IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Hsinchu Science Park was established in 1981 and is arguably the world’s most significant hub for chip manufacturing. While the high-tech industry brought more residents to the area surrounding Hsin-Chu, the city actually has its own history of over 300 years. In 1723 A.D., the last dynasty of Empirical China, the Qing Dynasty, established its government in Hsinchu. It was a time when Chinese immigrants fought for survival with the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. Later, during the early nineteenth century, Chinese culture and language became dominant in Hsinchu. A Taoist temple dedicated to the City God has formed the center of the local people’s belief ever since. In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. People in Hsinchu found comfort in their City God belief under the oppression of the colonizer. After 50 years, Taiwan was taken over by the Republic of China. The new government began to launch a series of economic projects to revive the island ever since. Among them, the 1980s were a decade for constructing high-tech industries, and Hsin-Chu Science was born. Recently, the science park started to be called Taiwan’s “Silicon Shield” due to Geopolitics, as the Taiwanese people consider the high-tech industry a protection against war. In this art-historical paper, the author adopts visual representations (old maps, official archives, local landscape paintings, and TV news photography) to explore the changes of the city’s image: from a naïve City God to a modern Silicon Shield.