The Office of Liquor Culture Research, also known as “Precious Bottles Room”, set up by the Department of History will be opened on Nov. 7, this Friday. In celebrating this event, there will be an opening of an exhibition of well-known Chinese liquors from Taiwan, Kinmen, Matzu as well as China Mainland. TKU’s Founder, Dr. Clement C. P. Chang will be there personally to cut the ribbon, and all faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend.

The curator of the Office, He Young-cheng, an associate professor of the Department of History stated that the goal of establishing such a room was to research the interactions between the long and rich history of liquor drinking/distilling and that of politics, finance, society, military, technology, arts, and humanities. He believes that these interactions have enriched our spiritual life throughout human history; therefore, it is high time to show people the correct way of appreciating liquor culture.

The name “Precious Bottles Room” was Dr. Clement Chang’s idea and is situated behind the Exhibition Hall of the Business Building. It’s approximately 66 square meters, and stores nearly 3000 different types of liquor bottles and containers from both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Their display will be rotated according to seasons and there will be liquor-tasting events for liquor lovers.

Apart from regular displays in the show room, the Office is currently setting up a “Digital Museum of Chinese Liquor” webpage. It will offer pictures and information about Chinese liquors as well as commentary, contact addresses, and stories regarding the connection between history and liquor. This webpage serves all types of liquor-lovers and can be found at: http://www.chineseliquor.tku.edu.tw

He Young-cheng revealed that due to his years of collecting bottles, he has countless numbers of out-of-production liquor bottles. His suitcases are always full of bottles each time he returns from a foreign trip. His obsession with liquor bottles has led him to carry a huge liquor urn all the way from Si-chuan Province, China back to Taiwan one time. It was the heaviest piece of luggage on the flight he took, he pointed out coyly. There are also various books on liquor in the display room, which he has also collected from various parts of the world. He maintained that it was better to share all his collection, the books and bottles, with faculty, staff and students, than keeping them at home.

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