OLD PHOTOS HELP WITH RESTORATION OF WU FENG LIN MANSION|霧峰林家"草厝"啟動修復 期待重現風華

The 921 earthquake seriously damaged the Wu Feng Lin Family Mansion. It has now been restored. Taichung City Government applied to the Ministry of Culture for a NT$120 million grant. It intends to restore three main buildings. However, one of these, the Cao Cuo, is so badly damaged that they will have to rely on century-old photographs for clues to its original appearence. The old craftsmen insisted on demolishing the old building's structure by hand and keeping the parts in careful order. He insisted on not using large machines as this was the oldest building in the Wu Feng Lin Mansion, the Cao Cuo building. Each part of it bears witness to history. Now the mansion is gradually being restored this the original building of the mansion will stand again as it used to within three years. ==CHIU CHENG-KAI GUIDE== Their ancestors hoped that their descendents would have this as a center as their family branched out and this building, the Cao Cuo was the parents' hall. The building in the old photo is the Cao Cuo, designed as a simple three sided courtyard house in the Minnan style. When it was built in 1900, it was a grand residence. The Cao Cuo survived through the Japanese Occupation and was destroyed badly in the 921 earthquake. There were few historical records of the building making restoration work difficult. Luckily there were some surviving old photographs, showing its original design. In the future its roof will be restored using rare thatched material, which adds to the difficulty of restoration. ==CHANG FANG-LING Wu Feng Lin Co. Dep. Operations Manager == There are very few documentary records on the Cao Cuo building, so a lot more time and effort had to be taken on research, to survey. The Mansion itself has undergone many restorations and the General's Hall and the Flower Hall with its partitions and stage show the status of the Lin family and their local influence. The restoration of the Cao Cuo was most difficult due to the lack of evidence as well as the special methods. == WANG CHIH-CHENG Dir., Cultural Affairs Bureau, Taichung City Govt.== Gradually because some of the buildings were later added to and changed, they were very fragile and had collapsed some time ago, so we had to spend some time to find material on them. There were very few historical records and so restoration was reliant on old photos and word of mouth. The research took two years alone, and actual restoration is expected to be finished in three years. The original look of the buildings will once again reflect the status of the family and its influence in the history of the central region. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 921地震損毀嚴重的國定古蹟、霧峰林家花園，已陸續修復，台中市政府向文化部爭取一億兩千萬經費，計畫要再修復三處主要建築，但其中"草厝"已經毀壞，得靠百年前老照片，作為修復的重要依據。 老師傅徒手整地，拆下的老屋結構堆放著仔細分類，堅持不用大型機具，全是因為這裡是霧峰林家的發跡地"草厝"，每一處都是當時歷史的遺跡，而現在霧峰林家陸續完成整建，這座起家厝也即將在三年後、再現風華。 ==解說人員 邱政凱== 他們祖先在這邊 希望他的子弟 分家的時候(當成中心) 這部分(草厝)就是公媽廳 老照片就是當時的草厝，古樸的三合院聚落設計，加上閩南式的設計風格，在1900年當時，是相當具規模的宅院，而這處草厝歷經日治時期和921地震，毀壞程度嚴重，加上史料不多，讓修復工程很困難。 ==霧峰林本堂公司營運副理 張芳玲== 因為草厝文獻資料 留得非常少 所以考古這方面 就要耗比較多力氣 去做這(調查)方面 所幸幾張老照片，可以還原當時的原貌，未來屋頂將以古蹟修復少見的茅草當材料，增加修復難度，而霧峰林家花園歷經多次修復，逐漸恢復將軍府，大花廳和宮保第等聚落，其中大花廳的格局和戲台，看得出林家顯赫地位，以及在地方的影響力，而草厝的修復，除了工法之外，最困難的就是考據。 ==台中市文化局長 王志誠== 陸陸續續有些增建 改建的關係 第二 因為很脆弱 所以倒了很久 所以說在資料尋找上 要花點時間 因為相關資料不多，只能靠老照片和口語推敲，考據就得花兩年時間，預計三年後完成，希望重現當年風華，也讓林家在中部發展史的地圖，可以更完整。