Taiwan's first "municipal" historic landmarks are here! But one of them, Taipei's Wistaria House, has also been boarded up by the central government. What's going on?

Located in the Taiwan University area, Wistaria House is less than 100 years old, and thus is not yet an official "century" home. This Japanese occupation era government residence is also neither a prominent landmark nor a piece of classical architecture. Rather, it is simply an old teahouse, still doing business.

What place do "new" historic landmarks have in society? How do we extend the life of a "living" historic treasure? Wistaria House has sparked some lively new discussion about old buildings.

"To be honest, from a greater historical perspective, it would be pushing it to call Wistaria House a 'real' historic landmark," says Huang Fu-san, director of the Academica Sinica's Institute of Taiwan History. However, the Taipei city government decided to list Wistaria House as a landmark. The committee is trying to set a new example whereby historic landmarks are judged not only by external criteria, but by their individual "personality" and history as well.

The youngest "historic" landmark?

The mention of historic landmark preservation in Taiwan generally brings to mind buildings that are old or possess unique architectural features. Examples include buildings with traditional Chinese pagoda-style roofs or English and Dutch colonial architecture, like Fort San Domingo in Tanshui. Expanding the definition of historic landmark to include Japanese occupation-era buildings is thus already a bold move. Would further including architecture from the time of the KMT's arrival in Taiwan be going too far?

Wistaria House is precisely the type of building that forces people to address this question. Its original architecture is some 76 years old, and it was used as a residence for high-ranking officials during the Japanese occupation. After 1949, Wistaria House became the residence of Chou Te-wei, then head of the Customs Affairs Administration under the government's Ministry of Finance. Due to typhoon damage caused in 1961, the Chou family turned the outer half of the residence into a two-story Western-style building.

If such an "ordinary" piece of architecture can be called a historic landmark, what's next? Will historic landmarks begin to sprout up all over Taipei?

The reason Wistaria House emerged from among many contenders to become Taipei's first municipal historic landmark has to do with being in the right place at the right time, as well as being connected to the right people.

Sipping tea and making friends

Turning the corner into a lane off of Hsinsheng South Rd., one is greeted by a quaint courtyard containing a pool. Entering Wistaria House, one sees customers seated on tatamis, drinking tea and chatting, gazing with contentment at the green shadows cast by the wistaria in the courtyard. Waitresses wearing cotton dresses carry trays of tea back and forth across the room. Many people in Taipei are familiar with this scene, but this is far from being Wistaria House's only outstanding characteristic.

Friends of the Chou family, like liberal scholar Yin Hai-kuang, frequently came to meet and talk at Wistaria House in the 1950's, when it was still the residence of Mr. Chou Te-wei. In 1975, the Chou family moved to the US, leaving their youngest son Chou Yu behind to look after the old house. Chou Yu, who loves the arts and literature, formed the Tien experimental theater troupe with friends, the beginning of Taiwan's small-group theater tradition. With artist friends constantly coming and going, Wistaria House became known for a time as an "artists' commune." It was also a gathering place for the elites of Taiwan's newly emerging opposition parties.

"Back then, there were weeds growing all over outside the front door. The house was a wreck and there wasn't any money to fix it up. Elementary school kids who walked by all said it was a haunted house," recalls Chou Yu with a smile.

So how was this "haunted house" transformed into one of the pioneers of Taipei's teahouse culture? Chou Yu had always admired Western salon culture, and when his friends began pestering him to open a teahouse of his own, Wistaria House was born in 1981. The teahouse takes its name from several 70-year-old wistaria trees that stand in the courtyard.

A kind of "Wistarian" art of tea was gradually developed at Wistaria House, even enjoying a degree of international fame. Chou Yu continued to sponsor his artist friends, holding painting exhibitions, concerts and dance performances at Wistaria House. Several prominent contemporary painters like Cheng Tzai-tung, Yu Peng and Chiu Ya-tsai all made their names after starting out here. Wistaria House has played an important role in the development of numerous young artists over the years.

Right place at the right time

A problem remains-Wistaria House is still legally a government residence. Its real "landlord" is the Ministry of Finance (MOF), which decided to reclaim its rightful property in May of this year, leaving the two-story Western-style house built by the Chou family in their possession. Reluctant to let one of the rare, great cultural spaces of Taipei just disappear, many cultural figures who share memories of and feelings for Wistaria House have come forward to plead for the preservation of the teahouse. A public support group has been formed to negotiate the matter with the government departments in charge of the property.

The Council for Cultural Planning and Development (CCPD) mediated negotiations, asking for Chou Yu to transfer his property rights to the government and let the CCPD form a committee to run the property. Then, the Taipei city government stepped in to enact a new policy, based on Taiwan's cultural property preservation law passed in May of this year. The law states that historic landmarks are no longer under the sole authority of the Ministry of the Interior. Instead, local governments can now declare their own historic landmarks within their jurisdiction. Thus, in a flash, Wistaria House was named a historic landmark, and the preservationists could breathe a sigh of relief.

