Museum Island

Establishment Purpose

• Before the 56th year of the Republic of China (1967), many veterans’ villages in Zuoying were planned to be located within the military districts. There were two different worlds within the walls and bamboo fences, but life within the military districts was still very lively. What unique life stories are there of the soldiers, families, and children that lived in the villages of Zuoying? This is a comfortable space for sharing memories, cultural creativity and emotional exchange. When people come here, they can relax while sitting in the gardens as they enjoy green grass outside of the windows, close their eyes to experience veterans’ villages and immerse themselves in an era where different cultures came together in Taiwan. Stories continue to be written under the sun as people come here to interact with each another, listen to one another or tell stories in a retrospective manner to re-experience and create a new generation of perceptions on the veterans’ villages.

Department Introduction

In 1949, soldiers’ dependents from all over the mainland started settling down in the military dependents' villages of Taiwan. Zuoying District of Kaohsiung was where most navy personnel lived at that time; it now has the largest navy veteran village in Taiwan, which can be dated back to the Japanese colonial era. As most of the housing were detached houses, the Mingde New Village was a village dedicated to the residence of high-ranking officers. Hence, it was also known as the "Navy General Village". In 1996, the reconstruction regulations for the Armed Forces' old veterans’ villages were approved to accelerate the reconstruction of these villages. The old memories of the veterans’ village culture contained within its bamboo fences, and the history of immigrants from other provinces were gradually cast away. Under the wave of relocation of the military veteran villages, Kaohsiung City Government launches a series of plans to attract talents with residence instead of maintenance only in order to bring multiculturalism and people into the village space to give new life of military veteran villages. According to statistics from the Ministry of National Defense in 2005, there are 886 listed veterans’ villages in Taiwan. Therefore, the Park is named "Farewell, 886" as tribute to the past veterans’ villages and offer blessings for the revitalization and regeneration of the veterans’ villages. To reach such goals, the Bureau of Cultural Affairs Kaohsiung City Government and the Kaohsiung Museum of History planned to move the Kaohsiung Museum of Military Dependents' Villages, which was originally located in Zuoying Old Town, to the Mingde New Village. The Cultural Park was renamed as the "Farewell, 886 Cultural Park of Taiwan Military Veteran Village" to lead everyone on a journey back into the past to explore the world within the bamboo fences.

Construction Permit

Audience Services and Facilities

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