My Taiwan Photograph Memoir

By Daniel Nardini

Taiwan, also called the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan, has remained a place not too well known to westerners. With a population of 25 million, Taiwan is the seventh largest economy in Asia and the 20th largest economy in the world. Yet there is much more to Taiwan than just the size of its economy, or that the Taiwanese are among the most affluent in Asia. Taiwan is an island of climate contrasts, a country with a rich culture going back centuries, and with vibrant major cities like Taipei, Tainan and Taichung City (as described in the book). It is a country with a mountainous inter-land, many rural farming villages, and tropical rain forests. Taiwan's people include the Austronesians (the first people to set foot in Taiwan), immigrants from Fujian province (the province opposite of Taiwan), many Chinese immigrants from northern China (who brought Mandarin), and the Hakka. The most important religions are Buddhism, Taoism and native Chinese ancestor worship. For the world traveler, or for an expatriate living there, Taiwan is worth exploring and knowing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664180222

Daniel Nardini

Daniel Nardini was born in Bloomington, Illinois, and raised in Elmhurst, Illinois. He graduated from Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1983, with a bachelors degree in anthropology and history, and from Western Illinois University in Macomb, in 1986, with a masters degree in European and Asian history. Mr. Nardini taught English as a foreign language in Taiwan from 1990 to 1994, and in South Korea from 1996 to 1997. He worked as an editor for Lawndale News in Cicero, Illinois, from 1994 to 2014, and as a newspaper correspondent for The Fulton Journal in Fulton, Illinois, from 2018 to 2020. Mr. Nardini has written eight other books. They are: South Korea; Our Story; The Day China Cried; My Taiwan, Seoul, and Guadalajara (Mexico) Memoirs; My Italian American Family, Rural Taiwan, and Lawndale News Memoirs; My South Korea Photograph Memoir; My Taiwan Photograph Memoir; A Taoist in Rural Illinois; and More Lawndale News Memoirs. Mr. Nardini is retired, and lives with his wife Jade in Chadwick, Illinois.

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Copyright © 2021 by Daniel Nardini. 829231

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

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in writing from the copyright owner.

Xlibris

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www.Xlibris.com

ISBN: 978-1-6641-8023-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6641-8022-2 (e)

Rev. date: 06/10/2021

Contents

Dedication

Taoist Temples

Plate 1: The outer entrance to the Taoist Temple in Sze Jiang Li

Plate 2: The inner entrance to the main part of the Taoist temple

Plate 3: The inner sanctum of the Taoist temple

Plate 4: Part of the Taoist temple courtyard

Taipei

Plate 5: The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei

Plate 6: The Presidential Palace in Taipei (Part 1)

Plate 7: The author in front of the Presidential Palace (Part 2)

Plate 8: The author in front of the National Palace Museum

Confucian Temples

Plate 9: The Entrance to the Confucian temple in Changhua

Plate 10: The main Confucian temple. A rehearsal for the celebration

of Confucius’ birthday was being held at the time

Plate 11: Part of the rehearsal for Confucius birthday

Chinese Writing

Plate 12: Classic Chinese writing at a Taoist temple in Taichung City

The Last Vestige of True Chinese Buddhism

Plate 13: The author with a Buddhist priest

Plate 14: The author with a Buddhist monk (note: this monk was a member of the reserve in the ROC Army)

Plate 15: The Happy Buddha at Bao Chueh Temple in Taichung City

Plate 16: One of the temples at Bao Chueh

Plate 17: An outside statue of Guanyin at Bao Chueh

Rural Taiwan

Plate 18: The outer wall of the old farm house where the author lived

Plate 19: The inner Courtyard of the old farm house

Plate 20: Some of the rice fields near where the author lived

Plate 21: A footpath going through the rice field

Plate 22: A local village near the Taiwanese farm where the author lived

Plate 23: The author in a rice field near the old farm house

Austronesian Taiwan

Plate 24. Part of an Austronesian Village in central Taichung County

Plate 25: Part of the architectural style of an Austronesian home

Plate 26: Another Part of an Austronesian village

Plate 27: The author with some Austronesians dressed in traditional clothes

Plate 28: The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan