Yanshui Octangle Building

If you are keen for an opportunity to witness the evolution of Taiwan's history with your own eyes, Yanshui Octangle Building is the place to go. Located in Tainan’s Yanshui District, this building is a Tainan City listed historic monument, and has placed seventh in the top 100 historic buildings in Taiwan. Yanshui Octangle Building was constructed in 1847 by a master builder specially hired from China. Its construction took decades to complete as the building materials of cedar, brick and stone were all imported from China’s Fuzhou. At first, this building was used as Ye family’s business office. But in 1942, during the Japanese colonial era, the Japanese government turned it into memorial hall for the Japanese Prince. As a result, all members of the Ye family were forced to move and there is a commemorative stone for the prince of Japan erected. All of a sudden, the building had a soldier standing guard outside, to which passers-by had to tip their hat or dismount their horses in respect.

After World War II, Yanshui Octangle Buiding was returned once more to the Ye family and the stone commemorating Japanese rule was covered in concrete. However, as the years passed, the flaking cement meant the writing emerged once more. At Yanshui Octangle Building, you can appreciate how much things changed during the last hundred years things of Taiwanese history. Indeed, coming here is much like entering a time tunnel, where Yanshui’s prosperity and decline are both visible before you. Indeed, in this fine example of southern Taiwanese architecture, you can see the imperial symbol of the Japanese, the chrysanthemum, such that the history that this building has witnessed is visible before your eyes. If you come to Tainan’s Yanshui, as well as visiting Yanshui’s Beehive Fireworks Festival, you must also make a visit to the Octangle Building!