Chapter 18 Section 2 Wonderful Temple Decoration

Every ancient temple in Taiwan can be called an art palace. In addition to enshrining various lifelike statues, there are also various artistic decorations in the temple buildings, such as stone carvings, wood carvings, cutting and sticking, and Jiaozhi pottery. A masterpiece of artistic value, showing the profound artistic skill and talent of Taiwanese folk artisans. Since the Ming and Zheng Dynasties, the cross-strait trade has been frequent, but sailing in the strait is dangerous, and sailboats from the mainland often use huge stones as ballast to support the boats. This provides Taiwanese stone carvings with many good stone materials that are not available on the island.Among them, the best stone carving material is Qingdao stone, which has a slightly green color and becomes more lustrous with age; the second is Long stone, which has a yellowish color.These two stones are hard, with sharp and clear edges and strong lines. In the ancient temples in Taiwan, the works carved from Qingdao stone or Long stone are still intact even though they have been through wind and rain.

Among the stone carvings of temples in Taiwan, stone lions and stone pillars are the most important parts. On both sides of the entrance of temples in Taiwan, there must be a pair of stone lions.On the right is a lioness, accompanied by a cub under her feet; on the left is a male lion, with stone balls or stone coins placed in front of her feet.The stone lion has a sitting posture and a standing posture. It has a strong physique, a big mouth with protruding eyes, a thick nose and a short face, curly hair, and a raised head and chest. It has a majestic and magnificent posture. This is an interesting, extremely powerful, authentic Chinese form of evil stone beasts.It is said that the twin lions are responsible for guarding the temple, exorcising evil spirits and stopping evil spirits. Therefore, the carvings of stone lions in general temples in Taiwan focus on expressing their majestic and vigorous characteristics, and the carvings are quite powerful.

Among the gatekeeper lions in many temples in Taiwan, the four small stone lions in front of the Confucian Temple in Tainan are the earliest carved, said to be before Qianlong.These four lion cubs are made of granite, sitting upright, with their eyes looking straight up and their lips tightly closed, looking solemn and solemn.The pair of bluestone lions in front of Longshan Temple in Lukang also have a history of nearly 200 years. They have square heads and erect ears, with high heads and glaring eyes.The two businessmen are Xu Kejing and Liu Huatang.When they came to Taiwan for business and took a boat back to the mainland, they encountered a storm on the way.Liu Huatang remembered that the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva in Longshan Temple in Lukang was very effective, so he prayed to her from a distance. Within an hour, the weather was calm.They arrived in Fuzhou safely, and quickly sought out a famous craftsman to carve a pair of stone lions and dedicate them to Longshan Temple.In addition, the stone lions in Yanping Junwang Temple in Tainan, Wanchun Palace in Taichung, Dingguang Temple in Changhua, Sanxia Zushi Temple in Taipei, and Yongzhen Palace in Beiwei, Yilan all have their own characteristics and are the best stone lions in Taiwan.

The stone pillars are also called "dragon pillars", and their shapes can be divided into two categories: one is pure and powerful, and each of the two pillars is surrounded by a long dragon. Except for the upper and lower ends decorated with clouds and water waves, there is nothing else, but it is vivid and powerful. , Simple and humble.This category is represented by the dragon pillars of Longshan Temple in Lukang.There are three pairs of dragon pillars in the temple. Among them, the pair in front of the Sanchuan gate is of high artistic value. One side of the dragon's head is in the shape of flying into the sky, and the other side of the dragon's head is in the shape of entering the ground.The two dragons are in high spirits, and they communicate with each other with eye waves, and they are about to come out.The other type is complex and colorful, in addition to the column body and long dragon, it is also decorated with flowers and leaves, humans and animals, and painted with black and white lines, which is very lively and complicated, dazzling.This kind of dragon pillars are generally carved in Mazu temples in Taiwan.Among them, the stone pillars of Wanhua Longshan Temple in Taipei are the most typical. There are not only dragon pillars, dragon and phoenix pillars, but also hundreds of birds facing phoenix pillars and picnic pillars for outings. There are many patterns and extraordinary style.The most interesting is the pictorial column of outings.The carving on this column is very delicate, with a knife like a pen, beautiful scenery, picnickers have different expressions, vivid and relaxed, and have high artistic attainments, which makes people smile knowingly after seeing it.

In addition to stone lions and stone pillars, stone drums, stone beads, stone niches, stone doors, stone windows, and even walls in Taiwanese temples are often carved with various exquisite patterns, such as flowers and birds, or birds, or animals, or pavilions. Pavilions, various calligraphy, historical figures, stories in myths and legends, etc., the whole temple is like an exhibition hall of stone carving art, which is dizzying! Most of the woodcarving materials for temples in Taiwan are also shipped from Fujian, mainly camphor wood, eggplant wood or persimmon wood, and sandalwood is the best.Most of the craftsmen were also invited from Fujian. The style of woodcarving is roughly similar to that of Fujian and Guangdong, but more refined, and no expense was spared.Its unique features are highlighted in the application and decoration of Dougong and Queti.

