About us
History
About the Archives, IHP
Since our founding in 1928, the Institute of History and Philology (IHP) has been actively engaged in the excavation of archaeological artifacts, ethnological and linguistic surveys, as well as the acquisition of documents of various forms and rare books, all under the call of inaugural Director Fu Ssu-nien (1895–1950): “Seek out materials from the Heavens above to the Yellow Springs, or underworld, below.” Despite relocating on several occasions due to conflict and unrest, the IHP and our staff persisted in professional research in the face of such difficult material conditions, and precisely owing to our migration, have been able to acquire local historical materials and investigate specific ethnic groups.
These “materials,” as alluded to by Director Fu, serve as clues from which to explore history and culture. Predominantly housed in the Fu Ssu-nien Library and the Center for Taiwanese Archaeology, they have been undergoing digitization since 2001 through participation in related science and technology projects initiated on the national level. In order to more effectively coordinate the research results and efforts which have accumulated over the years, the IHP instituted the Archives in 2014, with the hope that we would function as a hub for the systematic collation and management of the IHP’s rich and diverse collection of documents, survey reports, correspondences, draft manuscripts, and so forth. Moreover, it is hope that the Archives can continue the legacy of “seeking out” and acquire all “materials” of research value, so that researchers may pave the way for new learning through the utilization of new materials.
The initial task of the Archives has been to organize the various academic, administrative, and general affairs documents from the establishment of the IHP onwards, as well as actively soliciting manuscripts, notes, letters, diaries, photographs, etc. of previous research fellows and staff. The administrative documents of the IHP, for example, include budgets from pre-WWII period to the 1970s that concern salaries, construction projects, housing assignments, and purchase orders, among other contents; and materials on academic activities contain work reports as well as records documenting collaboration efforts between the IHP and other organizations. Our collection of audiovisual materials is also a distinguishing feature, contents which include recordings on aluminum discs made by early scholars conducting dialect surveys in various regions of China, commercially published shellac or vinyl recordings of traditional local opera, as well as reel-to-reel audiotapes, cassette tapes, and CD-ROMs of academic lectures. Regarding the collected documents of our predecessors, we are in possession of the diaries of scholars such as He Ziquan (1911–2011), Keng-wang Yen (1916–1996), and Ma Xueliang (1913–1999), as well as the letters and documents of Pan Chen (1905–1999), Kan Lao (1907–2003), and Fa-ken Chin. In more recent years, several retired or late IHP research fellows including Chuan-ying Yen, Chin-fu Hung (1946–2019), Pak-yuen Liu (1945–2021), Yi-jen Chang (1930–2009), and Tung-kuei Kuan (1931–2019) have donated their personal documents, such as reading notes and manuscripts, to the Archives.
The Archives also welcomes the donation of any materials of research value. Since our inauguration, we have been indebted to numerous parties outside of the above circles for their generosity, exemplified by the following donations: a collection of reports from the period of Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule donated by the Taiwan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, MOA; the letters and manuscripts of historian Ping-ti Ho (1917–2012); the clinical and research notes of Dr. Rin Hsien (1925–2016) of the Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital; and the personal documents of Shu-chi Chuang (1920–2015), the first female practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan.
In addition to preserving these precious materials for future generations, the Archives has prioritized making our archivesavailable for the benefit of the academic community by increasing our efforts and focus on cataloguing and digitization.Furthermore, we have been creating databases that allow the convenient retrieval and reading of digitized materials regardless of form. With these goals in the mind, while complying with the Archives Act and the Personal Data Protection Act, we strive to both respect the wishes of all donors as well as providing fair access of these materials to the public.
These “materials,” as alluded to by Director Fu, serve as clues from which to explore history and culture. Predominantly housed in the Fu Ssu-nien Library and the Center for Taiwanese Archaeology, they have been undergoing digitization since 2001 through participation in related science and technology projects initiated on the national level. In order to more effectively coordinate the research results and efforts which have accumulated over the years, the IHP instituted the Archives in 2014, with the hope that we would function as a hub for the systematic collation and management of the IHP’s rich and diverse collection of documents, survey reports, correspondences, draft manuscripts, and so forth. Moreover, it is hope that the Archives can continue the legacy of “seeking out” and acquire all “materials” of research value, so that researchers may pave the way for new learning through the utilization of new materials.
The initial task of the Archives has been to organize the various academic, administrative, and general affairs documents from the establishment of the IHP onwards, as well as actively soliciting manuscripts, notes, letters, diaries, photographs, etc. of previous research fellows and staff. The administrative documents of the IHP, for example, include budgets from pre-WWII period to the 1970s that concern salaries, construction projects, housing assignments, and purchase orders, among other contents; and materials on academic activities contain work reports as well as records documenting collaboration efforts between the IHP and other organizations. Our collection of audiovisual materials is also a distinguishing feature, contents which include recordings on aluminum discs made by early scholars conducting dialect surveys in various regions of China, commercially published shellac or vinyl recordings of traditional local opera, as well as reel-to-reel audiotapes, cassette tapes, and CD-ROMs of academic lectures. Regarding the collected documents of our predecessors, we are in possession of the diaries of scholars such as He Ziquan (1911–2011), Keng-wang Yen (1916–1996), and Ma Xueliang (1913–1999), as well as the letters and documents of Pan Chen (1905–1999), Kan Lao (1907–2003), and Fa-ken Chin. In more recent years, several retired or late IHP research fellows including Chuan-ying Yen, Chin-fu Hung (1946–2019), Pak-yuen Liu (1945–2021), Yi-jen Chang (1930–2009), and Tung-kuei Kuan (1931–2019) have donated their personal documents, such as reading notes and manuscripts, to the Archives.
The Archives also welcomes the donation of any materials of research value. Since our inauguration, we have been indebted to numerous parties outside of the above circles for their generosity, exemplified by the following donations: a collection of reports from the period of Taiwan under Japanese colonial rule donated by the Taiwan District Agricultural Research and Extension Station, MOA; the letters and manuscripts of historian Ping-ti Ho (1917–2012); the clinical and research notes of Dr. Rin Hsien (1925–2016) of the Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital; and the personal documents of Shu-chi Chuang (1920–2015), the first female practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan.
In addition to preserving these precious materials for future generations, the Archives has prioritized making our archivesavailable for the benefit of the academic community by increasing our efforts and focus on cataloguing and digitization.Furthermore, we have been creating databases that allow the convenient retrieval and reading of digitized materials regardless of form. With these goals in the mind, while complying with the Archives Act and the Personal Data Protection Act, we strive to both respect the wishes of all donors as well as providing fair access of these materials to the public.