When Chou Shen-fang (周伸芳) entered Tunghai University in Taichung in September 1991 to study fine arts, it was not her first-choice school. She based her university choice on the rigidly hierarchical ranking system established by the Joint University Entrance Exam. But like most college applicants, Chou’s scores on the exam were not high enough for admittance to her preferred university. She was assigned to Tunghai, which she had listed as an alternate.
A native of Taipei, Chou had only a vague impression of what the school would be like. “The only thing I knew about Tunghai was that it has a beautiful campus,” she says. “It has the kind of ‘real’ university campus you see in Hollywood films: green, green grass, chirping birds in the trees, classical music in the air, and hippie students strolling amid beautiful buildings—the idyllic life.” Such a setting is rare among larger Taiwan universities, most of which are located in crowded urban settings.
The aesthetically pleasing setting is one reason Tunghai has gained a reputation as a school for privileged students. Another reason is cost. Like all of Taiwan’s twenty-six private colleges and universities, tuition runs from US$3,150 to US$3,500 per year. While very low by U.S. standards, fees are more than triple those of public universities. Adding to the upscale image of the school is its roots in American-style, liberal arts education and its close connection to the Presbyterian Church. Founded in 1953 by U.S. missionaries, it quickly built a reputation as one of the few places local students could gain a Western-style education. It was also famous for its mix of Western and Chinese architecture. A stately orange-tiled church dominates the campus lawn, but many of the other original buildings were modeled after the simple, minimalist style of Tang dynasty architecture.
Today, Tunghai retains its ties to the Presbyterian Church. Students are not required to take religion courses, but the university does offer many extracurricular Christian activities and many of the professors are involved in the church or even teach theology as a second subject. And its liberal arts philosophy and relatively small class size, averaging eighteen students per professor, remain mainstays of the school’s reputation. Although these characteristics are considered less exotic today, they still attract students.
A look at Tunghai’s music department shows its dedication to providing students with a broad-based liberal arts education. Among the sixteen universities with music departments, Tunghai has built a reputation for offering one of the finest programs. Until the University Law was revised in 1994, the required courses covered in any university department were standardized by the Ministry of Education, meaning that all music departments, for example, offered essentially the same courses. But Tunghai had long ago expanded its curriculum beyond the requirements to place extra emphasis on music theory and history. “We think theory is very important,” says American Professor Rose Juanelva, former chairwoman of the music department. “If students don’t have that knowledge, the music they play tends to be empty, without substance. Musical skill and musical theory are like two sides of the same coin—they must go together.”
Junior music major Chen Yi-wan (陳宜婉) says this philosophy provides a well-rounded education. “The teachers know we may not be the best students when we first enter the school, but they hope we will become the best by the time we graduate,” she says. “So they try to cultivate us in every possible aspect.”
But students also complain that the extra requirements monopolize their time and limit their choices of electives. Chen points out that she and her classmates spend far more time on these subjects than do students at other universities. It takes three years to complete the course sequence in music history at Tunghai, versus two years at other schools.
The program also includes a demanding system of skill evaluations. Every year, students are tested in both their major and minor instruments through short performances judged by the entire music staff. Students then give a half-hour solo concert in their junior year and a one-hour concert in their senior year. But before any of these, students must first pass a series of preliminary evaluations. Those who fail too many preliminary tests are held back a year. Only about two-thirds of Tunghai’s music majors are able to graduate within four years.
“The skill testing in our department is more rigorous than at other schools,” says Juanelva. Although other music programs have adopted similar systems, she says Tunghai was the first and remains the strictest. “We believe skill testing in every learning stage is important.”
“From the time we enter the school, we face one skill test after another,” says Chen Yi-wan, who is focusing on piano and voice. Although grueling, she says the system helps build a solid foundation. Li Chia-yi ( 李佳怡), who graduates this month in piano and voice, complains of the pressure. “We worry continuously for four years. We’re so afraid that if we fail to pass one test, we’ll be in danger of not graduating.”
Tunghai’s liberal arts philosophy is also evident in its highly regarded architecture department. While most other universities stress the technological, engineering side of the subject, Tunghai stresses design. Senior Lin Shou-jen (林守仁), who begins his final year in the fall, says the programs at other universities may help prepare students to take the architect’s licensing exam, but that was not his primary concern in choosing a program. “I didn’t want to become an engineer,” Lin explains. “I like doing artistic and creative things.”
A look at the architecture faculty shows Tunghai’s inclination toward design. “In my department, we have more teachers with design training than those specializing in engineering or the technological aspects of architecture,” Lin says. One reason for this is that many of the professors at other local universities were educated in Japan, where technical engineering skills are highly stressed. But many of Tunghai’s professors are educated in the West, where there are more opportunities to focus on design.
Hsu Ching-yi (許靖宜), a senior in the department, is glad that her university entrance exam score was not high enough to get her into National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, even though the latter is more highly ranked. “I went to the right place,” she says. “My interest in architecture and my personality match with the program and teaching philosophy in Tunghai. Tunghai is more like an art institute.”
