Guardianship: Small Museum Management in Practice
By｜Ku Cheng-chun、Wu Shao-fen
Weathering caused the old mansion to gradually decay, its century-old roof tiles broken. Through a twist of fate, Ku Cheng-chun felt as if she heard her ancestors calling. Leaving behind a successful career and moving from resistance to a miraculous decision to return to Daxi, she reignited the family business under the name "Yuangu Shop." Following her father's insistence on restoring and preserving the old mansion as it was, she preserved and recreated the traces of time and daily life.
Ku Cheng-chun has become a spokesperson for the management of private old houses in Taiwan, shaping Yuangu Shop in her own vision. It has become a venue where successive Mayors of Taoyuan receive international guests. Neither passion nor fate can fully define why or how she did it; she is simply dedicated to showcasing five generations of family aesthetics. This 180-year-old living mansion is very much about daily life, yet it is also very much a museum.
