Spectral Codex

14/10/2024

Zilai Theater (自來大戲院) is a notorious ruin in southern Taiwan widely known for its dilapidated appearance and small town setting. Although its proximity to several military bases and a veterans hospital explains why this theater was built, few historic details of its operating history seem certain, so much of the associated entry is speculative.

21/09/2024

Today is the 25th anniversary of the catastrophic 921 Earthquake in Taiwan. It is also one of the major themes explored on my site, so browse on over for some photos, commentary, and a map of affected sites, mostly in Nantou and Taichung.

Photo essays, road trips, and a geospatial database with a particular emphasis on the history and culture of Taiwan.

17/09/2024

The plaque next to the entrance of this abandoned building in Keelung suggests this was a kenban (檢番), or geisha management office (藝妓管理所), one of the very few physical traces of Japanese colonial red-light districts remaining in Taiwan. It was extensively modified in the post-war tumult and repurposed as a police dormitory. It was abandoned around 1995 and sold in an auction. Since it is now privately owned, and there seems to be no interest in preserving this old building, it may vanish pretty much at any time.

Completed in 1927, this is a former management office for one of more than a dozen officially sanctioned red-light districts in Japanese colonial Taiwan. After the war it was repurposed for use as a police dormitory and later abandoned. Although there is some interest in preserving the building it i...

07/09/2024

Dredging up more lost content from the archives... here's a post about an old 1930s Japanese colonial era police station in the hills of eastern Tainan. When I visited in 2018 it was abandoned, but local government got around to restoring it in 2022 or so.

Japanese colonial police station, abandoned and accessible. Also known as Shuiyun Police Station (水雲派出所). The school behind it (水雲國小) is also partly abandoned, or at least neglected.

05/09/2024

Reporting on another lost theater in Tainan... this one has seemingly escaped the notice of all but the writers of an authoritative book about Tainan theater history (南瀛戲院誌). I haven't seen any other photos or information about it on the web in any language, maybe because it's not visually impressive. That being said, this IS the original structure dating back to 1969, and it still tells a small story of the socioeconomic history of this part of suburban Tainan.

Former golden age theater in suburban Rende operating from 1969 to 1989. It was renovated into a KTV and has since been abandoned. Although the interior has been extensively modified the columns out front match archival photos from its opening day. Sometimes referred to solely as Rende Theater (仁....

01/09/2024

Slowly documenting the many components of the Sun Moon Lake Hydroelectric Project. This particular example is a reinforced concrete aqueduct carrying tailwater from one generating station to the next. Completed in 1937 and still in use today! It also survived 921 without any trouble, from what I can tell. Overall it makes for a nice little side trip from Checheng if you've got wheels.

Completed in 1937, this sturdy aqueduct spans a river behind the scenic Mingtan Reservoir (明潭水庫). It is one of many parts of the Sun Moon Lake Hydroelectric Project still in use. Also known more generally as Shuili Aqueduct (水里水橋) or Shuili Water-Crossing Bridge (水里過水橋).

31/08/2024

Rongchang Theater (榮昌戲院) in Puzi suffered a severe fire last night. Established in 1933, this is one of Taiwan's only remaining Japanese colonial era theaters. Thankfully nobody was injured, but it's a terrible shame more hasn't been done to preserve this theater over the years.

27/08/2024

I stumbled upon a historic post office established in Shuili in 1933 while passing through town last year. It served the needs of Nantou residents for nearly 70 years but had its time cut short by the 921 Earthquake. Today this building is no more, another victim of the wrecking ball, or more generally neglect and an indifference to preserving the past. I realize not all old buildings can be saved, but this one really should have merited an investigation by the Ministry of Culture, and maybe an intervention.

Many thanks to 戀戀水里 for their tireless efforts to raise awareness of this old post office, and for their work celebrating and popularizing local history in Shuili.

Established in 1933, this historic Japanese colonial era post office was left in ruins after the 921 Earthquake and unceremoniously destroyed in 2024.

24/08/2024

Taipei was home to three garbage incinerators in the 1930s, only one of which remains intact. Recognized for its historic value in 2014, the former Ryukochu Incinerator across from Taipei Botanical Garden remains in an abandoned state, but it still provides some insight into public health history in Taiwan. It also might be the only incinerator of its kind still standing anywhere, although this is hard to verify... anyway, come have a look at this old ruin and maybe learn a thing or two!

Completed in 1933, this was one of three large incinerators built in Taipei to deal with an overabundance of household garbage in the burgeoning colonial capital. It went out of service in the 1960s and was soon covered by illegal housing. The site was cleared in the early 2010s, exposing the ruins....

20/08/2024

Spectral Codex 2.0 is now online! I migrated away from WordPress to a completely custom setup with a hybrid content model somewhere between a blog and a personal Wikipedia. Instead of basing absolutely everything on posts there are now literally thousands of locations in the system, all provisioned with geodata, and yes... maps! 🗺

I've also organized those datapoints into various themes: old movie theaters of Taiwan (with records of more than 1,000); Japanese colonial era sites; former Shinto shrines; military dependents' and Dachen Island villages; interesting and historic temples; industrial legacies (forestry, sugar, salt, bricks, etc.); sites related to the 228 Incident; abandoned places popular with the urban exploration scene in Taiwan; and so on... it's an evolving database of whatever catches my eye, and I still have thousands of places to add from years of taking notes, so expect more to be added on a weekly basis!

