臺灣文學虛擬博物館

When was your last trip? Where is your favorite place to travel?

At some point in time, travel became a part of our daily lives. Regardless of whether their destinations are local or overseas, many now mark their trips by sharing snapshots of scenery and food on social media.

Yet traveling is more than just physically moving our body from one place to another—it is also an act of changing our perspectives and state of mind. The first people to record what they saw and experienced on their journeys marked the beginning of a new genre: travel literature.

Taiwan’s travel literature spans centuries of history and countless themes, with paths as far and wide as those of its writers. As a result, we can now voyage across the world from the comfort of our homes by simply reading their works. Through their words, we can embark on the same adventures, exploring new destinations, encountering different cultures, and even rediscovering ourselves along the way.

Let us set out on our own trip through travel literature and join its writers to search for the true meaning of “traveling.”

Warning! You Are Surrounded By Literature covers over a century of Taiwan literature. This exhibition opens a lens into the island's evolving social and political landscapes in six sections, including Humble Beginnings: Brought on the Waves, Nourished by Fertile Island Soils (~1895), Indefatigable Resolve: Dreams and Scars of Cultural Enlightenment (1895~1945), Trial by Fire: Guerilla War against Intellectual Asphyxiation (1945~1980), Democratization: Voices from All Quarters (1980~2000), and Writing our Future … Together. Multimedia displays throughout help visitors interact with, and create new possibilities within, the living stream of Taiwan literature. Find your treasure in this vibrant, flowing stream!

Further information：The Power of Literature: Writing OUR TAIWAN

Welcome to the Children’s Literature Story Base!

Hello! My name is Bookie~ I’m a robot who loves books! My favorite things to do are asking questions, making new friends, and diving into books to go on exciting adventures. To me, books aren’t just books—they are magical doors that can take us anywhere, anytime!

One of my favorite kinds of books is children’s literature. Children's literature is also like a magic doorway: once you open it, all sorts of wonderful things come rushing out, such as stories of everyday life, adventures, fantasy, laughter, poetry, and more!

In Taiwan, the story of children’s literature began over one hundred years ago. Even back then, people were quietly planting seeds of imagination into children’s hearts. From children’s songs and poems to fairy tales, young adult novels, and picture books, each of these tiny seeds slowly sprouted and have since grown into tall trees full of amazing stories.

Now it’s time to begin our adventure! I’ll be your guide and take you to explore children’s books that are fun, creative, and full of surprises. Just log in, and we’ll set off to visit these exciting secret places.

Studying, taking exams, building connections with new friends—these sound like everyday activities. A hundred years ago, these same activities were shaping the lives of a generation of scholars. Classically-educated scholars of the late Qing dynasty, Japanese colonial era, and early postwar years are the main characters of this exhibition's story. 19th and 20th century artifacts and records will take visitors on a journey through the lives of the traditional literati, from their earliest education, to the imperial examinations, to the refined life of local poetry societies, and explore how the literary spirit endured and evolved amid the rising tide of modernism. Together, they paint a picture which, despite belonging firmly to the past, remains familiar to us today: The Path of Learning.

This exhibition focuses on four themes. In order, they are: the strenuous efforts of studying for and taking exams; the support provided by friends, mentors, and families; the creativity and exchange that went on in poetry and literary societies; and the many forms which that creativity took, including paintings, calligraphy, lantern riddles, periodicals, and activities and events held by those societies. For them, literature was not just material to be tested on, or career expertise. It permeated every aspect of their lives and their personal relationships, and colored their entire world with its culture of emotions and creativity.

The artifacts on display here include handwritten drafts and manuscripts, paintings, calligraphy, film and photographs, personal documents, books, periodicals, stationery and writing utensils, postcards, and letters. These objects tell us the story of how they studied, how their social groups functioned, how they created literature, and how the scholarly spirit changed and evolved with the times.

By rebuilding the webs of connection between these artifacts, we can gain new insight into the mental lives of literati a century ago, taking visitors back in time to appreciate how interwoven institutions, families, and social groups shaped their paths, and what modern intellectuals share with the literati of yesteryear in their pursuit of culture.