2004 Volume 67 Issue 5 Pages 403-406
According to the owner of a garden, it will present very different garden culture. Lin Family Garden, in Banchou built from 1888 to 1893, is the representative traditional merchant garden of Taiwan. It is also the most conserved completely garden among the 48 traditional gardens of Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to make clear the social functions of this garden as a merchant garden during the Japanese Colonization. The events held in this garden during the Japanese Colonization were distilled from the newspapers published from 1898 to 1944. And the purpose, organizer, participant, progress, and place of events held in this garden were analyzed. The results revealed that garden parties, meetings, banquets, and poem salons were held in this garden for building the affiliation with the colonization government, for supporting the local events, and for the personal companionship. Moreover, it was open for the public from 1927, it was helpful for enhancing the reputation of Lin Family. Dinchin Hall zone is the center of social life in this garden because it was the most frequently used among seven zones of this garden. It was expected that the findings of this study can realize one part of garden culture of Taiwan.
