Future post
Will be published at 2026-11-01 00:02:00
The Pudu rituals of the seventh lunar month, the stories passed down through generations in temple courtyards, and the folk legends circulating through the streets and alleys are all very familiar parts of Taiwanese culture.
《普度大夜市：當代臺漫裡的人鬼日常》 starts from these living memories and brings together 9 contemporary Taiwanese comic works, transforming stories of “humans and ghosts” into an imaginative night market.
The exhibition is not just a simple display of comic works, but redesigns scenes, characters, and story elements from the comics into spaces visitors can walk into and explore.
Familiar night market stalls combined with comic characters and folk elements make the originally abstract “ghost stories” feel approachable and fun.
As soon as you enter the National Comics Museum grounds, the most eye-catching thing is the classic character “Kuro” from 《魔法阿媽》.
This time Kuro transforms into a large balloon installation, with its round, chubby shape and big eyes making it highly photogenic and a must-visit photo spot for many at the “Pudu Big Night Market.”
Paired with the old building and blue sky in the background, the overall scene captures the delightful intersection of Taiwanese old houses and contemporary comics.
For many Taiwanese audiences, 《魔法阿媽》 itself is a classic work closely linked to the seventh lunar month, Pudu, and the human-ghost world, so having Kuro as the visual highlight at the exhibition entrance is very fitting.
Entering S Hall, visitors can feel the core concept of the entire exhibition area—“the daily life of humans and ghosts coexisting.”
Ghosts do not only appear during the seventh lunar month, nor are they necessarily just terrifying characters in horror stories.
In Taiwanese folk beliefs and legends, the world of ghosts and gods has many subtle connections to the human realm—emotions, attachments, and its own order.
This area focuses on:
The curatorial team uses the “night market” as a shared setting, transforming different works into spaces such as fish ball soup stalls, coffee shops, noodle stalls, restaurants, and pinball machines.
The feeling of visiting the exhibition is less like a traditional museum and more like actually strolling through a comic-style night market.
The 引路人 exhibition area transforms the underworld worldview from the work into a coffee shop and noodle stall within the night market.
The “Salvation Coffee” is presented in the form of a coffee stall, paired with comic characters and character settings, allowing visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the underworld in the story.
Another interesting design in the exhibition space is the incorporation of the “Consciousness Big Bone Noodles” element from 引路人.
The visual combination of comics and noodles turns the originally flat comic content into a spatial installation.
This method of “three-dimensionalizing” the comic story adds many surprises to the visiting experience.
If 引路人 feels more like exploring the underworld, then the 天國餐廳 exhibition area adds a touch of warmth and healing.
The exhibition recreates the “Heavenly Restaurant” from the comic through restaurant stalls, comic illustrations, and related displays, creating a gentle atmosphere reminiscent of a late-night diner.
One particularly interesting element is the “Chicken Soup for the Soul Golden Quote Menu.”
The flavors of life in the comic are transformed into menu items with a sense of story, allowing visitors to feel the human warmth the work aims to convey while reading the comics.
The exhibition space also hides humorous Easter eggs from the author about the creative process; fans of 天國餐廳 should pay special attention.
Next comes the 不可知論偵探 exhibition area, where the overall atmosphere suddenly takes on the feel of a mystery game.
The work combines folk beliefs with classic detective reasoning; the protagonist Hailinzi is a Taoist priest and detective who believes in “agnosticism.”
Facing events that seem to involve demons and ghosts, he does not blindly believe in the supernatural but uses logic and reasoning to gradually uncover the true cause behind the incidents.
The 閻王帖 exhibition area takes familiar Taiwanese street scenes and night market culture as its main visual focus.
Shop signs and streetscapes are combined with underworld elements from the comic to create a distinctive “human-ghost night market.”
The black-and-white comic-style scenes are perfect for photos and show how creators blend everyday Taiwanese street life with ghost and deity themes.
Compared to simply reading the comics, this spatial display makes it easier to enter the world of the work.
If S Hall discusses “how humans and ghosts coexist,” then 07 Hall shifts the focus to women, marriage, childbirth, and traditional social structures.
“Women, Oh Women—Those Silent and Voiced” takes female ghosts from Taiwanese ghost stories as its starting point to explore a question worth discussing:
Why are there so many female ghosts in Taiwanese ghost stories?
Through comic works, the exhibition looks back at the situation of women in traditional society.
Emotions that could not be expressed in life, choices suppressed by etiquette, and the constraints formed by marriage, childbirth, and social expectations are transformed into the image of “female ghosts” in the stories.
Therefore, this area is not merely about ghosts, but uses ghost stories to reveal women’s voices in history and society.
《守娘》 is adapted from one of the three great strange cases of Qing-era Taiwan, “The Legend of Shou Niang’s Apparition.”
Set in Fucheng, now Tainan, the story is reinterpreted from the perspective of a female comic artist.
The exhibition uses the common night market game “hoop tossing” as its design concept, combining the playful game with the fate of women in the work.
What seems like a simple night market game gains symbolic meaning in the exhibition, leading visitors from lighthearted visuals to reflect on issues such as traditional etiquette, women’s circumstances, and social class.
This is also one of the most interesting aspects of the exhibition—while it appears to be a night market stroll, it actually contains many stories worth reading and contemplating.
Another work in 07 Hall is 〈The Kingdom on Earth〉 from 《綺譚花物語》.
Originally written by Yang Shuangzi and illustrated by Zuo Xuan, the work depicts the delicate and romantic emotions between girls against the backdrop of Japanese-ruled Taiwan.
Through comic panels, text, and spatial design, the exhibition interweaves historical landscapes, everyday customs, and the characters’ longing and regrets.
The black-and-white comic lines echo the old architectural space, allowing visitors to feel the work’s unique delicacy and literary atmosphere.
This space is also ideal for travelers who enjoy comics, literature, and historical culture to appreciate at a leisurely pace.
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