Lukang Folk Arts Museum Audio Guide

Lukang Folk Arts Museum: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Lukang Folk Arts Museum

   Welcome to the Lukang Folk Arts Museum, known in Chinese as 鹿港民俗文物館. It sits in Lukang Township, in Changhua County, on Taiwan's central-west coast. Before we step inside, a quick word on what this guide covers. It follows the story of the mansion itself, the family who built it, and the collections it holds today. It does not try to describe every room or display. This is one of those rare museums where the building is the first exhibit. It began life as a private home, and a very grand one. Visitors have long described the moment of walking through the gate, away from Lukang's narrow streets and into an expansive, carefully kept yard, as a step back about a century into the opulent side of colonial Taiwan. Lukang's historic core has been called one of Taiwan's best living museums of the imperial era, with heritage architecture packed even more densely than in Tainan. This house is a fine place to start reading that story. Let's begin with the man who built it.

2. 02

   Lukang Folk Arts Museum: A Merchant's Mansion

   The mansion was completed in 1919 as the residence of Koo Hsien-jung, a prominent industrialist and politician of the Japanese colonial era. Its main hall is known as the Dahe House. It is a showpiece of the kind of architecture that wealthy merchants favored in those years. The design is credited to a Japanese architect, Moriyama Matsunosuke. That tells you something about the age. Japanese architects working in Taiwan at the time were experimenting with confidence, and this house shows it. The house was not only a family home. In the 1920s and 1930s it became a venue for international conferences with foreign dignitaries. So these rooms, which now hold quiet displays of daily life, once hosted guests from beyond Taiwan, and the mansion was clearly built to impress them.

3. 03

   East Meets West in Brick and Stone

   Look closely at the architecture and you will see two worlds sharing one building. At its core, the mansion follows the classical Minnan style, also called South Fujian style, the tradition brought by the Hokkien settlers who shaped Lukang. During the Japanese colonial period, Greek and Romanesque elements were added to the façade. The result is an unusual combination of Asian and Western architecture, and the building still has a strong local flavor. It is a bit like hearing a familiar folk song played with unexpected instruments. The melody is local, but the arrangement reaches across oceans. Visitors often single out the upkeep as much as the design. Other mansions in Taiwan may rival or surpass this one on pure architectural grounds. What sets the Dahe House apart is the immaculate restoration and the beautifully manicured grounds around it. Take a moment in the yard before you go in. The view of the house from there is one of the best things the visit offers.

4. 04

   From Family Home to Folk Arts Museum

   In 1973 the house took on a new life as the Lukang Folk Arts Museum. The buildings, the land, the furniture, the utensils and the collector's items were all donated by the Koo family and other private benefactors. So the museum is a gift, first from a family and then from the wider community, that turned a private home into a public memory. Inside, the collection reaches back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. You will find vintage photographs, lacquerware, porcelain, carved stones, embroidery and musical instruments. There are also displays of the intricately detailed religious icons that echo the town's dense forest of heritage temples and shrines, a nod to Lukang's craft traditions, which are still flourishing today. The old living rooms offer a window into the daily lives of Hokkien settlers under Qing rule. Visitors have described exhibits on marriage customs, traditional clothing, furniture and decoration, along with old photographs highlighting the township's architecture. Together they show how people lived, and why Lukang was once so prominent.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you leave the Lukang Folk Arts Museum, try looking back at the façade once more. Can you pick out where the Greek and Romanesque touches sit against the South Fujian bones of the house? Once you spot that seam, it is hard to stop seeing it. The museum also makes a natural first stop for exploring Lukang. The carved details and religious icons inside are only a preview of the temples and shrines you will meet in the surrounding streets. If you are coming from elsewhere, the museum can be reached by bus from Changhua Station of Taiwan Railway. Now step back out into the lanes and let the town show you the rest. Notice how the craftsmanship you saw indoors turns up again on rooflines, doorways and temple halls. Lukang has plenty more to say.