Almost all the Dougongs and sparrows in Taiwanese temples are exquisite works of art, some are carved into the shape of the Eight Immortals, some are carved into old people or warriors, or flying dragons or animals, or flowers and birds or fish and insects... colorful.Most of these themes have folk significance, such as the shape of the Eight Immortals, because the Eight Immortals have magical skills, one can suppress evil, and the Eight Immortals present picks with auspicious meanings, and flowers, birds, birds, animals, etc. also have their own blessings, wealth, and prosperity. The meaning of longevity.

Every carving of a bracket or sparrow is a arduous artistic creation.The craftsmen first select the wood according to the parts they use, and then decide on the subject of the carving; these carvings are not simple reliefs, but hollow and three-dimensional carvings made of the whole piece of wood layer by layer. We must also be careful not to reduce its load-bearing function because of the hollow carving of the wood. It is conceivable that the carving is difficult and the skill is superb. Temples in Taiwan also attach great importance to the carving of door walls and partitions, and some even make large three-dimensional carvings on the entire door wall.For example, there are two large wood carvings on the door leaf of Magong Tianhou Palace, one is "Phoenix Presenting Prosperity": a phoenix with wings spreads perches beside the blooming peony and under plum blossoms, exuding a thriving and auspicious atmosphere; "Single Eagle Picture": An eagle flapping its wings to fly, standing alone on the top of the mountain, with sharp eyes looking down at the bottom of the mountain, giving people an artistic impression of fitness, agility and vitality.Although these two woodcarvings are old and have gone through wind and rain, we can still clearly see the exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful composition of the craftsmen back then.

In addition, the god tables, candlesticks and lottery holders used by believers in temples in Taiwan... All wooden products allow artisans to give full play to their artistic talents.These little-known folk artists, using carving knives as paintbrushes, have left exquisite works of art for later generations. Taiwanese temples are also elaborately decorated using a plastic art called "cutting and sticking".The so-called "cutting and sticking" is to use the original color painting on the bowl piece and the curvature of the bowl to select the part suitable for the shape and glue it to the pre-shaped shape part.For example, cutting and gluing characters, first shape the basic shape of the characters, and then process the bowls into various shapes that can be used, and glue the clothes, hats and other parts of the characters with bowls to make the shape of the characters more colorful And three-dimensional sense, in order to enhance the artistic effect of the work.Adhesives are generally prepared by mixing and pounding lime, asbestos and sugar water (some even use honey).Cutting and sticking seems to be a "small skill", but it is actually a very superb skill. Artisans must have a well-thought-out plan. They must have a high artistic quality in the feeling of shape and the selection and use of bowl pieces in order to grasp the correctness of the object. The image makes the body bonding seamless and lifelike.

The roofs, eaves, and walls of temples in Taiwan are decorated with various colorful cut-and-glue shapes, such as dragons soaring, tigers descending, peonies competing for beauty, dragons and phoenixes, and the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, the Three Officials, and Fu Lu. Shou Sanshen and so on.These colorful scissors shine brightly under the sunlight, and the whole temple looks more dazzling and magnificent from a distance. In ancient temples in Taiwan, a kind of decoration called "Jiaozhi pottery" (also known as "Jiaozhi burn") can also be found.The so-called "Jiaozhi pottery" is a kind of pottery that is molded into various shapes from clay and painted with glaze, and then put into a kiln and fired at low temperature.This kind of artwork integrates shaping, painting, and pottery firing. It is a comprehensive art. Its origin can be traced back to the famous Tang Sancai in China. However, it directly inherits Guangdong Jiaozhi Pottery (also known as "Shiwan Pottery") kiln") technique.

According to legend, during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a man named Ye Wang in Chiayi, Taiwan, who herded cattle in the countryside since he was a child. He liked to make clay puppets out of mud while herding cattle.One day, he was discovered by a pottery master from Guangdong who accepted him as an apprentice and taught Shiwan pottery techniques.From then on, his skills improved day by day, and the pottery puppets he made were exquisite and beautiful, so King Ye became famous.It is said that most of the pottery figures and landscapes in the temples in southern Taiwan were made by him.Today, Tainan Xuejia Tzu Chi Palace, Jiali Zhenxing Palace, Jintang Palace and other places still preserve the works of Ye Wang's late period, which are very precious.In addition to Ye Wang, there are Hong Hua, Hong Kunfu and others in Tainan who are famous masters of Cochin pottery in Taiwan.During the Japanese rule, Ye Wang's posthumous works were sent to Japan to participate in the World Expo, which received extremely high praise.