However, that problem was barely solved when another one flared up. Under the new law, private enterprises suddenly made a mad dash to have themselves declared historic landmarks. Worried, the MOF, acting through the Keelung Tariff Bureau, then decided to reclaim its portion of Wistaria House at the end of July, before the city government had publicly declared the teahouse a historic landmark. It sealed off the old residence with plywood boards and closed up the flower garden. All that was left of the teahouse was Chou Yu's two-story Western-style house, forcing him "to run the ship on half an engine."

In addition to Wistaria's old friends and acquaintances, foreign travelers who had heard of the teahouse abroad and ventured here to see it were also shocked that half of it had been boarded up. People were afraid that no one would maintain the closed off section; the garden would turn into a tangle of weeds and a haven for insects. Water collecting on the roof would surely damage the wooden structure.

After a month of silence, the public support group made a "surprise raid" on Wistaria House one afternoon at the end of August, tearing down the plywood and replacing it with ropes. They set up an ROC flag, which symbolized dissatisfaction with the MOF's decision while still displaying respect for the ministry's territory. The action was a form of "peaceful protest." At the beginning of September, the CCPD and the Taipei city government both summoned experts to examine Wistaria House, who verified that it is presently in no danger of suffering major damage or collapsing. The future of the historic landmark must wait until the issue of property rights is settled. Questions of ownership and restoration can then be addressed.

Thus although Wistaria House has been crowned king of Taipei's buildings, its final fate still remains to be seen.

Good news and bad news

Perhaps it was "in the right place at the right time," but Wistaria House's new status as a historic landmark has less to do with its architectural value than with its invisible yet tangible artistic atmosphere.

By being pulled back from the brink of death to become a historic landmark, Wistaria House has brought both good and bad news to cultural scholars. The good news is that Taipei's "cultural spaces" have begun to receive the attention they deserve. Architecture and humanities scholar Wang Chen-hua approves of the "attitude toward space" at Wistaria House: "The owner's use of space is even more dynamic than that in the Japanese occupation era. It has made possible the extension of the life of the house. It is in itself the wisdom of recycling."

Taiwan's father of historic landmark preservation, Taiwan University professor Hsia Chu-chiu, believes that if you enjoy drinking tea there and feel a certain love for the 70-year-old wistaria as you watch them growing in the courtyard, then Wistaria House is certainly a place worth treasuring. It has already become a "living, breathing historic landmark." The best way to make use of it is simply to allow it to continue doing business.

However, the somewhat hastily made decision to list Wistaria House as a landmark is not without its drawbacks. Cultural scholar Lin Ku-fang can sympathize with the attempt to seize the moment and declare Wistaria House a historic landmark. But he also believes that most architectural landmarks have produced a certain amount of "historical precipitate"-they embody a definite amount of historical information. Relatively speaking, Wistaria House is a structure still in the process of creation. Calling it a "historical space" is perhaps more accurate, for it is constantly moving, constantly changing. And it is precisely this ability to transform that has become the basis for its unique cultural presence. "Rather than making this sort of place a historic landmark, we should encourage it to continue developing. Otherwise, in the long run we will do more harm than good."

Criteria for determining historic landmarks, for example, may become blurred. Besides, once tagged as a "historic landmark," will Wistaria House be pressured into ending its course of continuous change, stifling its further development? Or, if those in charge of the building's upkeep decide to restore it to its original appearance, will that mean how it appeared during the Japanese occupation, or how it looked after the two-story Western-style house was constructed?

A cultural trust

Lin Ku-fang believes everyone should step back and approach things from a more humanistic standpoint. Conflicting interests need to be tempered by mutual understanding. Lin feels that the MOF, in addition to working to obtain the rights to the Wistaria House property, must also consider its duty to Taiwan's citizenry to protect beloved cultural spaces. Chou Yu, in addition to preserving his creation, should also make an effort to sympathize with the government's point of view. The Taipei city government must not only use its civic powers to protect historic spaces, it must also respect the wishes of the property's owner. If everyone adopts a more easygoing attitude, things will work out. Even scholars, in their fight to preserve Taipei's cultural spirit, must seek a rational, sensitive compromise with everyone else. If the parties involved all took each other's perspectives into account, perhaps there would be no need for the present impasse.

So what will become of Wistaria House? Hsia Chu-chiu believes that the question of property rights is actually easy to settle. The "cultural trust" system which has existed in England for years can be used as a model. The owner of the property donates it to the government for a symbolic one dollar. A private committee or foundation is then entrusted with the property's management. The property's financial affairs remain public, and any profit made is reinvested in the property. In this manner, a teahouse can become a historic landmark and still remain open to the public for drinking tea and chatting. Wistaria House can continue to be a living urban space.

As a "living space" that is also a historic landmark, Wistaria House has helped create a new set of cultural values for Taipei. We wish Wistaria House all the best, and hope the teahouse's story will come to a happy end. Yet, as we look around, are there not many more urban spaces worthy of our compassion, ones that, like Wistaria House, deserve to "stay in business forever"?

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Can historic buildings can also be sealed up? Because of its rich cultural significance Wistaria House has been designated as a historic building, but its future is still in question.

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Wistaria House often holds art activities and enjoys the label "art salon." This is another reason why it is so treasured by the artistic community and why they are the main force speaking out for it. The picture shows a scene during a lecture given by author Huang Chun-ming. Chou Yu and his wife are seated in the middle.