- Chinese Name: 賴和紀念館
- Located At: Changhua County (Central Taiwan)
- Year of Establishment: 1995
- Did You Know That…?
- Both the writer's birth name and given name are romanized as Lai Ho. However, he changed the character from 'river (河)' in his birth name to the homonym for 'peace and harmony (和)' in his pen name.
- English Address:
- No. 242 Zhongzheng Road Section 1, Changhua City, Changhua County, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
- Opening Hours:8:30am to 5pm(Closed on Sundays and Mondays)
- Contact Number:+886-4-724-1664
- Website:http://cls.hs.yzu.edu.tw/laihe/(Chinese only)
The Lai Ho Memorial Hall was established to commemorate Lai Ho (賴和), one of the most influential figures in Taiwan during the period of Japanese rule. The museum highlights the late doctor and writer's humanitarianism and his leading role in the Taiwan Nativist Literature Movement to promote the spirit and aesthetics of Taiwanese literature.
Following the creation of the Lai Ho Cultural Foundation, the memorial hall was established on the centennial birthday of Lai. Its collection includes Lai's manuscripts, a chronological table, personal items, books, paintings, letters, and medical notes. It also offers manuscripts and relics relating to several other local writers for research purposes.
Visitors to the admission-free establishment are greeted by a chronology on Lai's life and list of his important achievements, which stands just to the right of the entrance. The timeline provides information on important events in Lai's life and interweaves descriptions of the people and circumstances which were to influence him at each stage.
A manuscript hangs below the chronology, and a scroll on the wall a bit further inside reveals Lai's calligraphic and poetic skills. Written with his own hands, it reads: 'Shadows slant slowly westward as the sun slips downward. / Why does its burning might still oppress us so? / Worldly joy and suffering never last long. / Over the mountains in the east still hangs a sliver of moon.'
Lai was praised by the locals as "The living Huo Tuo (華佗再世)” for his selfless contributions as a doctor. Visitors can learn about Lai's professional occupation through the display of his medical equipment, such as dental and surgical tools. Some medical records written by Lai are also preserved.
The next section on bookspresents Lai's collection encompassing Chinese, Japanese, modern, classic, and world literature, which demonstrates Lai's role as an advocator of knowledge and culture in his era. By providing a reading room with free books, newspapers, and journals near his clinic, Lai had made new ideas available to the public.
In addition, two sculptures of Lai made by notable sculptors Wang Ying-hsin (王英信) and Lin Ching-hsiang (林慶祥) are installed in the museum hall. Using Lai's photographs as reference to create the sculptures, Wang captured Lai's expression of self-restraint while Lin presents Lai's elegance.