Houtong Miners' Cultural and Historical Museum

The Houtong Miners' Cultural and Historical Museum was established on August 10, 2019 (ROC Year 108), situated next to the main pit entrance of the Ruishan Coal Mine, which belonged to Ruishan Mining Co., Ltd., formerly Taiwan's largest coal mining company. It was founded by a group of last-generation miners who voluntarily collected various historical and cultural materials and mining equipment from the Japanese colonial period, post-war era, and modern times as exhibits. Although these miners did not receive professional guided tour training, they used their work experience and memories to create their own cultural walking tours for the Houtong area. Adhering to the spirit of 'telling our own stories, to be heard by all of Taiwan and even the world,' they use a unique narrative logic to recreate the lives, skills, and historical stories of miners, making every guided tour tell the story of each miner's life, which deeply moves every visitor. The Houtong Miners' Cultural and Historical Museum was not only established through the contributions of the last-generation miners' pensions but is also the first cultural and historical exhibition hall in Taiwan personally planned and built by veteran miners with their calloused hands. Houtong is not just about cats; there are also more important local cultural heritage assets to preserve and local historical culture to pass on. Inside the museum, old photos from that era are displayed, and with explanations from the 'miner teachers,' visitors are taken into the dark world of miners, witnessing how Taiwanese miners, in an era of energy scarcity, used their lives to dig out Taiwan's economic miracle. This group of veteran miners, gradually overlooked by the nation and forgotten by society, built the 'Houtong Miners' Cultural and Historical Museum' through their own efforts to transform the public's impression of Houtong as merely a 'cat village.' While economic benefits are certainly important, local natural resources and inherent cultural heritage should not be overlooked or forgotten. The museum is mainly divided into three small exhibition halls. The glass house on the first floor displays many old photos related to underground mining and various tools used by miners back then. Each picture records the resilient spirit of the miners working in the tunnels, and every tool carries the arduous lives of the miners. The 1:1 printed image of the actual mining scene at the bottom of the wall creates an illusion as if one has entered the mine shaft. The second floor of the glass house exhibits the essential equipment miners needed for daily work, accessories for underground mining machinery, and various instruments and equipment for measuring tunnel conditions. Passing through the corridor with three sections of mine shafts leads to the Historical and Cultural Data Exhibition Hall, where rare trans-century comparative hand-drawn maps and photos by Mr. Sakubei Yamamoto from Japan and Mr. Chou Chao-nan are displayed. These include a precious comparison spanning time and space, reports of the major disaster at Ruishan Mine in 1969 (ROC Year 58), a map of mining areas in the Keelung region, and excavation trace maps of the Ruishan Mining Houtong mine, among other important mining-related historical documents. Most notably, Mr. Chou Chao-nan collected extensive biographical information on many miners. Now, many families come to search for their parents or grandparents, and seeing them shed tears for the hardships their ancestors endured, I believe, evokes not only deep emotion but also profound sympathy and a sense of poignant loss. Currently, the museum's 'on-site guided tours' attract over 10,000 visitors annually, and more than 2,000 people register online each year for the 'cultural walking tours.' Additionally, organizations, private groups, and schools arrange visits by appointment. The Houtong Miners' Cultural and Historical Museum is a place worth visiting; a trip here will surely not disappoint.