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China-born architect Yang Cho-cheng 楊卓成 (1914-2006) left his magnificent mark on Taiwan with the CKS Memorial Hall, and the National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH) among his greatest masterpieces. This week, we’ve got part one of the story of how a classical Chinese-style trilogy of buildings came to stand in the heart of Taipei City.
Cover top: A pair of panorama images showing Liberty Square, the National Concert Hall, the National Theater, and the CKS Memorial Hall.
All pics unless otherwise stated are via Wikimedia Commons
VIDEO: Mr. Yang Cho-cheng (楊卓成先生), Master of Chinese Classical Architecture
Below: Images of Yang Cho-cheng via Chinese Heritage.com
Below: Despite controversies about the person venerated in this building, the CKS Memorial Hall is, inarguably, a stunning neo-classical Chinese edifice in the middle of ultra-modern Taipei City. The govt website for the CKS Hall states, "The the 76-meter-tall Memorial Hall building includes an 89-step marble stairway and an octagonal roof whose composition evinces the Chinese character for 'human' — a tribute to the concept of 'the unity of mankind with the heavens.'"
In addition to the buildings we focus on in this episode, architect Yang Cho-cheng 楊卓成 (1914-2006) also designed the Grand Hotel 圓山大飯店 (1), the Taipei Grand Mosque (2), and the Cihu Mausoleum (3).
Below: The statues of CKS and Abraham Lincoln have been described as very similar, but there are, of course, differences, as you can see from the pictures below.
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Check our very first episode, the story of a very white man who showed up in London in 1703... and claimed to be from Formosa. Or try a foodie episode from Season 3. Or, for those who want some harder-core history, hear the tale of the Lockheed U-2 pilot Wang Hsi-chueh 王錫爵, who became famous for defecting to the PRC by hijacking China Airlines Flight 334 on May 3, 1986.
