Byline:KELLY HER
Publication Date:07/01/2012

The Crafts that Restored a Village

Bantaoyao chairman Chen Zhong-zheng (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

With the government’s help, artisan Chen Zhong-zheng has found new success for his business and hometown.

Du Mei-pei (杜玫佩) is a devout Buddhist and frequent visitor to local temples. Oftentimes, she is captivated by the flamboyant ornamentation on the rooftops—figures of various beasts, birds, flowers, historic characters and mystical creatures like the dragons and phoenix depicted in folk legends. “How are they made?” she used to wonder. It was not until she visited a craft studio in Chiayi County, southern Taiwan that the question was finally answered.

The place she visited is called Bantaoyao, a workshop in Bantou Village, which is located in Chiayi’s Xingang Township. The workshop is dedicated to displaying and promoting two traditional handicrafts—koji ceramics and jian nian, which means “cut and paste.” Both craft techniques are used to create the elaborate decorations typical of temple roofs and eaves.

Koji ware is a type of ceramic art fired at low temperatures (800–900 C). The colors of koji pieces are distinctive, but not always striking. Jian nian is a mosaic-like art form in which craftsmen use specially designed pliers to cut porcelain into small pieces and then paste the pieces onto a stucco frame. The colors of a jian nian sculpture are dazzling. Both crafts were brought to Taiwan by earlier immigrants from mainland China and have been taught via lengthy apprenticeships with master craftsmen.

Xingang Township eventually became the heart of koji pottery and jian nian in Taiwan. In 1904 and 1906, Chiayi was hit by major earthquakes and Xingang’s Fengtian Temple, which was built in 1811, was substantially damaged. In response, members of the area’s gentry invited master craftsman Hong Kun-fu (洪坤福, 1865–unknown) from the southern part of Fujian province, mainland China to participate in the reconstruction of the temple. Hong recruited several local apprentices to help him adorn the new temple roofs with koji and jian nian figures, thus resulting in the birth of the crafts in the area.
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Modern-style ceramic figurines decorate walls and other sites throughout Bantou Village in Xingang Township, Chiayi County, southern Taiwan. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

“Koji ceramics and jian nian are important traditional crafts for temple art and architecture in Taiwan and possess great aesthetic and artistic value,” says Chen Zhong-zheng (陳忠正), 57, chairman of Bantaoyao. “As well, they bring popular folk myths and tales of loyalty, justice, filial piety and moral integrity to life. They are precious cultural assets.”

Chen has worked in koji pottery and jian nian for more than 40 years. He was born in Xingang and has loved painting since he was a child. After Chen graduated from junior high school, the need to help support his family compelled him to look for a job. It happened that his uncle was a craftsman working on temple decoration, which Chen knew was related to art. So at the age of 16, Chen moved to Yilan in northern Taiwan to begin an apprenticeship to his uncle.

After spending nearly 15 years honing his skills on koji and jian nian sculptures, Chen became a master in his own right. He returned to Xingang and set up a business by building a kiln to produce koji ware figurines and the raw materials for jian nian work.

Chen’s business was faring pretty well by the 1990s, as a multitude of temples were being built or restored thanks to Taiwan’s booming economy. At one point he was among the largest suppliers of temple decoration materials in Taiwan. About 10 years ago, however, low-priced materials from mainland China started to flood the local market, a situation that forced many ceramic kilns in Taiwan to go out of business. Chen’s factory is the only one that remains in operation in the Xingang area.
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Jian nian is a mosaic-like art form, which involves cutting porcelain into small pieces and pasting them onto a stucco framework. (Photo Courtesy of Bantaoyao)

“To compete with mainland Chinese counterparts, I have to offer higher quality products at similar price levels. That leads to very slim profit margins,” Chen says. “This made me think about how to diversify my business to increase sources of income in order to stay afloat.” Moreover, due to the labor-intensive and time-consuming nature of koji and jian nian crafts, both traditions were in danger of extinction in Taiwan. “To acquire those techniques calls for years of practice. Creating jian nian pieces is particularly demanding. Apart from the long hours of indoor work, it requires toiling on a temple roof in the summer heat or winter chill for months,” Chen says. “Few people are drawn to those arts because of the harsh working conditions and meticulous production processes.”

