Lai He Memorial Museum Introduction
The development of Taiwanese literature has long been suppressed, experiencing the rural literature debate in the 1970s and the political/cultural localization in the 1980s. The wave of the Taiwanese literature movement gradually broke through the constraints of the party-state. In 1994, to commemorate the centenary of the passing of writer Lai He, the Lai He Cultural and Educational Foundation was established by private initiative with donations from Lai He’s descendants. Recommended as board members were writer Chung Chao-cheng, scholar Lin Jui-ming, and academician Li Chen-yuan, with the academic circle represented by Lin Jui-ming, Chen Wan-yi, Lu Hsing-chang, and Hu Wan-chuan; the literary world represented by Chung Chao-cheng, Lin Heng-tai, Li Nan-heng, and Sung Tze-lai; and the medical community by Li Chen-yuan, Jiang Tzu-te, Cheng Ching-ming, and Chen Yong-hsing. Figures from politics and business include Liu Feng-song, Yao Chia-wen, Chen Wei-ming, and Shih Ping-huang, while the family was represented by Chou Kuang-hsiung and Lai Yue-yen, gathering people from various sectors. Lai He’s grandson, Lai Yue-yen, served as the first chairman. In 1995, Lai He’s son, Lai Sang, and grandson, Lai Yue-yen, planned the Lai He Memorial Hall at the former site of the Lai He Medical Clinic, establishing the Lai He Memorial Museum. The museum houses a complete collection of Lai He’s relics, books, calligraphy, manuscripts, and related literature, and continues to collect and display manuscripts and artifacts from writers in the Changhua area, reconstructing the tradition and spirit of Changhua's cultural figures during the Japanese occupation period.
