From past to future, romance flows in the stream of time and history, and even the wise men cannot handle the thing called love.
When you fall in love with the Mountain, Sea, Town and City of Taichung, there is no way to fall out of it. When we meet Taichung as we travel through time, the glamor and glory of Taichung give us memories too beautiful to forget,
Vibrance and vitality of Taichung, the place we call home, accumulate with the progression of generations. We launched fundamental research to explore the history, culture, arts, literature and languages of Taichung. One subproject studies the historical development of lacquer craft in Taichung Craft Art Institute founded by Yamanaka Tadasu (山中公). Other subprojects investigate the traditional industries in Central District of Taichung, film making workshops and local stories recording, history docents training, and the establishment of an exhibition center of Taichung Studies. The features and uniquenesses of Taichung regional cultures are demonstrated and demonstrated by art and craft creation, ethnographic studies, field trips, featured literary workshops, and various lesson plans of Taichung Studies.
The project outcomes should be chewed and digested slowly and repeatedly, the process filled with wonder and awe. The reader's mind is strengthened and touched. The beauty and imperfections of the project make the journey unforgettable. Every look at Taichung and every step on her land is like falling in love with Taichung, again and again. The exploration of Taichung is like a love story; the history of Taichung is revealed with a powerful magnitude; the cultures are imprints from generations ahead of us; the arts are approached with the purity of our hearts; the literature appreciated with faith and courage.
Love is hurting. We are like fools of love. Yet, something from out-of-this-world tells us the continuation and recreation of the glory of Taichung is our mission, in our hands. Our project includes two main aspects and six action plans. The first aspect, Old Town Reborn, includes 3 action plans: (1) The revival of the lacquer craft: Renovating Taiwan lacquer craft; (2) "New" Taiwanese and "Old" voices: Archiving historical records of Voice Chung radio station in Taichung; (3) From "Old" languages to "New" voices: Promoting native languages education at Maryknoll Language Center. The second aspect, Educating the Youth, includes another 3 action plans: (4) Sustainability and glocalization: Integrating social responsibility and action in Freshman English curriculum; (5) Interdisciplinary music and social action: Music camps in rural elementary schools; (6) Walking the literary landscape of Taichung: After school care in remote areas. The field of social action in the first 3 action plans is old town Taichung; that in the latter 3 action plans is elementary schools. Diligence may not always result in success, but it will never result in regret. We work hard and dream of a rainbow in the sky. Wind and clouds may block out the sight, but the yearning is overwhelming. Obstacles and stumbles only make the desire to see the colors and the glory even more stronger.
What is past is past, but oh, how we wish to tell the story of the past. We tell the story from collecting documents, making field trips, conducting on-site interviews and resorting to digital resources. An imprinting identity of Taichung gradually emerges from the stories we tell, from the culture-infused industries, education provided for different groups of people (new immigrants, local and international tourists, students, etc.), guided tours, digital documentaries, and so forth. The glory of Taichung is recreated, and it is here to stay.
As the third installment of the project, it is the right time to compile project results and make them the important learning resources in Taichung Study, a required course in the College of Humanities at the National Taichung University of Education. Through careful curriculum design, the seed of social action is sowed in the university. Worries or flurries, fantasies or realities, behold the glory of the Mountain, Sea, Town and City of Taichung!