The Taiwan Literary Base is located in the Japanese-style dormitory cluster on Qidong Street, which is one of the few areas in Taiwan with the most complete preservation of historical buildings. It is also the first batch of Japanese-style dormitory clusters to be preserved in a planar manner under the Cultural Asset Preservation Law. The area includes one municipally designated historic site and nine historical buildings, which not only contain rich local stories and connections to citizens' experiences but also highlight the contemporary significance of the activation and reuse of the only remaining Japanese-style dormitory historical cluster in Taipei City.
In the chessboard-like Taipei city center, Qidong Street is like a casual smile, stretching between Jinan Road and Zhongxiao East Road. Behind this smile lies a long history - over two hundred years ago, during the Qing dynasty, this area was a ancient road called "Sanban Bridge Street" that led to Songshan and then to Keelung. At that time, the area was filled with endless rice fields and ponds. Qidong Street, which did not have a name at that time, was winding and born, taking on the important responsibility of transporting rice, coal, and other people's livelihood materials.
During the Japanese colonial period, from 1920 to 1940, the Governor-General's Office built Japanese-style official dormitories here, which are now the Qidong Street Japanese-style Dormitory Cluster. At the same time, the area gradually gathered various industries, companies, factories, and other institutions, and commercial activities became increasingly prosperous, also promoting the establishment of the "Chengdong Association" in this area, which often organized community lectures, drama appreciation, art performances, and movie screenings, creating a hot trend of artistic and cultural experiences at that time.
After the war, the government continued to use this area as a dormitory for central government officials, and Major General Wang Shucheng, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, also moved into No. 27, Section 2, Jinan Road, and later became the "Air Force Commander-in-Chief" and "General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense". The Japanese-style old house was marked as "General's Residence" until it was moved out in 1992.
In the 2000s, Qidong Street, located in the city center, faced the fate of demolition in the rapid urban development. Fortunately, local residents of the Happiness Community, based on their identification with architectural settlements, old trees, and the environment, formed the "Qidong Literature and History Studio" in 2002. With the efforts of residents and experts, the preservation of historical buildings of nine adjacent Japanese-style dormitories was achieved, which was regarded as "an important and priceless historical and cultural asset of Taipei City citizens".
As urban development continued, new houses, schools, and factories were built and moved in, and "Sanban Bridge Street" gradually disappeared from the map, leaving only the smiling arc between Jinan Road and Zhongxiao East Road to remind us of its existence.
In 2011, the Ministry of Culture commissioned the Taipei City Government's Department of Cultural Affairs to renovate the Qidong Street Japanese-style Dormitory (No. 25 & 27, Section 2, Jinan Road) and named this historical building "Qidong Poetry House".
In July 2014, the National Taiwan Literature Museum began to operate and manage the Qidong Poetry House and plan exhibitions and literary promotion activities.
As the five historical buildings on Qidong Street 53 Lane were restored, the "Taiwan Literary Base", which is committed to innovation and cultural inheritance, officially opened in 2021!