Introduction
A Special Exhibit on Literature from Tainan
Tainan is Taiwan’s oldest town and the cradle of Taiwanese culture. Most early emigrants to the island passed through the city, some moving on to develop the north, still others choosing to explore the less developed regions that lay to the south. Centuries of cultural nourishment coupled with the area’s lush natural and manmade beauty give Tainan its rich cultural ambiance. Those who live, work and play here … those who have made Tainan home have bequeathed to posterity a stirring, multifaceted portrait of this special corner of Taiwan. Pulled forward through the vicissitudes of history, Tainan’s men and women of literature have painted the past in vibrant, living colors, challenged their present, and gazed hopefully toward the future.
Follow the Ink: A Literary Tour of Tainan City
Literary attributions in poetry, novels, essays and newspaper cloumns pepper each of the routes marked. Stop and see for yourself the setting of Yeh Shih-shou's Wistful Dreams of Hulu Lane as well as places like Chikanlou, Fahua Temple, the Shih Ting-mei Mansion. Paomei Lou and the Grand Matsu Temple that have been so eloquently described by authors through history. With literature guiding your journey of discovery, the distance between author and reader melts away.Whether places and events were drawn from reality or from an author's imaginings, it is all here for the taking. Tainan breathes life anew into the written word and invites the expansive scope of literature into everyday life.
