The Pingtung County Government has designated 4 cultural assets as “Provisional Historic Sites”

▲ The Zhang Family Merchant Building in Jiadong Township. (Photo / Provided by Pingtung County Government)

Reported by You... / Taipei

The Pingtung County Government has passed a resolution to designatethe Shuishuiying Ancient Trail, the Laizu Ancestral Shrine in Laopi Village, Neipu Township, the Zhang Family Merchant Building in Jiadong Township, the office of Yujiro Torii—the designer of the Erifengzhen Irrigation System in Laiyi Township, and the remnants of the former National Historic Site, the Lower Tamsui River Iron Bridge—as “Provisional Historic Sites”. Pingtung County Magistrate Pan Meng-an stated that this reflects a firm commitment to safeguarding cultural heritage. In addition, summer part-time job opportunities will be arranged to encourage young people to conduct field research on the county’s old trees, cultural landscapes, and religious beliefs.


▲ The Shuishuiying Ancient Trail. (Photo / Provided by Pingtung County Government)

The Shuishuiying Ancient Trail within Pingtung has been registered as a “Cultural Landscape.” The registered section stretches from the 23.5-kilometer mark of the Dahan Forest Road to the prefectural boundary (the border between Pingtung and Taitung counties), spanning approximately 2.5 kilometers in length. The registered width extends 100 meters on either side of the ancient trail, covering 16% of the total length of the Shuishuiying Ancient Trail. Wu Jinhua, head of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, explained that the Shuishuiying Ancient Trail has a history of over 500 years. Before the arrival of Han Chinese in Taiwan, it was already the most important overland trade route connecting various indigenous groups across eastern and western southern Taiwan, and it also boasts abundant natural ecological assets that merit recognition as a National Cultural Landscape.

On either side of the Makatao Laizu Ancestral Shrine in Laopi Village, Neipu Township, are the Hoklo people’s Fude Zhengshen Temple and the Hakka Bogong Temple. The coexistence of these three temples from different ethnic groups side by side carries significant meaning for ethnic harmony and coexistence. This distinctive “Pingtung symbol” is a rare cultural phenomenon nationwide and represents Pingtung’s first tangible cultural asset of the Makatao people. The century-old Zhang Family Merchant Building in Jiadong Township was registered as a “Historic Building” during this meeting. The Zhang Family Merchant Building was the focus of a rescue campaign initiated by renowned writer and doctor Tseng Kuei-hai, who led efforts to raise funds to purchase the building and apply for restoration and adaptive reuse funding. It stands as an important example of grassroots community-driven preservation of local sentiment and memory, and the autonomous creation of local cultural assets.

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