Taipei Municipal Yangming High School

The Establishment

In 1967, late President Chiang Kai-Shek mandated the government to create four new junior high schools in the Yang Ming Shan area, Yang Ming High school being one of them. The location for this campus was next to Bailing Bridge on Chung Cheng Rd. in Shilin District. Construction started on May 6, 1967. In the same year, its preparatory office was set on June 23, 1967 and the school was officially established on August 1.

The Origin

Our school was originally named “Bailing Junior High School”, but was later renamed to “Chung Cheng” by the head of Yang

Ming Shan National Park Bureau Pan Chi-Wu in honor of the educational reforms carried out by late President Chiang Kai-Shek. Mr. Chiang, who was a very humble person, again renamed the school “Yang Ming” to commemorate the personal participation of Mr. Wang Yang-Ming, a great philosopher in Taiwan.

The Development

When the school was first established, it was a junior high school, but was restructured in 1994 to be a comprehensive grade 7 through 12 school; at this time, its name was changed to “Taipei Municipal Yang Ming High School”. It has always aimed at cultivating outstanding students and facilitating their talents in languages, mathematics, science, and sports. In 2001, the senior high school athletic education division was formally established. It provides courses and teachers for four specialties including baseball, women’s basketball, track & field and tennis, as well as physical venues for these sports, so that junior high school students with relevant sports expertise can receive professional training and make full use of their strengths.

In 2004, the athletic education class was extended to the junior high school. Elementary school students with one of the four sports specialties stated above can also be admitted, which is another development feature of the school.

The Mottoes

The school’s educational policy follows the legacy of Chiang Kai-Shek and strives for the balanced development of the four foundations of education: Morality, Intelligence, Physicality and Teamwork. In the article “Our Goals and Steps”, written by former President Chin Ru-Yan after the school’s founding, these four principles were explained and their methods of application outlined. In order to make it easy for students to understand and act upon them, the mottoes were modified to be “Sincerity, Respect, Knowledge and Action”.

In the second year of Yang Ming, to motivate all teachers and students in the school, Mr. Chin wrote an article entitled “Our School Ethos and Style”. This article included the pithy phrases: “knowing shame and problems, treating people with loyalty and forgiveness”; “Knowing manners and follow righteousness, doing things not for oneself”; “pursuing excellence and innovation, persevering from beginning to end”; and “practicing and doing things in practical way, sticking from the start to the end”. These mottoes guide us to cultivate a great school spirit of “honest, fraternizing, knowledge seeking and hardworking” students.

The Buildings

At first, the main buildings of the school were constructed within three years by the famous architect Ms. Hsiu Tze-lan. Including both modern and classical Chinese styles, the main buildings include the administrative buildings and special classrooms (now Yì Tsǎi Building), 3 teaching buildings, a library (now Xiàn Zhī Xíng Building), a cooperative society (now Yuè Wén Building, which was a bungalow at that time), and a 400-meter track sports field. As the school continued to grow, additional buildings have been constructed.

◆ In 1974, in order to appreciate the contribution by our school in women’s basketball, Chief Executive of Tai Yuen Textile, Ms. Wu, Shun-Wen, donated a gymnasium, which was finished in November of the ensuing year;

◆ In 1977, 8 classrooms (now for junior high school) and 1 swimming pool were added;

◆ In 1981, a special classroom was added (now Chióu Jēn Building) at the beginning, and was rebuilt to be the lecture platform;

◆ In 1991, a tennis court was added. A specialized building included with a library was built in 1999 (now Yuè Wén Building);

◆ In 2009, renovation of the stadium for the Deaflympics;

◆ In 2010, a new student activity center was added (including a sports venue, performance hall and 11 specialist classrooms) and opened in 2013.

The school campus has a vast plaza, lots of green space, a fountain, gardens, a rockery, and an artificial clear spring, with school buildings placed between them. The environment is elegant and the scenery is pleasant. It has become a beautiful environment for students to cultivate their personalities and concentrate on their studies.