Architecture majors are also strongly encouraged to study subjects outside their specialization. It is common for them to take courses in English, Chinese, fine arts, or music. “One of my classmates took a course in Su-Hsin tsu [Sung dynasty poetry by Su Tung-po and Hsin Chi-chi], and many of our classmates are now taking lessons in Western opera,” Hsu says. Film is also incorporated into many architecture classes. “Our teachers love to talk about films, especially the architectural design in some sci-fi movies.”
“We think students need knowledge in all aspects of life in order to be good architects,” says Huang Yeh-chiang (黃業強), chairman of the department and an alumnus. “Among the eight universities with architecture departments in Taiwan, not all are able to provide architecture students with classes in literature, fine arts, or music.”
The fine arts department also stresses a well-rounded curriculum. Students are required to experiment with different media and cannot choose an area of specialization until at least half-way through their second year. During the first year and a half, they take a full course load of requirements in various subjects, including introduction to artistic media, sketching, and Chinese brush painting.
“At other universities, fine arts students must decide their focus area before entering,” says department Chairman Huang Hai-yun (黃海雲). “We think most freshmen have little understanding of fine arts. Their only exposure might have been taking some private classes in painting as preparation for the entrance exam.” (Applicants to Taiwan’s fine arts departments must take an artistic skills test in addition to the Joint University Entrance Exam.) Huang also stresses the importance of exposing students to a range of different fields of study within the fine arts. “Students in other schools often have no chance to learn other type of art besides their major,” he says. “Those majoring in Chinese painting never try Western watercolor or oil painting.”
But fine arts graduate Chou Shen-fang, who focused on oil painting and mixed media, says the heavy load of requirements during freshman and sophomore years can create problems. “The result of the two-year study is that we know only a little bit about everything,” she says. “That tends to make students feel lost—unsure about what they are doing or are supposed to do. Most students are used to having others, mainly teachers, tell them what to do.” She says students should be able to decide their focus area earlier. “Then we would be able to concentrate on that area and we would have more time to take outside courses that might enrich our artistic creativity.”
Chou does praise Tunghai’s atmosphere of artistic creativity. “What an artist needs most is freedom of expression, and Tunghai aims to educate future artists,” she says. Some Tunghai professors encourage students to develop their own style rather than imitate experienced artists. “I tell my students frankly, ‘Don’t imitate me,’” says Huang Hai-yun. “This would not happen among teachers of the older generation, especially those who teach traditional Chinese painting.”
The support for artistic freedom has won over sophomore Pan Hsien-jen ( 潘顯仁). Initially, Pan was disappointed in Tunghai because he found the facilities in the fine arts department, such as the number and size of studios, inferior to those of the National Institute of the Arts in Taipei. But two years of study have changed his mind. “To me, the importance of facilities to a good fine arts education has become minor,” he says. “There are other things, such as an openminded artistic environment, that are also important. At Tunghai, you’re free to express yourself artistically. No professor is going to tell you it’s right or wrong to create a certain kind of art.”
Ironically, given Tunghai’s reputation for a beautiful campus, it is the quiet, rural setting that students seem to complain about most. Students can feel trapped by the isolation. Although Tunghai is located thirty minutes from Taichung, Taiwan’s third-largest city, they are frequently frustrated by limited access to information and artistic events. Large-scale performances, exhibitions, and lectures tend to take place in Taipei only. Taichung has little to offer as artistic inspiration. “The architecture in Taipei is much more interesting, but it’s very inconvenient and expensive for us to go there,” says architecture student Lin Shou-jen. Classmate Hsu Ching-yi visits Taipei whenever she can afford the time and expense. “We need to be exposed to new things and different ideas for inspiration in our designs,” she says.
Fine arts graduate Chou Shen-fang is harsher in her criticisms. She calls Taichung a “cultural desert” in which it is even difficult to find bookstores with art sections. “Tunghai does offer a great, almost heaven-like, environment for students,” she says. “But we are at the learning stage. We need to absorb as much knowledge as we can. We can’t rely only on teachers for information. This is especially true when working in the arts. If you stay here too long, you tend to lose contact with the outside world and your views might become narrow. Then your art might not have an impact on people.”
Tunghai University
One of the longest-running Christian universities in Taiwan, Tunghai University was founded in 1953 by a group of Presbyterian missionaries from the United States who had come to the island from China after the communist takeover. Today, it maintains a reputation for offering a Western-style liberal arts education.
Number of students: 12,971.
Student-to-professor ratio: 18:1.
1994 average score on the Joint University Entrance Exam: For the colleges of liberal arts and management, 360 (out of a possible 600); for the colleges of science and engineering, 328; for the colleges of medicine and agriculture, 353.
Most common majors: international trade, accounting, philosophy of law, business management, industrial engineering.
Most competitive majors (based on the minimum entrance-exam score accepted): music, philosophy of law, architecture, international trade.
Famous graduates: Tien Hung-mao, director of the Evergreen Foundation and a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin (1961, political science); Yuan Ta-nien, president of Tunghai University (1962, chemical engineering).