Of course, with so much data I'm bound to make mistakes, so if you notice anything wrong, poorly worded, or imprecisely located, corrections are welcome and my DMs are open.

03/02/2024

An alleyway scene in Tainan that has hardly changed at all in 40 years. The picture on top is by Japanese photographer Doi Kuro from 1984, whereas the picture down below is by the original poster's friend in 2021. On the right is the Xiao Memorial Archway (蕭氏節孝坊), which dates back to 1800!

臺南二府口福安宮旁的蕭氏節孝坊 1984 vs 2021

上圖由日本攝影師土井九郎攝於1984年，地點在臺南市中西區府前路一段304巷内，鏡頭向西望；畫面左側位於賣油炸餅（可能是蛋餅或蔥餅）的老先生後方的柱子屬於「二府口福安宮」（地址為304巷3號）；中間房子的「插花研究所」為曾任中華插花學會理事長的留日池坊流花藝專家何月梅女士所開設，曾任；右側坐落在路中央的牌坊則是直轄市定古蹟「蕭氏節孝坊」。

下圖由吾友鄭嘉瑩於2021年2月3日中午在同地拍攝。在此我要特別感謝鄭兄，因為他為了拍到有人走過的畫面，足足在巷子裡蹲了半個小時之久。

二府口為清領時期臺灣分府衙門（又稱臺灣海防廳），相對於臺灣道署而言，它被稱為二府衙或二府口，其主要職務是稽查臺灣各港口船隻出入，最早駐於鹿耳門，清雍正8年（1730年）移駐今友愛市場後方略偏東南邊，位於臺江內海畔，坐東朝西；當時二府口前面的道路（今府前路一段304巷）名為二府口街，因此這間福安宮常被稱作二府口福安宮，以和臺灣其他地方的福安宮有所區別。

二府口福安宮主祀李府千歲（農曆6月6日祭祀），配祀註生娘娘、福德正神。

今昔對照之下，看得出來二府口福安宮前方的柱子有改建過。根據廟方沿革碑所載，二府口福安宮是道光元年（1821年）創建，且是沈葆楨將神明恭請來臺供官兵參拜，但根據清乾隆17年（1752年）王必昌編著的《重修臺灣縣志》卷六 ：「茲查各坊里社廟，以王公大人1 稱者甚夥：東安坊則山川臺、坑仔底，西定坊則王宮港、草仔寮、海防署前⋯⋯」，文中的「海防署前」即是指二府口福安宮，故可推測二府口福安宮應該更早就存在了，至少在1752年就已經有了。福安宮被後來曾於日治時期1904年重建過。

而坐落在今臺南市中西區府前路一段304巷3號前的「蕭氏節孝坊」則是建於清嘉慶5年（1800年），該牌坊乃用來表彰太學生沈耀汶的遺孀蕭娘娘「為亡夫守節及孝順公婆」之事蹟。

表彰婦女「節孝」是臺灣清領時期的一種社會價值觀，根據《大清會典》之規定，當時凡是在30歲之前就死了丈夫，然後一直過了50歲都還沒有改嫁的婦女，無論是元配或副室，皆具備被表揚「節孝」之資格，其旌賞方式是由地方政府賜銀30兩，交由受表揚者或其家屬，令其自行在鄰里建坊。

蕭氏21歲出嫁，27歲亡夫守寡，獨自將兩個兒子拉拔長大，並勤於侍奉公婆，終生未再嫁，為鄰里稱道，於是在清嘉慶3年（1798年）受到朝廷旌表，並於5年立坊。

1985年8月19日，臺南市政府依據文化資產保存法第27條，指定「蕭氏節孝坊」為市定古蹟。

「蕭氏節孝坊」為目前臺灣僅見的二柱單間二樓式牌坊，高5.32公尺、淨寬2公尺，屬於形制最小的石造牌坊，為臺南在清代所建的七座節孝坊中唯一留存至今者，亦是臺南現存四座牌坊之一，另三座為泮宮石坊、接官亭石坊、重道崇文坊。

牌坊本體以榫（ㄙㄨㄣˇ）卯搭接，仿木構造為裝飾；坊頂用護檐兩層，中間安放青斗石刻「聖旨」牌，左右短柱刻有牡丹、荷花、芙蓉、梅花等圖樣，頂檐中央有葫蘆脊飾，下層護檐部分被新建住宅的鋼筋混凝土所包覆。

額枋上橫額題有「節孝」二字，上款「旌表太學主沈耀汶妻蕭氏」、下款「大清嘉慶五年陽月吉旦立」；額枋北面刻有雙龍，南面刻鳳凰，額枋下尚存一雀替，另一雀替僅存榫接構件。

牌坊北面中柱對聯為「夢熊三月守冰清畫荻垂後昆之裕，啣鳳九天榮壺秀樹坊顯夫子之名」，乃前知臺灣縣事署臺灣府兼南路理番廳周祚熙所題；南面對聯則是「敬事姑嫜全婦道，堅持冰蘖樹坤型」，為閤郡紳士一同拜題。

27/10/2023

Looks like Dongshih's famous Donggong Theater will be gone beofre long. It was originally scheduled for demolition in August but there were some delays... seems like time is finally up though, and it'll soon be destroyed and transformed into a parking lot.

小編才剛繞完豐原一堆待拆案例，又聽到東宮戲院拆場正在架籬準備開拆

雖天色漸晚，還是想繞過去看看；畢竟下趟再有空來東勢，估計已拆完夷平

19/10/2023