They carry the suitcases, walk on the platform, look around and see the trains passing by slowly; they can be the travelers working away from home, the married daughters who return hometown to visit the relatives or the visitors who stay temporarily; they can be part of life of our grandparents, parents or ourselves. The boxes are from different times and different owners. Mottled box is the memory of different generations in the family.

Early Republic of China, collection of Cultural Affairs Bureau of Chiayi City

Present, collected by Ms. Hsiu-Ru Lin

On pictorial publication of London, Britain in 1859, by interesting woodcarving illustration and characters, it introduced the life, buildings and customs of people in Southern Taiwan. It was the detailed western report on Taiwan before the Japanese occupation in Taiwan in the 19th century.
1859, collected by Mr. Cheng-Hsin Kao

End of Qing Dynasty, collected by Mr. Cheng-Te Lo

Iron ancient lock is the remains of the collector’s grandmother. The blue and black rust on the lock is the proof of time. ㄇ-shaped tenon serves as the lock. The collector recalls the grandmother when seeing the lock.

Do you remember the time when we only had monochrome TV? Vacuum tube TV was big and thick and on the upper right corner of TV, there is a circular button that we could turn. From the little box, we saw people and heard the sound and it reminds us of the wonderful childhood after 1970s and 1980s.
1980s, collected by Mr. Chi-Jung Kao

In early times, every family had a telephone book which recorded the information of numerous shops and people. The checking included category, subcategory and strokes and it reinforced the interpersonal relationship. After the rise of internet, it replaces the function of paper telephone book. Although it is convenient, it is as interesting as the fun to turn the pages.
1974, collected by Mr. Che-Hsiung Kuo

During the festivals, the uncle enjoyed “tau-sann-k?ng” to cheer the gods. Everyone walked on the street with strong noise to reinforce the power of performance which affected the village through the effect of music. It showed the passion to religion and gods. Everyone played the instruments and discussed the religion to accomplish the performance. It was the uncle’s favorite activity.
Japanese colonial period, collected by Mr. Shu-Chin Tang

〈Chess between Nan Dou Zhen Jing and Bei Dou Zhen Jing〉
The work was made by Zhuan-You Chen and from Chiayi Chenghuang Temple. The gods competed with each other in the chess. Nan Dou Zhen Jing looks friendly and is in charge of humans’ birth; Bei Dou Zhen Jing looks fierce and is in charge of humans’ death. They both are passionate about chess and they enjoy competing with each other. It implies the fragility of life.
Work of Zhuan-You Chen, 1946, provided by Mr. Fu-Yuan Wang of Hsiang-tai Museum

Chiayi Chenghuang Temple was founded in 1715. During the reconstruction from 1936 to 1938, the masters Tien-Mu Lin and Zhuan-You Chen were invited to show their competence. The work〈Wei Shui Pin Xian〉showed both the amazing techniques of Tien-Mu Lin and Zhuan-You Chen. 〈Jiang Ziya〉is the work of Tien-Mu Lin who paid attention to the lines of sculpture; 〈King Wen of Zou state〉is the work of Zhuan-You Chen who focused on the technique of dough figurine.
Works of Tien-Mu Lin and Zhuan-You Chen, Japanese colonial period, provided by Mr. Fu-Yuan Wang of Hsiang-tai Museum

Jiao-Zhi Pottery is the important craft in Chiayi and one of the gifts among the relatives and friends. The piece Kuang-I Li Jiao-Zhi Pottery is the gift from relatives. When visiting the studio of Mr. Kuang-I Lin, the collector was impressed by the work. After the collector’s retirement from the work, the relatives gave him the work as a meaningful gift.
1996, collected by Mr. An-Sen Ren

Beihu community of Chiayi is Beishewei before. In early times, it was the rural village with rice cultivation. The farmers mostly raised the turkeys in the backyards. At the time, the rural people tended to watch the turkeys dancing in the afternoon on the rocking chairs until the sunset to end the day.
Present, collected by Ms. Hsiu-Ru Lin

It was taken in 1963. At the time, there were four statues of pissing boys in Dongmen Circle. The first on the left of the photo is the collector’s grandfather. At the time, it was rare to have portraits. Grandpa Guo took care of the photo carefully and looked at the photo from time to time to tell his stories to the relatives and friends. It belongs to the collector now. For the grandfather and grandchild, it is not only an old photo, but also the memory of family life in Chiayi.
1963, collected by Mr. Che-Hsiung Kuo

Banning illegal tobacco triggered 228 Incident of Taiwan and it was the nightmare for the Taiwanese people. There are the slogans of “increase production for the country” and “anti-Communist and anti-Russian aggression” on the tobacco box which show the situations of the time. There were high profits of illegal tobacco. It is the label to compare the true and false tobacco. Can you tell?
1950s, collected by Mr. Cheng-Hsin Kao

In the first picture book of life story, it shows the hand-drawing of the collector’s stories of life from childhood to the present, including the classrooms, the games of childhood, going out with friends during adolescence and taking the kid to play in the Zhongshan Park after getting married and having a child. At the bottom of the front cover, she drew the house of the childhood. Although with the change of time, the house was no longer at the same address, the affection to the house still exists. In the second picture book of life story, it records the stories of the collector’s precious granddaughter from her birth to the preschool. The detailed records and photos are the proofs of love. These two books are not only the records of life, but also the affection between grandparents and grandchild and it is priceless.
1930, created by Miss Lu Jiang Xiu Li
1990, created by Miss Lu Jiang Xiu Li and Chang Li Xin

Charcoal iron used in early times of the Republic of China. With the time, it is partially rusted. The collector describes the memory of childhood. The mother burned the charcoal, opened the lid, put in the burned charcoal and placed the father’s clothes underneath it. With the rising smoke, the disordered clothes from the closet became brand new, just like magic. I am now a grown-up and the father is going to be retired. The time makes progress and modern people use electric iron. The charcoal iron no longer exists. However, the warmth at the time is unforgettable.
1920, provided by Mr. En-Chih Tu