This semester, the Liberal Arts College’s “The Course in the City” Series invites students to step into the historic "Walled City" of Taipei. The evolution of this area reflects the shifting tides of Northern Taiwan’s history. During the Qing Dynasty, the administration began in Changhua before moving north to "Zhuqian" (modern-day Hsinchu, where the Guangfu and Boai campuses of National Yangming Chiao Tung University are located today). As the bustling districts of Bangka and Dadaocheng rose to prominence, the administrative heart finally settled in Taipei—right where our Beimen campus stands today.

　　Though small, the Walled City of Taipei was a powerful symbol. Defined by its towering walls and five majestic gates, it housed the government offices and temples that defined the area we now recognize as the central city district. Interestingly, the story of this city is written in stone—specifically, Qilian Stone. This fine-grained sandstone, known for its creamy white hue and reddish-brown veins, was prized for its ease of quarrying and heat resistance. Its source? The Qilian Mountain area near our Yangming campus in Beitou. Before the founding of National Yangming Medical College, this land was a landscape of quarries and masonry villages. Local residents would mine the stone during the agricultural off-season, then transport it to the city via the Baxian Canal or oxcarts.

　　These stones formed the very foundation of Taipei, visible in its walls, gates, and public buildings. However, as the population exploded, the defensive walls eventually gave way to modern urban planning. The stone barriers were dismantled to make way for progress, becoming the wide three-lane roads we now recognize as Zhongxiao West Road and Aiguo West Road. By the 1970s, quarrying bans and urban development led to the local masonry industry's decline. With the establishment of the medical college, the land shifted from an industrial site to an educational one, and the "memory of the stone" began to disappear from the landscape.

　　Fortunately, the story doesn't end there. Local historians like Li Geng-lin, along with residents and groups such as Linong Elementary School, have worked tirelessly to preserve Qilian stone culture through field surveys and community action. Earlier this year, the Taipei City Cultural Affairs Bureau officially recognized "Qilian Stone Masonry Techniques" as a preserved cultural asset, honoring Master Hsieh Yen-shan for preserving this vanishing craft.

　　Next time you walk through the Beimen campus or look back at Qilian Mountain from the Yangming campus, take a moment to look at the foundations and walls around you. Try to spot the stones with those distinct diagonal chisel marks. As you do, consider where these landscapes truly originated, the forgotten hands that built them, and how they bridge the gap between history and the very campus where we study today. These stones are more than just building materials; they are silent witnesses to a forgotten way of life. We invite you to join us in reading the history written in our city’s spaces and discovering the heavy, yet beautiful, journey of the Qilian stone.