Fengtian Datong Theater

The Datong Theater is located in Fengtian Village, Shoufeng Township, Hualien County. It was built by the Japanese in 1913 and was one of Taiwan's three government-operated immigrant villages. Besides Japanese colonial-era culture, Fengtian's nearly century-long history has also been significantly shaped by Fengtian jade from the 1970s. This jade once accounted for nearly 90% of the world's jade exports, with an export value reaching 5 billion, making Fengtian once the most bustling and prosperous place in Hualien. The theater was built in 1960, and in addition to showing films, it also served as a community cultural and recreational center and performance venue. The reason for the theater's closure was ironically Fengtian's prosperity at the time: households began to own televisions, severely impacting the theater's revenue and leading to its shutdown. Later, during the boom period of Fengtian jade and seedless watermelons, the theater underwent a transformation, converting its interior partitions into "collective housing" to provide temporary accommodation for jade craftsmen and watermelon merchants of the time. However, this prosperity was short-lived. In the 1980s, Fengtian jade mining was banned, and seedless watermelon production ceased due to soil depletion, leading Fengtian Village to gradually decline. The theater, once converted into collective housing, subsequently closed its doors. To make matters worse, the prosperity brought by jade led residents to develop vices such as drug addiction and gambling. To prevent drug users from breaking in, the theater's owner at the time sealed every window and door with sheet metal. The theater remained sealed for 40 years. Although it once witnessed Fengtian's prosperity, it eventually became known as a haunted house by the next generation of village children, much like a modern rural fable. In 1994, the Niu-Li Association was founded locally. It began to address issues in Fengtian Village resulting from the faded prosperity, such as single-parent intergenerational care, child truancy, and youth drug addiction leading to violent behavior. In this process, it developed local initiatives based on community empowerment. In 2001, it was officially registered as a corporate organization. Guided by the principle from "Li Yun Da Tong" (The Evolution of Rites and the Grand Unity): "the aged are cared for until their death, the able-bodied are given employment, the young are raised to maturity, and the widowed, orphaned, lonely, and disabled are all provided for," the association has been engaged in community development work for 30 years. Its practices span from the elderly to the young, focusing on people's self-identity with their hometown and land. It began collecting and organizing all historical and cultural data related to Fengtian, aiming to create a village where both children and elders can live long-term, and young people working elsewhere can return home with peace of mind. In 2021, it further collaborated with local teams to form the local revitalization organization "Mount County Line" (山下線). With the unconditional free-use support from the current five owners, the long-sealed Datong Theater was reopened, and restoration work began with subsidies for local revitalization and environmental development promoted by the Ministry of Culture. The community development energy accumulated by the association over the past 30 years materialized at this time. The theater's renovation did not involve traditionally hiring a construction company but instead called upon Fengtian youth to join the restoration project. Over 30 local young people worked with their children to dismantle the damaged roof, repair cracked floors, and remove the partitions from its collective housing era to restore it to its original theater appearance. The restoration was completed and officially opened on July 6, 2023. The theater's rebirth testifies to local history and culture, becoming a gateway for local experiences. Its internal parent-child spaces, performance venues, and diverse artistic and cultural uses have established it as an important cultural and artistic hub in Central Hualien, despite having only reopened for a year and a half. The characters "Datong" (大同) above the theater have also become a significant core vision for Fengtian and the Mount County Line area.