mention in his memoir that in 1917 Dr. Sun Yat-sen headed south to launch the Constitutional Protection Movement and Lu Kuang-wen was elected as the first magistrate of Xinyi. In 1923, Lu Kuang-wen served as the cashier and then secretary of Guangzhou Marshal’s Office. To praise Lu’s contribution to the revolution and assistance in establishing the governor’s office during Gaozhou Uprising, Dr. Sun Yat-sen especially wrote the calligraphy of the four characters, “Tian Xia Wei Gong” in person and gave it to Lu. Lu Ching-wu said, “This calligraphy work is regarded as life by my father. It has never been lost during upheavals, so I can keep it until now.” It is noteworthy that in the past years Prof. Lu Ching-wu has asked the important persons to view and write inscriptions on the work, including Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s eldest son, Sun Ke, Huang Ji-lu, Chen li-fu, and Chang Chi-yun, endowing the calligraphy work with more historic meaning and precious value.
Director-general Wang Lang-sheng said the collection of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s history and the academic research of his thought has been the goal the hall works hard to achieve. To hold the diverse art and cultural exhibitions and performances is also the important mission since establishment. These years the hall has held many exhibitions of the senior masters with great fame in the art circle and outstanding achievement in the professional fields and witnessed the art and cultural development of modern Taiwan. In the past half century, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has been both the recreational space for many citizens and the important cultural landmark, accompanying the land of Taiwan in the growth and development of the glorious fifty years. To greet the next fifty years, the hall is dedicated to promoting “Interdisciplinary Value-adding Public Works Program,” which not only reproduces Architect Wang Da-hong’s design spirit half a century ago but also includes the concepts of safety, comfort, amicability, and friendliness, expecting to shoulder the responsibility to pass on the legacy and becoming the cultural field loved by everyone.
The history of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall also witnesses the process of the East District of Taipei City turning from desolate to prosperous. Besides commemorating Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the hall also has the multiple functions such as the exhibition rooms, theater, plaza, and park. “The Exhibition of the Hall History for the 50th Anniversary,” officially named “Starting at 50,” is designed from the citizens’ angle and presented in the five categories: “The Birth of the Classic Architecture,” “The Ordinary and Extraordinary of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall,” “The Image Representation and Thinking Trace of Dr. Sun Yat-sen,” “The Inclusiveness of the Auditorium,” and “The Shared Future of You and Me.” The extension from the past to the future not only recalls the old days but also shares National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall’s historical trace, charm, transformation, and future.
“The Exhibition of the Hall Collection for the 50th Anniversary” selects nearly hundred collected works, including “Pine and Cypress in Spring,” co-painted by the masters such as Zhang Da-qian and Huang Jun-bi, the works by the modern calligraphy and painting masters such as Yu You-ren, Tsou Yung, Wang Chuan-wei, Liu Kuo-sung, Ou Hao-nien, and Tu Chung-kao, the western paintings such as Ma Pai-sui, Li Kun-pei, Liao Shiou-ping, A-sun Wu, Hsu Kun-cheng, and Su Hsien-fa, and the works of the first-prize winners in the past “Chungshan Youth Art Awards,” which has been newly held in recent years. It is expected that through this exhibition the citizens will recall the shared memories with National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and enjoy the artists’ splendid works at the same time.
“Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s statue stands up!” To show the friendly image of the solemn building of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, “Roam with National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall App” is specially developed. Besides telling the 20 must-know stories of the historic building, it makes the 5.8-meter-tall statue of sitting Dr. Sun Yat-sen stand up through technology. The users can even interact and take photos with Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s statue making the V-sign, which is a subversion to the solemn stereotype of the hall. The relief sculpture of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s history at the front hall of the second floor also moves together with the audio and visual effect to bring surprise to the users as if they were in the scenes of the Harry Potter movies. “Roam with National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall App” breaks the line between the virtual and real world through AR technology, attracts the audience’s eyes through the innovative technological experience, and further explores the beauty of the hall building. As long as the citizens download the APP with the digital vehicles such as smartphones and ipads and tour the hall by using the map, they can learn more about the cultural treasure integrating the traditional and western modern architectural characteristics.
To greet the 50th anniversary, National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall specially presents the warm comedy “Renai Road 6” before the renovation of the Auditorium. From the perspective of an employee of the hall, the play tells the splendid stories of the hall in the past fifty years. It’s a new stage show composed of the events such as the death of former President Chiang Kai-shek, the award-giving ceremonies of the Golden Horse Awards, Golden Bells Awards, and Golden Melody Awards, and Teresa Teng’s live singing performance. Under the influence of the pandemic, to protect the audience’s right, the show has been postponed from the anniversary to National Day. Please look forward to the great show with tears and laughter, “Renai Road 6.” There will be three shows respectively in the afternoon (14:30) and evening (19:30) of October 8 and in the afternoon (14:30) of October 9.
National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall has provided the life aesthetics class for 25 years, offering the public the comprehensive life aesthetic experience. Among them, Mr. Wang Tai-tian has taught the landscape ink painting class for 25 years since 1998 and had more than thousand students. His diligence and passion for teaching is admirable. The exhibition “Life Aesthetics: The Exhibition of Endless Art Journey” includes the diverse contents: “The Development and Important Events of Life Aesthetics Class,” “Class Highlights,” “Chungshan Park,” “The Art of Paper Cutting,” “Travel Photography,” and “Flower Arrangement.”
The celebrations will continue until the end of the year. “The 50th Anniversary International Conference” will be held on November 3 and 4, including the Sunology conference, “Heritage and Promotion: The Half Century Retrospect and Prospect of the Research of Sunology” and the museum forum held for the first time, “Heritage and Innovation: The Half Century Retrospect and Prospect of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.” The hall will also publish the special issue of Journal of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall for the 50th anniversary to look back on the days of the past half century. We sincerely welcome the public to visit these events. For more information, please call the service counter of the hall at (02)2758-8008, ext. 545, 546 or visit the official website of National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, www.yatsen.gov.tw.