Pingtung City Fu-Shing Primary School (2020 CyberFair Project ID 8495)
Taiwan,
Pingtung City
Official Status:
Final Project: Ready for Judging
Teacher:
Category: 6. Historical Landmarks
We estimate 8 student(s) from 11 to 12 will work on this entry.
Description of Our Community: Can you imagine that 110 years ago, the green land in front of the Pingtung Fu-Shing Primary School was the largest Ako Sugar Refinery in East Asia?
The predecessor of our school is the Surrogate Primary School of Taiwan Sugar Corporation. After the Restoration of Taiwan, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, received all the assets of the Taiwan Sugar Co., Ltd. in Taiwan.
The sugar industry was a very profitable company at the time, so employees had higher salaries and better benefits. To give children of employees a good educational environment, the Surrogate Primary School of Taiwan Sugar Corporation was established under such circumstances. The school only recruits children of Taiwanese sugar employees, and the quality of the students is excellent.
With the changes in the economic environment, the sugar industry in Taiwan could not continue to maintain its glory. The sugar refinery in Taiwan had become a heavy burden. In 1968, Taiwan Sugar Corporation donated 15 Surrogate Primary Schools of Taiwan Sugar Corporation to the local county government. The Pingtung County government received the surrogate primary school and changed the name of the school to the Fu-Shing Primary School of Pingtung City, Pingtung County.
In 1970, to build a paper pulp mill, Taiwan Sugar Corporation replaced the land the Shimizumachi Farm, the current location of the Fu-Shing Primary School with the original school site, located in the sugar refinery.
In 1971, the Fu-Shing Primary School moved to the new location. Because the new address is on the Fu-Shing Road in Pingtung City, the name of the school is called the Fu-Shing Primary School.
Now, in front of our school, there is a large shade of green plants. It used to be the production base of sugar. A little further, it is now the location of the Pingtung Operation Branch of Taiwan Sugar Corporation.
Project Description: The topic of our research project is Exploring Sweet Secrets in the Pingtung Sugar Refinery. Pingtung Plain once produced a lot of sweet sugar canes and amber-like sugar. Pingtung used to be the sweetest county, and Pingtung used to be a city built of sugar. Next to our school used to be the Pingtung Sugar Refinery. During the Japanese occupation period, it was the Ako Sugar Refinery.
After the Restoration of Taiwan, it was the location of the Second Division of Taiwan Sugar Corporation and the Pingtung General Refinery. The Pingtung General Refinery ended its sugar business in 1997 and the refinery buildings were also demolished.
At present, if you want to understand the history of Pingtung sugar industry development, you must first visit the Heritage Museum of Pingtung Sugar Refinery, founded in 2010.
Why was Pingtung once the sweetest county? Why was Pingtung a castle made of sugar cubes? When did the sugar industry development story in Pingtung begin? What happened during the development of the Pingtung Sugar Industry? What are the historical stories worthy of our understanding? What are the historical stories and scenes left behind by the once flourishing sugar industry in Pingtung?
To explore the origin, development, and stories of the Pingtung Sugar Industry is the interest and goal of our study. We plan to explore the development of the Pingtung sugar industry and the newly established the Heritage Museum of Pingtung Sugar Refinery through searching and organizing relevant literature, visiting relevant professionals, field interviews, investigations, observation records, and taking photos, etc.
We will organize the collected data and make further sorting and comparison. We hope that through this thematic research, we can have a better understanding of the history of the Pingtung sugar industry.