A Community-Initiated Modern Educational Site: Gugang School Western-style Building

In the latter half of the 19th century, as Qing China opened its ports for trade, the long-standing policy of strict control over maritime navigation was lifted. With the economic prosperity of Southeast Asia under British and Dutch rule, many Minnan people, who had long faced restricted sea access and difficult livelihoods, migrated south to Nanyang (Southeast Asia) to seek opportunities, a phenomenon commonly known as 'Luofan.' After becoming wealthy overseas, many Minnan emigrants returned home to build grand Western-style buildings, remitted funds back to their hometowns, and established modern education. They were the main drivers of the modernization wave in the Minnan region in the early 20th century. Kinmen and Gugang were also part of this historical trend. In the early 20th century, many new schools on the island, such as Gugang School, Jinshui Elementary School, and Ruiyou School, were built through bottom-up, self-initiated efforts by overseas Chinese from Nanyang. Dong Yunyao was a prominent representative of overseas Chinese from Gugang in Nanyang. Upon his return, he rallied villagers and overseas Chinese from Nanyang to establish a new school next to the ancestral temple. In addition to his generous personal donation, Dong Yunyao also established an educational foundation, acquiring property on Gulangyu Island in the Xiamen concession, with the rental income serving as the school's operating expenses. Gugang School was completed and opened in 1922. Its curriculum included Mandarin, arithmetic, general knowledge, social studies, natural sciences, and music. Teachers came from Gugang, Kinmen, and Fujian. The school also founded the 'Jingguang Monthly' to inform overseas compatriots in Nanyang about the school's operations and to promote fundraising. The self-initiated Gugang School, established by local villagers, was later incorporated into the Republic of China's educational system. In 1962, it was used as the Gugang Village Office and a community activity center, after which it lay derelict for a period. Following its restoration in 2005, it was managed by the Dong Family Association and entrusted to the Gugang Community Development Association to serve as a core base for community building, local revitalization, and educational promotion. In 2023, the community partnered with a local youth team to transform it into the 'Baihua' coffee shop, offering food and beverages, hosting lectures, cultural and artistic performances, educational activities, handicraft experiences, exhibitions, guided tours, and serving as a community information center. Gugang School stands as a significant cultural heritage site in Taiwan for the following reasons: First, it is a historical site with a unique context. The development of new schools in Kinmen, including Gugang School, differs from Taiwan's church-run private school system and the Japanese colonial bureaucratic education system. It represents a grassroots, self-initiated, transnational modernization within the Minnan region, deeply embedded in a global historical context. This not only reflects the Minnan region's historical social mechanism of bottom-up, cross-border self-initiation, independent of state reliance, but also its long-standing interaction with Southeast Asia. This unique historical context is not found in Taiwan, Penghu, or Matsu. To this day, many overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia return to Kinmen to visit, and Gugang School is one of the representative sites. Second, it is a rare 'publicly self-initiated' cultural heritage site in Taiwan. From its initial establishment to its preservation, maintenance, and operation, it has been spontaneously led by the Gugang villagers, rather than passively relying on the state. This is particularly noteworthy in a domestic cultural heritage landscape largely dominated by public sector initiatives. Third, it possesses an unbroken 'spirit of place.' Even today, in addition to operating a coffee shop to engage more people, Gugang School introduces contemporary ideas and organizes promotional activities such as arts, crafts, and humanities lectures. It serves as the core of community building, offering education across all age groups, from young people to senior citizens. It consistently perpetuates the founding spirit of 'education' and 'community cohesion,' which is rare among many domestic cultural heritage sites that preserve only the physical shell without a continuous sense of meaning.