The Hall of Dragon Metamorphoses: a unique, indigenous asylum for chronic mental patients in Taiwan.

This paper describes the spontaneous rise of an indigenous asylum for the chronic mentally ill, called Lung Hwa Tang (The Hall of Dragon Metamorphoses), in contemporary Taiwan. Sociocultural factors relevant to the asylum, including the roles played by Chinese families and the current situation of mental health care in Taiwanese communities, are discussed. Despite its detrimental effect on patients, this asylum stands for an alternative mental health care system in the folk sector; it reflects a great demand from the communities for access to modern mental health services, the development of which have been very slow and inadequate in the past four decades in this rapidly developing country.