Ma Tingying Former Residence (Qingtian 76)

This area has the largest concentration of Japanese-era historic houses (營宅). The house was built in 1931 as the residence of Professor 足立仁, and is built mainly of cypress (檜木). On the left side inside are the reception room, study and dining room; the bookcases, glass bay windows, European-style flower beds outside and the front garden are Western in style, while the bedrooms and children's room on the right side have Japanese tatami. The building combines the strengths of Japanese and Western architecture. In 1945 his friend Ma Tingying, a professor of geology at National Taiwan University, moved in. In 2006 the city government listed it as a municipal monument, and in 2011 alumni of the university leased it from National Taiwan University, which manages it, and opened it to the public. Besides guided tours and popular science activities, the living room, dining room and study serve meals and sell cultural and creative goods. Professor Ma Tingying came from Jin County, Liaoning Province. His courtesy name was Xuefeng, and the H in his English name, Ma, Ting Ying H., stands for Xuefeng. Born in 1899, he was a noted geologist, palaeontologist and marine geologist. He was rigorous in his scholarship and thinking, carried out research and fieldwork around the world, and was a pioneer of important theories of today. He died in 1979, and in February 1980 President Chiang Ching-kuo issued a citation honouring him. On 16 July 1987 the geological society 中華民國地質學會 set up the Ma Tingying Young Scholars' Paper Award in memory of this master of geology and in recognition of his life's work in geological research. From 1945, when Professor Ma, one of the scholars who took over National Taiwan University, moved in, until 2007, the house was the Ma family home. In autumn 1947 Qi Bangyuan, who had come to Taiwan from Shanghai as a teaching assistant in the university's Department of Foreign Languages, also lodged here for a time. On 2 May 2006 the Taipei City Government designated Qingtian 76 a municipal monument, under the name 'National Taiwan University Japanese-style Dormitory: Ma Tingying's Former Residence' (國立臺灣大學日式宿舍-馬廷英故居).

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.