Sanxing, Yilan, Taiwan
Chen Ding-Nan Memorial Museum
The museum preserves the family home and the papers of Chen Ding-Nan (1943–2006), the Yilan County Magistrate, legislator and Minister of Justice known in Taiwan as "Mr. Clean". It is run by the Chen Ding-Nan Education Foundation, open daily, and free to visit.
Open
Daily
09:00–17:00
Admission
Free
All year
Audio guide
English
13 stops, on any phone
Visitors in 2025
24,127
Funded by 872 donations
About the Foundation
The Chen Ding-Nan Education Foundation was registered on 25 June 2007, the year after Chen Ding-Nan died. Its founding purpose follows the last two wishes he left: to press for clean and capable government, and to guide young people who have lost their way.
The Foundation holds the papers he left behind: hundreds of boxes of books and belongings, tens of thousands of photographs, and more than 500 letters. It preserves and digitises this archive, records oral histories with the people who worked with him, and uses the museum as a base for education in democracy, human rights, the environment and integrity.
The Chen Ding-Nan Memorial Park opened on 5 November 2011, the fifth anniversary of his death. It was built entirely with privately raised funds, around the century-old courtyard house where he was born.
Milestones
5 November 2006
Chen Ding-Nan dies
He asked for no funeral hall and no public memorial service, and for cremation within 72 hours.
25 June 2007
The Foundation is registered
Supporters set out to preserve his papers and build a museum to carry on his work.
5 November 2011
The museum opens
A 7,223 m² memorial park around the Chen family home, built with private donations.
From 2012
Integrity education
Summer programmes for university and high-school students, followed by school visits on integrity, human rights and the environment.
Since 2023
A new generation
Participatory school programmes, themed exhibitions and partnerships carry his values into places beyond the museum.
Now on view
Where Freedom Lies
A special exhibition on how Chen Ding-Nan worked to free thought and speech under authoritarian rule.
In English
Biography
Chen Ding-Nan
From Yilan County Magistrate to Minister of Justice: the life and work of "Mr. Clean".
Visit
Visitor information
Hours, getting there, group tours and the English audio guide.
Exhibition
Where Freedom Lies
The current special exhibition on the ground floor of the museum.
Support
Support the Foundation
The museum is free and funded by donations, including from outside Taiwan.
Contact
Chen Ding-Nan Education Foundation
No. 52, Lane 65, Section 2, Yizhou Road, Sanxing Township, Yilan County 266, Taiwan
Telephone: +886-3-989-8855
Email: [email protected]
Enquiries in English are welcome by email.