Chen Dexing Hall

An ancestral hall of the Chen family in the Taipei area. It was first built within the old city walls in 1892, its hall name Dexing (德星) drawn from a classical allusion to a gathering of virtuous men. After the Japanese requisitioned the original site to build the Governor-General’s Office the family was given army land in Dadaocheng in exchange. The hall was rebuilt there between 1912 and 1914 under the celebrated master craftsman Chen Yingbin (陳應彬) in the ornate Zhangzhou style. Its front hall is known for a pair of stone columns each carved with two dragons, one ascending and one descending, the earliest example of the form in Taiwan and widely copied thereafter. The hall has doubled as a kindergarten for much of the past century. Its designation as a heritage site in 1985, amid a protracted fight against demolition for a neighbouring school’s expansion, helped drive later amendments to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act.