Luce Memorial Chapel (Tunghai University)

Tunghai University was founded in 1955 on Tatu Hill (大度山) in Taichung, by Christians in Taiwan committed to education, alongside the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia. In this Christian university, the chapel was conceived as the spiritual centre of the campus.

It is named after Rev. Henry W. Luce (1868-1941), who came to China as a missionary in 1897 and was for many years vice-president of Yenching University (燕京大學). His elder son Henry R. Luce, founder of Time, Life and Fortune magazines, supported the founding of the university and the building of the chapel, to affirm the spirit of the institution and to honour his father's memory.

I. M. Pei and Chen Chi-kwan (陳其寬), the first chairman of the university's architecture department, designed it together. Work began in 1962 and the chapel was completed on 2 November 1963.

The chapel and its bell tower were designated a municipal monument on 26 September 2017; the chapel became a national monument on 25 April 2019, while the bell tower remained a municipal monument. Closed in November 2022 for a restoration supported by the Ministry of Culture, it reopened in 2024, with a reopening ceremony on 26 September 2024. The interior's lauan floor has regained its original design.

The building is made of four curved surfaces. Planned at first with four straight edges per surface, which looked too stiff, they were given two straight edges and two curved edges: a conoid, which echoes the upturned eaves of Chinese architecture. The structure is reinforced concrete; the exterior is covered with yellow glazed diamond-shaped tiles that echo the diamond-shaped coffers inside.

The four surfaces enclose a narrow strip of sky along the ridge, where a skylight sits. Inside, the eye follows the curve upward to that skylight and on to the sky; during worship, sunlight coming from this strip of sky moves slowly across the platform.

The chapel stands in the middle of an open space, between the academic area and the residential area, on none of the campus axes; from the door, the view opens onto a broad stretch of sky. The campus's teaching buildings follow the form of the traditional Chinese courtyard house, whereas the chapel is modern in design. Some see an upturned book in it, others two hands in prayer.

The chapel is the university's church: Sunday worship is held at 9 a.m. (contemporary hymns) and 11 a.m. (traditional hymns, with interpretation into English), with communion in the first week of the month and a family service in the fourth week. Many see it as the emblem of the university.

The public visiting hours run from Monday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. They are suspended when the central government or the city of Taichung declares a suspension of work and classes. Outside these hours the doors remain locked.

On Sundays, the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. services also welcome visitors; the church opens 15 minutes before the start and it is best to arrive on time.

Vehicles may neither enter nor park on the campus: allow about ten minutes on foot from the Taichung Veterans General Hospital / Tunghai University bus stop. The address is No. 1727, Section 4, Taiwan Boulevard (臺灣大道四段), Xitun District.