Chen Chi-nan (; born 29 October 1947) is a Taiwanese anthropologist. He led the

Council of Cultural Affairs The Ministry of Culture (MOC, ) is the ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that promotes cultural and creative industries. The ministry also maintains thNational Repository of Cultural Heritage History Established in 1981 by Executive Yu ...

from 2004 to 2006. He was named

Director of National Palace Museum The National Palace Museum (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kwet-li̍p kù-kiung pok-vu̍t-yèn), is a museum in Taipei, Republic of China (Taiwan). It has a permanent collection of nearly 700,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks, many of which wer ...

in 2018 and served until 2019.

Education

Chen was born in

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pin ...

in 1947. He earned a bachelor's degree in geography from

National Taiwan Normal University National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; ), or ''Shīdà'' is an institution of higher education and normal school operating out of three campuses in Taipei, Taiwan. NTNU is the leading research institute in such disciplines as Education and Lin ...

. Chen subsequently received a master's degree in anthropology from

National Taiwan University National Taiwan University (NTU; ) is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1928 during Japanese rule as the seventh of the Imperial Universities. It was named Taihoku Imperial University and served d ...

and a doctorate in the subject from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. He then worked as a researcher at the

Academia Sinica Academia Sinica (AS, la, 1=Academia Sinica, 3=Chinese Academy; ), headquartered in Nangang, Taipei, is the national academy of Taiwan. Founded in Nanking, the academy supports research activities in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from ...

and taught anthropology at the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university an ...

, and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. After returning to Taiwan, Chen joined the college of humanities and social sciences at

National Chiao Tung University National Chiao Tung University (NCTU; ) was a public research university located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict of the Guangxu Emperor, it was one of China's leading universities. After th ...

, where he later became dean.

Political career

Chen was named the vice chairman of the

Council for Cultural Affairs The Ministry of Culture (MOC, ) is the ministry of the Republic of China (Taiwan) that promotes cultural and creative industries. The ministry also maintains thNational Repository of Cultural Heritage History Established in 1981 by Executive Y ...

from 1994 to 1997. In January 2002, he was appointed a minister without portfolio in charge of education and culture. Chen became chairman of the Council of Cultural Affairs in May 2004. He and all members of the

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

led by

Frank Hsieh Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung City ...

resigned en masse on 24 January 2006. In 2014, Chen helped

Ko Wen-je Ko Wen-je (; born 6 August 1959), also known by his nickname, Ko P (), is a Taiwanese politician and physician. Ko was mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022, and Chairman of the Taiwan People's Party since 2019. Before becoming mayor, he was a docto ...

select the head of Taipei's Department of Cultural Affairs. In July 2018, Chen was named

, succeeding Lin Jeng-yi. Upon taking office, Chen stated that he would pursue

Taiwanization Taiwanese nationalism () is a nationalist movement to identify the Taiwanese people as a distinct nation. Due to the complex political status of Taiwan, it is strongly linked to the Taiwan independence movement in seeking an identity separate ...

of the museum. He mentioned that the museum had not worked to include other cultures present on Taiwan, namely the

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

present long before Han immigration to Taiwan, and that he would try to diversify the museum's holdings and displays. He left the job in January 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Chi-nan Living people Taiwanese anthropologists National Taiwan University alumni Academic staff of the Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Virginia faculty Academic staff of the National Chiao Tung University Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni 1947 births Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Pingtung County Taiwanese Ministers of Culture Directors of National Palace Museum National Taiwan Normal University alumni Taiwanese university and college faculty deans