Tang Te-chang Memorial Park

Commemorative park in Tainan, Taiwan

Tang Te-chang Memorial Park

湯德章紀念公園
Type| memorial park
Location| West Central, Tainan, Taiwan
Coordinates| 22°59′33.4″N 120°12′18.1″E﻿ / ﻿22.992611°N 120.205028°E﻿ / 22.992611; 120.205028
Opening| 1907

The Tang Te-chang Memorial Park (traditional Chinese: 湯德章紀念公園; simplified Chinese: 汤德章纪念公园; pinyin: Tāngdézhāng Jìniàn Gōngyuán) is a memorial park in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan to commemorate late lawyer Tang Te-chang.

## History[edit]

Tang Te-chang

### Empire of Japan[edit]

In 1907, local residents erected a statue of Kodama Gentarō, the fourth Governor-General of Taiwan, one year after his passing. The statue was imported to Taiwan from Kingdom of Italy in 1904 and shipped to Tainan in 1905. In 1911, the park became a traffic circle and the wall surrounding the park was torn down. In 1916, the park was named Kodama Park(児玉公園) and subsequently Taisho Park (大正公園).[1]

### Republic of China[edit]

After the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the park was renamed Min Sheng Green Park. On 13 March 1947, lawyer Tang Te-chang was shot dead at the park as part of the February 28 Incident.[2] In 1997, the park was renamed Tang Te-chang Memorial Park by Tainan Mayor George Chang to honor Tang. He erected a bust of Tang.

On 10 March 2013, various organizations and the PCT Church and Society Committee convened at the park to commemorate the life and legacy of Tang.[3] On 22 February 2014, the statue of Sun Yat-sen was torn down and painted with red color by the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and its supporters. The act prompted the police to arrest the alliance leader although he was released shortly afterwards.[4][5] In December 2015, the original head of Kodama statue was found by artists working at the old barracks of Imperial Japanese Army. On 20 September 2017, restoration work began at the park to better fit its Japanese-style surrounding buildings. The restoration costed NT$8 million and is estimated to be completed within 150 days at the end of February 2018.[1]

## Architecture[edit]

The park is located at a traffic circle in Tainan city center.[1] Seven streets converge to the traffic circle.[6]

## Transportation[edit]

The park is accessible within walking distance southwest of Tainan Station of Taiwan Railways.

## See also[edit]

* List of tourist attractions in Taiwan

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c Hetherington, William (30 September 2017). "Restoration work begins on Japanese period park". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
2. ^ Huang, Wen-huang; Hsu, Stacy (24 January 2014). "Artist commemorates 228 to educate nation's youth". Taipei Times.
3. ^ Ma, Lydia (15 March 2013). "[3185] PCT and Tainan government honor the legacy of Tang Teh-chang". TCNN. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
4. ^ Bauer, Daniel J. (2 March 2014). "Statue vandals accomplish nothing". The China Post. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
5. ^ Wang, Chun-chung; Chung, Jake (23 February 2014). "Sun Yat-sen statue toppled". Taipei Times. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
6. ^ Liao, George (5 November 2017). "A pilgrimage to the old Tainan, capital of early Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 5 November 2017.

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