Jianguo Military Dependents' Village is located in Huwei Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan. It has witnessed the rise and fall of Huwei, and has transformed into different looks and uses as history has evolved. The population was gradually multiplied with three small gatherings during the Japanese colonial period due to the establishment of sugar factories. The villagers were evicted because of World War II military needs, and the village was converted into a military dormitory. After the end of World War II, the Taiwanese Armed Forces received the military dormitory, which was provided to the soldiers and their families as dormitories and became the military dependents' village. The village became empty due to "Act for Rebuilding Old Quarters for Military Dependents." It has gone through rural period, Japanese colonial period, military dependents' village period and preservation movement afterward. It finally becomes cultural asset settlement today.
In order to make such a field with deep historical context to develop again, our project focuses on the preservation, promotion and re-creation of culture. Leading university students keep a complete record of life in the military dependents' village of the past by teachers and a youth team that has been operating in the military dependents' village for a long time after graduation. We not only cooperate closely with Mr. Liang Weizhen who is Air Force’s children and still living in the military dependents' village but also cooperate closely with Ms. Hu Songzhi who is the wife married to the military dependents' village. WeInvite them to participate co-design, co-practice and co-communication of cultural re-creation activities, such as “Theater Style Tour Guide,” “Commensal of military dependents' village dishes,” “Working holiday camp” and “Working holiday camp.” Provide students with practical learning fields and opportunities for social participation outside the classroom.
In co-practice, Mr. Liang Weizhen realizes that a place needs to be created and activated in various ways. In addition to sharing the past history, environment and life experience of the military dependents' village with students and tourists through "Theater Style Tour Guide", he has always hoped to provide a different cultural experience after the construction of the military dependents' village. Therefore, he is very grateful to participate in the USR project to communicate with students and obtain new ideas in it, which not only revitalizes his mind, but also breaks away from the old thinking to look at the military dependents' village from a new perspective. He even worked with students to promote cultural experience activities with “Theater Style Tour Guide”. From the sharing of oral history, he and students analyzed the real life of the military dependents' village, such as the past conflicts between local people and people from other provinces, domestic OEM, and the new year atmosphere. Through the integrated design of guided commentary and environmental theater, as well as co-performances, visitors are brought into the reappearance of the historical scene of military villages which promotes a cultural experience that is both preserved and innovative.
Ms. Hu Songzhi, as a daughter-in-law of the military dependents' village, often showcases her expert dishes in the activities of the military dependents' village. In each teaching of cooking, she doesn't hesitate to share past experiences, and even in order to make the military dependents' village dishes more diversified, accompanies the Taiwanese and Vietnamese students and new immigrants to co-create Taiwan-Vietnamese food. Taking the Vietnamese fried spring rolls as an idea, redesign beef burritos which are commonly found in the military dependents' village dishes to vegetable and fruit rolls. The vegetable and fruit rolls are not only made from Taiwanese fruits and vegetables but also wrapped by Vietnamese spring roll skins to show a multi-cultured food co-creation design. Ms. Hu felt that through sharing the activities of USR project, it not only derived many novel ideas to communicate with each other, but also allowed students to gain insight into the possibilities of cultural respect and mutual integration through food.
Finally, in order to effectively link and show the value of local activation, our project through the focused discussions of cultural interpretation workshops transforms the cultural memories, historical stories, and Genius Loci of the military dependents' village in the past into energy that can sustain the sustainable development of the military dependents' village. Furthermore, from the practice of the local field, the process of social influence established by the stakeholders has been constructed to the close interaction and diversity of the cultural ecological network. It develops the dissipated villages from the military dependents' village culture into a new cultural base. We interpret the meaning of "family" of the " military dependents" in the military dependents' village to all the partners who come to meet and communicate with each other. And "village" has also been interpreted from the traditional meaning of "village" into a homeland where new identities are gathered and co-created. Teachers, students, residents, townspeople, youth teams, etc., gather in this place to work, think, have fun, learn, and share together, demonstrating the new meaning and value of the " military dependents' village " as a "family gathering place".