[Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Special Line] Taiwanese youth are deeply concerned about the construction of the Memory Center for Moving to Taiwan: "Our roots are here"
China News Service, Zhangzhou, February 1st: Topic: Taiwanese Youth are concerned about the construction of the Memorial Hall of Relocation to Taiwan: “Our roots are here”
Author Zhang Jinchuan and Liao Zhenmei
In Puping Village, Wuzhai Township, Pinghe County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, the ancestral home of the Wufeng Lin family, a prominent Taiwanese family, the original "Siyong Building" with only ruins remaining is undergoing renovation and renovation, and a "Memory Hall of Moving to Taiwan" is under construction here. .
"When I return to Taiwan for the Chinese New Year, I will visit the elders of the Lin family in Wufeng again to inform them of the progress of the relocation memory museum project, and also ask them for their valuable opinions." The Spring Festival is approaching, and Taiwanese youth Li Zhizhang is still working on relocation to Taiwan in Puping Village. The construction of the Memory Hall is busy. Standing in front of the "Siyong Building", he told the China News Service reporter that the main steel beam structure of the first phase of the Taiwan Memory Museum has been completed, and the second phase of the project will begin in the spring, which is the revitalization of the earth building and internal construction.
On September 20, 2023, the Taiwan Memory Museum is under construction in Puping Village, Wuzhai Township, Pinghe County, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Bin
Li Zhizhang, who comes from Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is now the chairman of Zhangzhou Xiangyi Urban and Rural Planning and Design Co., Ltd., and is committed to promoting cooperation in rural construction and creation in Fujian and Taiwan. As the person in charge of the construction project of the Memory Museum moved to Taiwan, he is particularly attentive. “The past two years have been quite tiring, but this is the mission and responsibility of our generation.”
Pinghe is known as "the first county in mainland China to move to Taiwan". According to incomplete statistics, more than 3 million Taiwan compatriots have their ancestral home in Pinghe. Among them, the Lin family in Wufeng, Taiwan, was founded by Linshi, the 14th generation grandson of the Lin family in Puping Village, Pinghe, who crossed the sea to Taiwan in 1746, and later settled in Wufeng, Taichung, and developed into a prominent family in Taiwan, together with the Yan family in Keelung, the Lin family in Banqiao, and the Gu family in Lukang. The Chen family in Kaohsiung and the Chen family in Kaohsiung are listed among the "Five Major Families in Taiwan".
"The Memory Museum of Moving to Taiwan will display the history of the Lin family's migration to Taiwan from here in Wufeng more than 200 years ago, and tell the story of 'Two trees are a forest, and the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family.'" Li Zhizhang said that he hopes that the museum will become a showcase of the same roots and the same origin between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The carrier of family ties has become a demonstration of cooperation in township construction and creation in Fujian and Taiwan townships.
On September 20, 2023, Taiwanese youth Li Zhizhang (right) was at the construction site of the Taiwan Memory Museum. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Bin
The Qiantai Memory Museum was renovated from the "Siyong Building" in Puping Village. This building is an earth building built during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty. The name "Siyong" means missing you forever. Li Zhizhang said that after the completion of the Memorial Hall of Moving to Taiwan, it looks like a "hui"-shaped structure from the air, which "symbolizes the belonging of the soul." He also hopes that more Taiwanese clan members will come home and take a look around.
"The descendants of the Lin family in Wufeng, Taiwan, are concerned about the progress of the construction of the Taiwan Memory Museum and are very interested in participating in the future operation of the museum." Li Zhizhang said that in the early winter of last year, a group of 35 people from the Lin family in Wufeng, Taiwan, visited Zhangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and other places visited their roots and ancestors, explored their footprints, and donated precious historical materials of the family’s migration to Taiwan to the Taiwan Memory Museum, urging the two sides of the Taiwan Strait not to forget the bloodline of the two sides.
What moved Li Zhizhang was that in addition to the cross-strait teams involved in the construction, there were also many Taiwanese compatriots who devoted their efforts to the construction of the Taiwan Memory Museum. Lin Zhiyuan, a young Taiwanese who found his ancestral home in Pinghe, helped collect letters and information about family members who moved to Taiwan. Li Ziying, a Taiwanese teacher at Minnan Normal University who has been engaged in drama creation for a long time, took the lead in writing the script and put the historical facts of moving to Taiwan on the stage.
In the past two years, Li Zhizhang has focused his energy on the construction of the Taiwan Memory Museum. Many people in the village mistakenly thought that he was a descendant of the Lin family in Wufeng, Taiwan. He said that this "misunderstanding" was recognition of him and made him more and more confident.
The picture shows the remake of the memory museum's relocation to Taiwan. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Jinchuan
"I just came to the mainland with my friends in 2017 with the intention of seeing it, but I didn't expect that I would stay as soon as I came." According to Li Zhizhang, whose ancestral home is Anxi, Quanzhou, Fujian is the main ancestral home of Taiwanese compatriots and is the center of Taiwanese culture, beliefs and customs. Origin, living and starting a business here, the environment and customs are very adaptable, this sense of belonging is very precious.
In the seven years since he "landed", Li Zhizhang has celebrated the New Year in Fujian three times. He said that Fujian is a blessed place for his career development. He is "very cared for" when he is engaged in rural construction and creation here. Mainland friends often introduce projects and help promote them. "I'm very lucky. My decision to develop in mainland China was very right."
"Here are our roots, our feelings, and a bright future." The project of moving the memory museum to Taiwan is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Li Zhizhang hopes that more Taiwanese young people will join him in taking root in Fujian and jointly empower rural revitalization. (over)