Academia Historica Audio Guide

Academia Historica: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Academia Historica

   Welcome to Academia Historica, known locally as 國史館, at number 2, Section 1 of Changsha Street in Taipei's Zhongzheng District. You are standing in the heart of the old government quarter. The building sits on Changsha Street, just behind the Presidential Office, and its calm classical-meets-modern face is easy to walk past if you are not looking for it. This is the highest historiography agency of the Republic of China, attached to the Office of the President. Its work is to compile national history, gather and organize historical records and artifacts, and look after the papers and objects of former presidents and vice presidents. It is part archive, part museum, and part research house, all inside a heritage building. Over the next few minutes I will take you through the building's long past, the story of the institution itself, and what you can actually see inside.

2. 02

   A Building With Two Lives

   Let's start with the walls around you. The building is a municipal historic site, and its style blends western classicism with modern touches. Its construction began in 1924, during the Japanese colonial period, and in those early days it served as the Communications Bureau's Postal and Telegraph Department of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office. In other words, this was once a nerve center for the lines that carried letters and messages across the island. That gives the place a lovely irony. A building made to move information around now exists to preserve it. Walls that once housed the administration of communications now hold the records of a nation's past. The building's own story is part of the visit. One of the permanent exhibition themes is called the history of the architecture, and it tells the tale of this very structure. So as you look at the facade, remember that the building is itself one of the exhibits.

3. 03

   From Nanjing to Taipei: The Institution's Journey

   The institution has traveled almost as much as the objects it keeps. Academia Historica was founded in 1947 in Nanjing, and it was re-established in Taiwan in 1957. Since then it has grown into the national body responsible for compiling the nation's history. Its structure has changed with the times. In 2001 the organizational statute was amended, setting up four divisions: compilation, editing and review, collection, and secretariat. In 2002 the former Taiwan Provincial Historical Commission was renamed Academia Historica Taiwan Historica and brought under its umbrella. Then in 2004 a law on the management of presidential and vice presidential artifacts named Academia Historica the authority in charge of them. That last step explains a great deal of what you will see here. The legal duty to care for those objects is why a historical archive also runs an exhibition about the presidency. The institution also publishes books, archive catalogues, and a scholarly journal, the Academia Historica Bulletin, which is listed among the core journals in Taiwan's humanities scholarship.

4. 04

   Presidential Gifts and the Archive Rooms

   Now to what you can see. In October 2010 the museum opened its exhibition of presidential and vice presidential artifacts. The best-known theme is the presidential gifts, which shows presents given to presidents by friendly nations and by ordinary citizens. The collection holds more than 10,000 pieces, and displays are changed from time to time, so what you see may differ from what someone saw before you. On the second floor, the gifts are arranged by region, including Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The exhibition floor also hosts special shows drawn from the archive's collections, and the museum runs lectures on archives, artifacts, and historical themes. Guided tours are offered at set times, and groups can reserve them in advance. On the first floor you will find a digital resource reading room. Researchers can search the archive's online catalogue, read open files online, or apply to consult materials in the reading rooms. There is also a library at the Taipei site. The exhibition halls are open Monday to Friday, and on special opening days, from half past 9 a.m. to half past 4 p.m.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Before you move on, take a slow look at the neighborhood around Academia Historica. Soochow University's Chengzhong campus, the Taipei Military Police headquarters, and Baoqing Road are all within a few hundred meters, and bicycle stations near the Guiyang and Baoqing intersections with Boai Road are about a hundred meters or so away. It is a corner of Taipei where history sits very close together. As you leave, notice how a building that once handled postal and telegraph business now guards the records of a republic. Ask yourself which gift in the exhibition would tell you the most about the friendship between two nations, and which everyday object might tell you the most about a president. If you want to go deeper, the archive's online catalogue lets you browse records from home, so your curiosity does not have to end at the front door.