The craftsman began seeking ideas to revitalize his business and attract talented workers to the trade. He soon learned of a Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) scheme to assist traditional industries with cultural, historical and educational value to develop their operations as tourism factories. With financial and technical assistance from the MOEA, Chen added new facilities to his business, completing the transformation into a tourism factory in November 2005. The property includes a museum, which introduces the history and development of koji pottery and jian nian as well as exhibits artworks, a DIY workshop, a gift shop and a classical garden decorated with a multitude of tables, chairs and figures made of jian nian, koji ceramics or mosaic tiles.

The first two years of running the tourism factory, Chen admits, were difficult as he could not afford to advertise his establishment widely. Consequently, the number of visitors was low and the business operated at a loss.

Turning It Around

Fortunately, another positive development occurred in 2008. Chen found out that the Ministry of Culture (MOC) had initiated a sponsorship program to encourage art creations in public spaces. Chen filed an application to create a huge artwork that combined koji pottery and jian nian pieces on an embankment wall in Bantou Village. His proposal was approved and he received a NT$3 million (US$100,000) grant to complete the piece.
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Chen’s huge artwork based on the bead tree combines koji pottery and jian nian on an embankment wall in Bantou Village. The work has gained widespread attention and become a draw for visitors. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

Chen’s team collaborated with a design center at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology to draw up a detailed plan for the 35-meter-long installation. The team then spent nine months in 2009 cutting and pasting pieces from more than 20,000 ceramic bowls to create a work of art that features the bead tree, or Melia azedarach, a species found throughout the area, as it appears in the four seasons.

The vivid representation of the tree’s flowers, leaves, fruit and even the insects often found on it ensured the artwork gained a lot of attention. Due to media coverage, an increasing number of tourists began to travel to the village to appreciate the nation’s “largest art wall.” Chen was motivated to propose a second, similar creation that portrayed the cream hibiscus or Hibiscus taiwanensis, a plant native to Taiwan, in 2010 and a third one called Xingang’s Midsummer Night in 2011. Both were accepted and financed by the MOC.

The three large-scale works along the embankment walls have become landmarks in Bantou Village, and have made the area increasingly appealing to visitors. Meanwhile, the township office, local community organizations and residents started to work together to beautify the environment by planting flowers, restoring historic sites including the former train and bus stations, and creating modern-style ceramic figurines to decorate the walls, streets, parks and other sites throughout the town.

These undertakings enabled Bantou Village, which had fallen into decline like many other agricultural communities amid Taiwan’s shift to an industrial economy, to begin attracting huge tourist crowds. For instance, more than 100,000 people visited the town during the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday in January this year.
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Elementary school students paint ceramic tiles at Bantaoyao’s workshop. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

Chen was among the many villagers who were thrilled to see the arrival of the tourists and hopeful of renewed prosperity for the area. “Frankly speaking, the things I did initially were for my own business—to keep it running and be able to offer work to my apprentices, who have worked with me for many years,” Chen says. “But the warm response I’ve received from tourists and local residents has given me a larger goal—community empowerment—to help all the villagers better their lives.”

Hsieh Jin-xu (謝錦旭), 47, is a senior craftsman who has been working at Chen’s factory for nearly 30 years. He says that to create koji and jian nian pieces, one must master several techniques including drafting, shaping, carving, glazing and cutting, as well as have good concentration and endurance. “Nowadays, most young people are reluctant to take on manual jobs, while temples largely prefer to use cheaper, pre-molded ridge decorations rather than commission handmade pieces due to the cost,” Hsieh says. “So these traditional crafts have become sunset industries and are likely to disappear if nothing is done to save them.”

