National Museum of Taiwan Literature

Top choice in Tainan


This serious and excellent museum details the development of Taiwanese literature from the time of the pre-Han indigenous peoples to the modern era. Textual explanations are supplemented by original manuscripts, readings, video footage and literary relics. There's a large hall showcasing 'mother-tongue literary works', which includes works in Hakka, Taiwanese and indigenous dialects. The museum is housed in a gorgeous piece of Japanese-colonial architecture that was once the Tainan District Hall, which goes to show the importance the Taiwanese give their literature.

There are free audio tours for visitors in English. Enquire at the service counter. The museum is a 1.3km walk along Zhongshan Rd from Tainan Train Station.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Tainan attractions

1. Tainan Art Museum

0.07 MILES

Both buildings of the Tainan Art Museum are now open – this one (Building 1), the former Tainan City Police Station raised in the Japanese era; and the…

2. Confucius Temple

0.09 MILES

Built in 1666 by the son of Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga),Taiwan's first Confucian temple and official school is quiet, dignified and coloured…

3. Land Bank

0.09 MILES

The neoclassical-style Land Bank dates from 1928. Japanese architects were heavily influenced by western ideas at the time and neoclassical revival was a…

4. Old Japanese Martial Arts Academy

0.11 MILES

This sleek and poised Japanese building next to the Confucius Temple was a butokuden, a place where the Japanese taught and promoted martial arts such as…

5. Hayashi Department Store

0.11 MILES

This art deco department store from the 1930s has been so beautifully restored that it's worth going in just to ascend the sweeping staircase, peer…

6. Altar of Heaven

0.13 MILES

Tainan families have been coming here for generations on the 1st and 15th of every lunar month to pray to the supreme Taoist entity, the Jade Emperor. The…

7. Stone Arch

0.13 MILES

This antique arch used to be the outermost gateway to the Confucius Temple but became separated from the temple after Nanmen Rd was built in the Japanese…

8. Kailung Temple

0.24 MILES

A quiet temple hidden in an alleyway off Zhongshan Rd that worships Princess Seven Stars or Chiniangma (七娘媽), the protector of children, comes alive on…