Hakka Living Museum Series, Vol. 2 – The Tobacco Curing Barn

Author: Jhong, Jhao-Sheng
Publication Date: December 2006
The Hakka Living Museum Series is a collection of works based on extensive field investigations and ethnographic documentation of Hakka culture. Initiated by the Preparatory Office of the Taiwan Hakka Cultural Center, Council for Hakka Affairs, Executive Yuan, this series aims to preserve and promote Hakka heritage by selecting themes that resonate with the general public. Topics include familiar aspects of daily life such as “Blue Garments,” “Oil-Paper Umbrellas,” and “Pottery Kilns” (representing Hakka crafts), as well as “Tobacco Curing Barn,” “Rice Milling Workshop,” and “Irrigation Canals” (representing industrial and agricultural heritage sites).
Each volume invites scholars to reorganize and interpret their long-term field research, enriched with abundant photographic materials, in order to illuminate the living experiences and wisdom of the Hakka people.
This volume focuses on the once-flourishing tobacco industry of Meinong, where more than 400 tobacco curing barns once stood across the landscape. Through on-site research and photographic documentation, the author explores the architectural spaces of these barns, their transformation amid social change, and their significance as repositories of Hakka cultural memory. The book further proposes approaches for heritage preservation and adaptive revitalization of these historically valuable structures.