Hsieh says he is grateful to Chen for his efforts to keep the pottery art form alive through his business innovations. “Turning the factory into a tourist attraction has brought new business opportunities. Now I have a greater sense of job security, as well as achievement because tourists often stop by and praise my work,” he says. “Chen also encourages me to create pieces with modern, interesting designs and to develop my creativity. I enjoy trying new things.”

Su Shu-nu (蘇淑女), 58, is a local volunteer who helps maintain public gardens and keeps Bantou tidy. “Our village used to be a deathly still place … I’d rarely see a stranger. Now it seems to come alive and it’s filled with warmth and vitality,” she says. “Plus, with the arrival of tourists, I can take the opportunity to sell my farm produce to make a little extra money.”
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Mosaic figures in Bantaoyao’s classical garden (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

Another local resident, Wu Hong-qi (吳鴻祺), says a population exodus from the area has long been a serious problem as job openings are scarce. Consequently, the majority of residents are elderly people and children. “We’ve been the only household living in this immediate neighborhood for the last 15 years,” he says. “But recently, not only more tourists have come, but also younger folk who had relocated elsewhere have moved back as they see the potential of doing business here.”

Indeed, after undertaking a number of improvement projects over the past few years, Bantou has established a distinct identity and the village has acquired a new luster. Through media reports and word of mouth, individuals, families and groups from throughout Taiwan have begun visiting the area.

Zhao Zhi-yun (趙志雲) from Donggang Township in Pingtung County, southern Taiwan, says she learned about Bantou via a television show. “One finds surprises while strolling around the area. The koji and jian nian sculptures on the embankment walls are terrific! There are also colorful ceramic animals and figurines installed here and there, giving us a glimpse of local culture and appealing to the inner child in our heart,” she says. “Plus, the natural environment is a delight to the eyes and has the relaxed feel of rural life.”

Zhao adds that in Bantaoyao’s gift shop, she saw the ceramic arts applied to a wide range of products, a development that should increase the popularity of the crafts and help sustain the traditional art forms. “Bantou Village is a successful example of rural revitalization in that it conserves agricultural production, industrial culture and natural ecology,” she says. “I hope that my hometown, a fishing village, can adopt a similar approach to reinvigorating the local economy.”
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A koji ware bitter melon plant is part of a wall display at Bantaoyao. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)

Clay, Paint, Fun

Tourists Huang Yu-xin (黃宇欣) and her two daughters are from Taichung, central Taiwan. They visited Bantaoyao on a friend’s recommendation, who cited it as a suitable place for children to learn and play. “Through the guided tour at the craft museum, we learned about koji pottery and jian nian and the amount of time and effort that goes into an artwork, together with interesting folklore related to those pieces. It’s educational,” she says. “Plus, my children like to play with clay and paint so they have lots of fun.”

Zeng Xiao-zhen (曾小珍), an elementary school teacher from Chiayi City, led a student group to Bantaoyao. She says her school selected the craft studio for a field trip given its cultural, educational and recreational attributes. “Koji ceramics and jian nian are introduced in our textbooks, but I don’t think our students really knew what they were or appreciated their beauty until they saw real works of art on display,” she says. “Moreover, they were excited to create their own pieces in the workshop. Such hands-on experience can also stimulate their creativity and help them learn about how everyday objects like cups and plates are produced.”

Bantaoyao chairman Chen Zhong-zheng is heartened by such positive feedback and expresses gratitude for the support he has received to open the tourism factory and create public artworks during the last few years. “When I set out to develop traditional crafts into a cultural creative industry and promote tourism, many local residents didn’t believe that it would work out,” Chen recalls. “It’s thanks to help from the central and local governments along the way that our community redevelopment plans could be carried out and create change for the better.”

The chairman adds that the more involved he gets in local development, the greater obligation he feels to help his township prosper. “My ideal is to transform our community into an art village based on koji ceramics and jian nian,” he says. “Only by emphasizing local features as well as both tradition and innovation can we look forward to rural prosperity and the evolution and spread of traditional crafts.”