Traditional Chinese Architecture in Taiwan

Taiwan’s traditional architecture is a branch of the southern Chinese style, brought over from the mainland by immigrants from the Minnan region of Fujian Province. They are distinguished by red roof tiles red brick walls, a symmetrical layout around a central courtyard colorful paintwork, stone or wooden carvings and highly decorated roof ridges (for temples). Pictured here is the Fengyi […]

Taoism, Daoism and Confucianism

1) Taoism/Daoism Influence Taoism: Unclear date: Arose in Han dynasty and gained popularity in the Spring & Autumn Period (about 500BCE) [4] “The Way”à Moral consciousness/Duty [2] Reality, concrete life rather than abstract, leave other worldly concerns, one’s natural state of being, as one is, let life be as is (Don’t tamper) [1] Gardens: Retreat […]

Architecture During the Japanese Occupation

History 1.As we know from class, Qing dynasty China in 1860 had just suffered its second overwhelming defeat from western expansionists during the opium wars. 2.This causes China to realize that it must open up to foreign influences and modernize, this was called the “Self-Strengthening Movement” and its motto was “Foreign learning for use, Chinese learning for essence” 3.The Japanese during this same time learned from Chinese defeats and began to fully adopt foreign ideals and modernized as well. 4. Where china […]

May 6, 2018fnajimi

Our project explores the external and internal influences on Taiwanese architecture.

What fascinated us about Taiwan’s architecture was how influenced it was from outside forces. One can argue that Taiwan doesn’t have its own style of architecture. Rather, the architecture styles seen in Taiwan are brought over by people who migrated, like Westerners and people from the Fujian province. It is also influenced by the colonizing forces, like the Japanese, and of course, owes a lot of influence to China. The architecture in this country owes itself to a fusion of an array of cultural styles and designs.

That’s what makes it uniquely Taiwan.

Taiwan’s Architecture: How Internal & External Influences Have Impacted Taiwanese Architecture Throughout Time

May 1, 2018May 8, 2018fnajimi

Welcome to AAS221 Group 5’s Project.

In our project, we explored the influences that shaped Taiwan’s architecture.

Click on the pages above to explore, and try to answer these questions afterwards.

Focus Questions

What are aspects of traditional Chinese style are found in Taiwanese architecture?
How did the Asian religions influence Taiwan’s architecture?
How did the Japanese colonization impact Taiwan’s architecture?
What are the internal and external influences on Taiwanese architecture?

Enjoy!

-Brianna Young, Fatima Najimi, Jia May Zheng, Nicolas Deassis, and Anthony Porras

Special thanks to Librarian Min-Huei Lu for all of her help! We couldn’t have done it without you.