Lai He Memorial Hall 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 imposed by the party-state. In 1994, to commemorate the centenary of Lai He’s death, a private initiative led to the establishment of the Lai He Cultural and Educational Foundation. The foundation was co-funded by Lai He’s descendants, with recommendations for the board members from writer Chung Chao-cheng and scholars Lin Jui-ming and Li Chen-yuan. Academic representatives included Lin Jui-ming, Chen Wan-yi, Lü Hsing-chang, and Hu Wan-chuan; from the literary world, Chung Chao-cheng, Lin Heng-tai, Li Nan-heng, and Song Tze-lai; from the medical field, Li Chen-yuan, Chiang Tzu-te, Cheng Chiao-ming, and Chen Yong-hsing; and from politics and business, Liu Feng-song, Yao Chia-wen, Chen Wei-ming, and Shih Ping-huang, with family representatives being Chou Kuang-hsiung and Lai Yue-yen, gathering individuals from various fields. Lai He’s grandson, Lai Yue-yen, served as the first chairman of the board. In 1995, Lai He’s eldest son Lai Sang and grandson Lai Yue-yen planned the Lai He Memorial Hall at the site of the former Lai He Medical Hall, 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 exhibit manuscripts from writers in the Changhua area, reconstructing the traditions and spirit of cultural figures during the Japanese colonial period in Changhua.
