Address:澎湖縣馬公市中華路230號
- Chinese Name: 澎湖生活博物館
- Year of Establishment: 2010
- Located At: Penghu Islands (Off the western coast of Taiwan)
- Did You Know That….?
- Artifacts retrieved from more than 200 underwater excavation dives around the General Isle are unique to the Penghu Living Museum's collection. Most of the items were retrieved from a merchant ship that sunk in flames during a storm more than 250 years ago. Nicknamed "General No. 1,” the wooden vessel itself remains in its watery grave, as it will not survive if exposed to the air.
- English Address:
- No. 230 Jhonghua Road, Magong City, Penghu County, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
- Contact Number: +886-6-921-0405
- Website:http://www.phlm.nat.gov.tw(Available in English)
The stories of Penghu
The residents of the outlying Penghu Islands have their own style of living, eating, dressing, transportation, education, and recreation. The Penghu Living Museum was established to showcase such details of daily life in Penghu, to record the common memories of the Penghu residents, and to preserve the islands' rich history and cultural relics.
The Han Chinese began to settle on Penghu as early as the imperial Tang and Song dynasties, around the 8th and 9th century. They emigrated from Chinese coastlands and settled in Penghu for various reasons, including natural disasters and wars.
During the first half of the 17th century, or the late Ming dynasty, a major famine occurred in China's Fujian Province. As attested in ancestral records kept by local residents, large numbers of civilians moved from the Fujian cities of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou to Penghu, marking the biggest wave of immigration in local history and establishing the foundation for today's settlements in Penghu.
12 years in the making
The vision of the Penghu Living Museum lies in its quest to publicize the style of life in Penghu and unite the consciousness of local residents. It also involves exploring the cultural vision of local residents and helping them establish their self-confidence regarding local culture through exchanges of special exhibitions.
It took the museum planners 12 years to complete the Penghu Living Museum and its permanent exhibitions. To showcase more than 700 years of local history, the museum created the Gallery of Penghu History.
On one side of the gallery are pictures depicting the scenes of cargo being unloaded in Penghu's Magong port during the imperial Qing Dynasty, a glimpse of the pioneer period in Penghu. On the other side of the gallery are showcases filled with archaeological relics that have been unearthed from the islands, as well as maps of Penghu drawn by Dutch cartographers during the late imperial Ming Dynasty.
There are also pictures of shipwrecks and traders, a documentary on underwater archaeological excavation efforts for the sunken merchant ship affectionately known as 'General No. 1,' and other rare memorabilia, all constituting a series of stories from different periods of time.
Temples and rituals
Hundreds of years ago, when the ancestors of today's inhabitants arrived on the then-desolate Penghu, they led a tough lifestyle in which the future was highly unpredictable, and needed to establish a belief system they could rely on for common comfort. Stories about the benevolent goddess Matzu and her power to rescue people from maritime disasters are still widespread in Penghu, and more than 200 temples remain today.
Since Penghu is geographically isolated from the main island of Taiwan, the people here have developed unique ritual ceremonies that retain distinctive traditional forms. On display in the museum are real-sized models of the procession scout Horse Admiral (報馬仔), the shade-bearing Parasol Admiral (涼傘手), and shamans and exorcists dressed in special costumes.
On the third floor of the museum are exhibits illustrating customs that are closely related to the daily life of local families in Penghu, such as the ancient rites and ceremonies of marriage, an antique "grandma bed” worth millions of New Taiwan dollars, local culinary delicacies, rituals of ancestor worship and other surprising items, many of which may serve as reminders of childhood experiences for local visitors.
Serving Penghu
The Penghu Living Museum plays an important role by giving local residents the opportunity to enjoy valuable cultural exhibitions without having to travel to the main island of Taiwan. To continue enhancing the artistic appreciation and cultural education of the people of Penghu, the museum organizers hope that the Penghu Living Museum will have further opportunities to cooperate with other cultural organizations to exhibit more collections to local residents and visitors.