Taiwan's National Archives Reveal Preservation of Historical Multimedia Files

TaiwanPlus News

During a special press tour, Taiwan’s National Archives unveiled the secrets behind its historical documents—how they are collected and restored, and why they remain important today.

Transcript

00:00At Taiwan's first National Archives in New Taipei, a conservator mans a damaged

00:08government document with a thin sheet of paper. This is not your ordinary museum.

00:13Workers here have treated and studied hundreds of thousands of historical

00:17documents dating back hundreds of years. Now they're revealing the secrets

00:22behind these files and how they're preserved. As technology developed, the

00:28mediums that archives took began to multiply, along with the challenges of

00:32repairing them. This roll of film from the 1980s captures one of Taiwan's oldest

00:38and most well-known youth baseball teams, Rong Gong, winning a game in the US. These

00:43films are sensitive to high temperatures and decay can spread to ruin the whole batch.

00:48The main feature of the flint is that it will cause a

00:51yellow-thrown skin. And the most scary thing is that these yellow-throwns are

00:55not possible, but it will also affect the different types of images in different

00:59images. We will use the water-throwing method to

01:03be able to get the moisture in the kitchen.

01:07The film will always be able to put the

01:10government in the beginning. And everyone will have to get a seat.

01:13Researcher Huang Yuyang says while political archives only make up a small part of the

01:18diverse collection, they're often what interests people the most. One example,

01:23the original copy of the Order to Lift Martial Law in Taiwan, signed and issued in 1987 by

01:30then-president Jiang Jingguo. That ended one of the longest periods of military rule in the world.

01:36For 38 years, anyone who challenged the government's authority could face severe punishment,

01:41including death. Huang says the original document has a hidden backstory.

01:46Today, if you have a plan, you have a plan, you have a plan, you have a plan. It's usually

01:50from the top of the top of the world. But this article is not the same. It's the beginning

01:55of the Order to Lift Martial Law. What does this mean? This means that the resolution is

02:01from the bottom and the bottom and the bottom. It has the meaning of the resolution. I have

02:06decided to do the resolution. So it's going to ask you this article.

02:09National Archives Head Lin Chiuyan says because people view history through different lenses,

02:15these files are critical for the objectivity they provide.

02:18The National Archives have only been open to the public for a month, but have already seen visitors from

02:47local universities. Researchers there hope that more people will make their way there

02:52not just to visit the past, but to better understand the decisions that shape the country's present

02:57and its future. Ryan Wu and Irene Lin for Taiwan Plus.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended