National Taiwan Museum_Nanmen Branch

During the Japanese colonial period, the Taiwan Governor-General's Office stipulated an opium monopoly in 1897, and successively included camphor (1899), salt (1899), tobacco (1906), and alcohol (1922) in its monopoly enterprises. The "Taiwan Governor-General's Office Monopoly Bureau Taipei Nanmen Factory" was established in 1899 as an important production base for manufacturing and experimenting with two major monopoly products: camphor and opium. It was renamed Nanmen Factory in 1901, and then Taipei Nanmen Factory again in 1931, becoming Taiwan's only publicly-owned camphor processing plant during the Japanese era. After the war, the factory was taken over by the government. Following the February 28 Incident in 1947, Taiwan's monopoly (public sale) operations were reduced to three items: tobacco, alcohol, and camphor. In 1952, this factory was renamed the Taiwan Provincial Camphor Refining Plant, and in 1956, it was renamed the Taiwan Provincial Camphor Factory. In December 1967, camphor production was opened to private enterprise, and the factory ceased operations and was decommissioned. Today, only the Goods Warehouse (Little White House), the Camphor Warehouse (Red House), and a 400-dan water storage tank remain. The current site area is less than one-eighth of its size during the Japanese colonial period. In 1998, the Nanmen Factory was designated a national historic monument by the Ministry of the Interior. From 2004, the National Taiwan Museum, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture (formerly the Council for Cultural Affairs, Executive Yuan) and its Capital Cultural Park Project, began constructing the "Taiwan Museum System," renovating and reusing historical urban spaces as museum venues. In 2006, the factory's land and buildings were transferred from the National Property Administration to the National Taiwan Museum. The historic buildings were repurposed as exhibition halls, and a new collection storage facility was built, with J.Y. Chung Architect & Associates responsible for the planning and design of the restoration and reuse. The restoration process of this factory was like an anatomical study of architectural history, involving collaboration across professional fields such as architectural design, structure, electromechanical equipment, conservation, archaeology, traditional craftsmanship, history, and engineering.