One of the most well-known haunted locations in Taiwan is the Old Liu Family Mansion (also spelled “Liu Family Mansion”), also called the Minxiong Ghost House. It is located in the rural area close to Chiayi, which is a provisional city in the southwestern part of the nation. It was constructed with three levels, and at one time it would have been a wonderful place to live; however, the Lui family upped and left the property for good at some point in the 1950s.
There are many different explanations as to why they turned their backs on their once-beautiful home, and the majority of these explanations involve ghosts. The most well-known version of the story focuses on a maid named Liu Rong-yu and her affair with the wealthy merchant and landowner Liu Rong-yu, who is the master of the home. It is believed that once the affair was discovered, the maid committed suicide by falling into the well (*). She was humiliated by the revelation of the affair. Her ghost regularly appeared before the Lui family and tormented them during the nights. They eventually reached their breaking point and abandoned their ancestral home, putting it at the mercy of wandering spirits, the elements, and the occasional curious (live) visitor. Eventually, they were unable to bear it any longer.
(*) Some people believe that once the wife found out about the affair, she made the life of the servant so difficult that the woman eventually snapped and threw herself down the well out of sheer frustration.
The Imperial Japanese Army is a prominent participant in yet another popular tale. According to the legend, the mansion served as temporary housing for a number of Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. A lone guard standing watch on a foggy, starry night fired his weapon after spotting a moving figure near the grounds’ boundary. The remainder of the soldiers, who had been sleeping, were roused as a result, and they also began firing into the night. The soldiers had for some inexplicable reason slaughtered each other, and by the time morning arrived, all of them were dead.
There is also a story that some Taiwanese soldiers got sick after spending time in the house, and they all passed away as a result of their illness. It is surprising, given the Liu family’s reputed wealth, that they allowed this once-glorious home to fall into such a state of disrepair. In reality, however, it is most likely that the Liu family simply relocated for reasons known only to themselves (business, schooling, etc.). Nevertheless, it is odd that they allowed the home to fall into such a state of disrepair.
We don’t believe in superstitions, but it seems that a lot of Taiwanese people do. The mansion is quite popular, and when we had finished looking around and taking pictures of the surrounding area, we sat on a wall and watched a Taiwanese family who had arrived shortly after us. They were really anxious, so they approached the main building in a cautious manner. After we started talking to them, they asked us if we had ever been inside the building. We had, which prompted horrified expressions from all of them, and there was absolutely nothing that we could have said or done to persuade them to follow our example.
The palace was constructed in 1929, and its inside is decorated in a traditional baroque manner. The atmospheric, tangled vines that have engulfed much of the redbrick structure’s exterior brought to mind Ta Prohm and other Angkorian ruins that we have seen in Cambodia. Nature has taken over much of the structure, which was originally made of redbrick.
The location of the mansion is another intriguing aspect of it. It is surrounded on all sides by level, agricultural land with the exception of the south, but if you take a step back to admire the structure from a distance, you won’t be able to see anything other than a small section of the boundary wall. When you get really close to the property, you can start to make out anything that resembles a house, but until then, it is completely concealed by a patch of thick forest that surrounds it on all sides.
Even though the area is privately owned, the owners who live there currently don’t seem to object when people go there. In point of fact, there is something of an entrance to the building, which is guarded by a kooky robot made of tin. Additionally, there is a cafe with a ghost theme right next door, in case you are in need of some spooky refreshment.
One last word of warning before we move on. If you decide to go to the Old Liu Family Mansion in Minxiong, make sure not to get too close to the well in which the maid drowned because, according to a local urban legend, doing so will cause you to be cursed with ill fortune and unfortunate events, or even worse, for the rest of your life… muahaha!