Taiwan Rush Grass Society - Rural Craft Living Museum

Shanjiao Community is located on the Daan River alluvial plain, boasting abundant water resources and fertile soil, and was once a renowned agricultural and commercial center in Taiwan. For centuries, industries such as rice, citronella, brick and tile manufacturing, and rush weaving craftsmanship flourished. However, with Taiwan's industrial transformation and changes in the broader environment, the rush weaving industry gradually declined due to labor loss, becoming a sunset industry in need of protection. Around 2009, this community broke through traditional organizational thinking, and residents formed the 'Taiwan Rush Grass Society.' They positioned themselves as the catalyst for revitalizing traditional industries, implementing numerous projects to promote the rush weaving craft. This included actively cultivating rush weaving artisans and fostering innovation in product design, leading to countless awards both domestically and internationally, and continuous invitations for design collaborations. The entire rush weaving industry began to show signs of recovery. At this time, it was also discovered that the community lacked sufficient facilities, specifically a localized cultural and artistic space for exhibiting, exchanging, and further developing rush weaving crafts, and for the general public to learn about them. In light of this, the late Mr. Yeh Wen-hui, former chairman of the Shanjiao Community Development Association, actively sought various possibilities during his tenure to build a suitable exhibition venue for the community's rush grass industry. However, building an exhibition hall would not only be time-consuming but also incur enormous costs that the community's industry could not afford, thus this idea remained unrealized. A rare opportunity unexpectedly arose in December 2015 at the Taichung Xinshe Sea of Flowers festival. The Taichung Branch of the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriculture (now known as the Taichung Regional Office of the Agency of Rural Development and Soil and Water Conservation), needed an exhibition hall for the Xinshe Sea of Flowers event. They constructed an antique-style Sanheyuan (a traditional three-sided courtyard house) using traditional methods to serve as the Taichung Regional Office's temporary promotional exhibition hall at the flower festival. During the event, its distinctive antique Sanheyuan appearance and traditional wattle-and-daub partition structure imbued the entire exhibition with a rich traditional ambiance, attracting many visitors and garnering widespread acclaim. Recognizing this opportunity, the former chairman contacted the Taichung Regional Office before the Xinshe Sea of Flowers event concluded. Adhering to the principle of 'making the best use of everything,' they submitted a special application after the event to the Taichung Regional Office to dismantle the 'Rural Good Living Museum' and relocate its building materials to Shanjiao Community for reassembly. Plans also included structural reinforcement and landscaping of the surrounding environment. After nearly a year of planning and execution, the 'Rural Good Living Museum' finally reappeared in Shanjiao Community, several tens of kilometers away, and was renamed 'Shanjiao Community - Rural Craft Living Museum.' Since then, Shanjiao Community finally had its own local venue for the rush weaving industry. It is currently planned as a cultural and artistic space with functions such as exhibitions, teaching, and interpretation related to rush weaving crafts, also serving as a promotion base for the industry. In 2024, the left wing space of the museum was renovated. The former storage area for rush grass and miscellaneous items was redesigned into a multi-functional space integrating traditional craftsmanship with modern reading culture, creating a cultural education and community-inclusive hub named 'Xi Wu Book Room' (Mat Object Study). Future plans include regularly hosting various thematic exchange activities such as cultural lectures, book clubs, workshops, experiential courses, and simple catering services, making the functions of the 'Shanjiao Community - Rural Craft Living Museum' even more comprehensive.