Although Taiwanese Cochin pottery inherits the art from Shiwan Kiln, it does not simply imitate. Due to the influence of geography and social environment, it has formed its own unique local style in terms of techniques and coloring.For example, Shiwan kiln pays attention to dexterity, lightness, and cuteness, while Taiwan Jiaozhi pottery pays attention to freehand rather than realism. Cochin pottery is mostly placed on the walls or roofs of temples, and the themes are roughly the same as various carvings and cut-and-glue.The decoration of Jiaozhi pottery adds a stronger artistic atmosphere to the temple, which is another major feature of temple architecture in Taiwan. At present, the production techniques of Taiwanese Jiaozhi pottery are becoming more delicate and diversified, and have moved from temples to folks, to popularization and daily life, such as indoor furnishings, wall decorations, and cultural and entertainment products. A well-known traditional pottery sculpture art, loved by people. There are also many paintings in temples in Taiwan, and they are generally painted on doors, windows, columns, beams and walls, not only for decoration, but more importantly, to use the theme of painting for propaganda and education.Most of its content comes from folklore stories of Chinese culture, rites, righteousness, filial piety, filial piety, fraternity and family harmony; there are not only character story paintings, flower and bird paintings, animal paintings, but also landscape paintings, etc., almost all the fields represented by traditional Chinese art are in Taiwan. It can be found in temple paintings.Therefore, the temple paintings in Taiwan are not actually religious paintings (except for the "Picture of Trial in Hell" painted on the walls of Chenghuang Temple and Prison Emperor Temple). Another notable feature of the paintings in temples in Taiwan is that they are colorful, and the commonly used colors are red, green, yellow, navy blue, white, etc., and black is seldom used.This color tone gives people a sense of happiness and happiness, and contains the meaning of justice and auspiciousness, which is completely consistent with the image of justice that people imagine God as "doing justice on behalf of the sky" and "exorcising evil and curing diseases".However, since temples in Taiwan generally need to be renovated every 40 to 50 years, and each renovation will destroy many exquisite paintings, the paintings in temples in Taiwan that people can see now belong to the works of the early years of the Republic of China. It is considered relatively old, and most of the rest are works from the past fifty or sixty years.These paintings are usually painted with a white foundation (made by mixing lime and asbestos sugar water) on the place to be painted, and when it is almost dry, paint with ink or mineral coloring material mixed with water.Taiwan's climate varies greatly from dry to wet, so if lime is used as a foundation, it is naturally easy to weather and peel off.Therefore, artisans later switched to cement paint or plastic paint to paint a white base first, and then painted with water-based plastic paint or oil-based paint. Although this is easy to preserve for a long time, the style of the painting will be out of shape because of this, and it will not be as durable as before. The most eye-catching paintings of temples in Taiwan are the painted paintings of door gods on the gates.There used to be a pair of door gods on the gate of the Chenghuang Temple in Tainan Prefecture—the two generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Jingde. They were the works of Pan Chunyuan, a famous painter in Tainan in the early years of the Republic of China. They have exquisite brushwork, firmness and softness in the strokes, handsome features, and neatly folded armor. The preface is simple and simple in color, full of antiquity, and has high artistic appreciation value.It is a pity that the temple was damaged when it was rebuilt, and now it can only be seen from the photos. Why do the Chinese people regard the two generals Qin and Yuchi as "door gods"?According to Tang Sanjiao's "Sou Shen Daquan": "The door god, Tang Qin Shubao, and Yuchi Jingde are also the two generals." It is said that Tang Taizong was in poor health in his later years, and ghosts shouted outside the bedroom door, and he could not sleep at night. Taizong then informed the officials of this matter , Qin Shubao said: "The last general is willing to wait outside the door with Yuchi Jingde." Taizong allowed him to play, and it was a peaceful night.Later, Emperor Taizong ordered a painter to paint the portraits of the two on the door, and the ghosts would no longer harass them.Later generations followed suit, and the two generals Qin and Yuchi became the "gods of the gate" of the Chinese. Among the temple paintings in Taiwan, there are also many exquisite paintings on the walls.For example, the huge "Picture of the Eight Immortals" and "Picture of Poetry on a Spring Night" drawn by Yufeng in Tainan Datianhou Palace, the movements of the characters are accurate and vivid, especially the latter one, which not only has the taste of Chinese painting, but also expresses techniques It also has a three-dimensional sense of front and back, which is quite rare. Generally speaking, the scale and layout of temples in Taiwan are not as grand as those in mainland China, but they are more exquisite and gorgeous than temples in mainland China in terms of architectural decoration art, giving people a sense of "small and exquisite", showing the unique customs and customs of Taiwan everywhere. The outstanding achievements of folk art are an important heritage in the art treasure house of the Chinese nation and should be cherished and protected.