D-1 Office of the Presiden Taiwan

The Presidential palace was formerly known as the Governor-General’s office of Taiwan in the Japanese era, which was not only very important in the Japanese era, but also because of the strong structure of the building itself, it survived the Taipei air raid in may 20 (1945), although the left side of the front was seriously damaged, but it did not hurt the main body of the building. after the restoration, it continued to stand tall and remained the center of Taiwan’s political power‎. ‎the architectural history of the Taiwan Governor’s office in the Japanese era can be divided into three periods according to the time, namely (1) the provisional Governor’s mansion, (2) the old Governor’s mansion, (3) the new Governor’s mansion.‎

‎Provisional Governor’s palace‎

‎On June 5, Meiji 28 (1895), the first Governor of Taiwan, Birchyama Ziji, immediately set up the Provisional Governor’s office in Keelung customs after the landing of Keelung. Keelung customs faces the northwest and is equipped with several foreign-style buildings. the building is a two-storey brick and wood structure with cloister-style balcony spaces on all four sides, which belongs to the balcony colonial style. as with the buildings at the time of China’s treaty ports or Japanese ports of residence for foreigners, they were built by european and american engineers and local craftsmen. the characteristics of this kind of building: first, the building has a wide balcony space in all directions as a cooling and living space for tropical climate; second, the interior can be directly connected with the balcony; third, the balcony ceiling has an excellent ventilation design. however, with the entry of the Governor of birch hill into Taipei city, the tax customs is no longer a temporary Governor’s palace.‎

‎The old hall of the Governor’s palace‎

‎On June 14, 1895, the first Governor of Taiwan, birchyama Ziji, entered Taipei city, the political core of Taiwan, and used the largest official building complex in the city, the former qing dynasty envoy si yamen, as the temporary Taiwan Governor’s office and the office of the army staff, while the Governor’s office and accommodation were located in the preparatory bureau on the west side of the yamen, and the Japanese army demolished the ximen street street houses directly in front of it for a spectacular façade and boasted of dominance, opening a road to the gate of the provisional Governor’s palace.‎

‎In Meiji 38 (1905), the fire of the envoy si yamen caused serious damage to the Governor’s palace, and the qing court officials fell into disrepair for many years, the main body of the building was seriously eroded by termites, and the colonial Government showed its ruling power, so the fourth Governor Kodama Gentaro had plans to build a permanent hall during his reign. it was not until the completion of the new hall in Taisho 8 (1919) that it was moved out.‎

‎New office of the Governor’s palace

‎The location of the new office of the Governor’s office was confirmed in Meiji 33 (1900) by the Taipei city planning committee chairman Yoshio Murakami. the location of the new hall of the Governor’s mansion, located in the town of wenwu temple in Taipei at that time, was a complete street outline, except for a few houses and ponds, there were two large-scale Lin and Chen ancestral halls, after many agreements and investigations, and finally resolved by expropriation and demolition, the Chen ancestral hall was moved to the area around dadaocheng in Taipei (now Chen dexing hall), and the Lin ancestral hall was moved to the back station area of the Taipei railway station at that time. prior to the construction of the new hall, the land was briefly converted into a racecourse for sports clubs.‎

‎The construction of the Governor’s mansion began in June 1912 , the main building was completed in June 1912 , the main building was completed in June 1915 , and the inauguration ceremony was held , and the Taisho 8 ( 1919 ) was completed , with a total construction cost of approximately 2.8 million yen. during the construction of Taisho 5 (1916), the Taiwan counseling association for the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Government was still held, and the new office building of the unfinished Governor’s office was used as the first venue, and the office of the Provisional affairs bureau was set up. from October 1936 to November of the same year, the Taiwan exposition commemorating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Government was held, and a temporary exposition affairs bureau was opened in the Governor’s palace to prepare for related activities.‎

‎The new office building of the Governor’s palace (now the Presidential palace) was five stories high and the central tower was about 60 meters high, which was the tallest building in Taiwan at that time. except for the ground floor for service facilities, the second to fifth floors are used as office space. the materials used in the construction of the Governor’s office and the mode of transport have been considered in detail. the wood used in the wood roof trusses, doors and windows, and the quicklime required for indoor stucco are mainly produced in Taiwan, while the red tiles that affect the appearance and the cement of the main structure are mainly imported from the Japanese mainland or foreign countries.‎

D-2 Taipei ancient city gateient

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D3. East Gate- Jingfumen

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East Gate, also known as Jingfumen, was a tunnel connecting Old Taipei City and Xikou (old name for Songshan). It is located at the central south of the East City Wall, facing Keelung, a significant port of northern Taiwan. Thus, it served a central role for national defense. In fact, the former name of today’s Ketagalan Blvd was “East Gate Street,” the way leading to the East Gate.

Today, the East Gate is a place where protester rallies or parades always pass by due to its location right in front of the Office of the President. Taiwanese people can see it on videos and photographs so often that it may be the most familiar city gate to the public. Besides its fame, the East Gate is also a significant political and transport hub.

D4. Xiaonanmen

The Taipei City Wall was one of the last city walls to be built during the Qing period. Though only the gates survive, the original fortifications were extremely strong, with walls four meters thick five meters high and extending a total of four kilometers.

Most Chinese walls have four gates, but the Taipei wall had five. Some say that the fifth gate—Xiaonanmen (Little South Gate)—was built especially for the convenience of the family of local tycoon Lin Pen-yuan in Banqiao, though this has never been proved. Whatever the facts, Xiaonanmen is indeed a unique case. The gate was unfortunately destroyed by the Japanese along with the East Gate and South Gate, but after World War II it was rebuilt as a city wall tower in a northern Chinese palace style. Only the foundation endures from the original wall to continue watching over the city Taipei.

D5. Taipei City Wall-North Gate (Cheng'en Gate)

The North Gate is located at the intersection of Zhongxiao West Road, Yanping North Road, Zhonghua Road, Yanping South Road and Bo’ai Road in Zhongzheng District.

There are five historic city gates in Taipei: the East Gate (Jingfu Gate), West Gate (Baocheng Gate), South Gate (Lizheng Gate), Lesser South Gate (Chongxi Gate) and North Gate (Cheng’en Gate). They were built by Liu Ming-chuan during the reign of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty as a measure to expedite urban development by encouraging businessmen to invest in or build houses/streets in Taipei City.

Also known as Cheng’en Gate, the North Gate in erstwhile Taipei City served as a major gateway to Dadaocheng. The two-story fortress of North Gate is enclosed by sturdy walls in the form of a highly guarded citadel. For surveillance and defense reasons, the square- and round-shaped window openings on the front and back of fortress are the only two features on the second floor. Similar to the East Gate, the North Gate in its inception had a small enclosure on the outside, commonly referred to as “urn city”, or “Wong Cheng” in Chinese. There used to be a horizontal plaque saying “The Key to Territory Safety” which had hung across the gate. The plaque was unfortunately removed by Japanese colonial rulers and is now located on the empty lot in front of the North Gate for display.

In light of the emerging trend of cultural heritage preservation in recent years, the city authorities decided to abandon a demolition plan of the historic North Gate. Of the five ancient city gates, the North Gate is the only one that remains what it used to look like in the Qing Dynasty, as well as one of the most valuable state-designated historic sites in Taipei.