Chapter 19 Section 3 Simple and Practical Folk Crafts (Part 1)

There are many kinds of folk crafts in Taiwan, which are simple and elegant, beautiful and practical. The arts inherit Fujian and Guangdong and have a unique local style. Taiwan's climate is hot and humid, which is most suitable for the growth of bamboo. From south to north, there are patches of green and dense bamboo forests everywhere. The breeze blows gently, swaying and swaying, making the scenery of Taiwan's island extraordinarily beautiful. Bamboo was closely related to the daily life of early Taiwanese residents. Clothing, food, housing, and transportation were all inseparable from bamboo. Therefore, the folk bamboo crafting industry was very prosperous and exquisite in the past.So far, traditional bambooware is still popular and used by people.

There are many "worships" throughout the year in Taiwan, and a kind of "bamboo steamer" is often used to make worship offerings.This traditional food steaming utensil is woven from osmanthus bamboo slices, cypress wood slices and rattan. The steamed food is extraordinarily fragrant and can maintain the original flavor.Bamboo steamers come in different sizes and have different uses.The smaller the steamer, the more exquisite the technique. Cutting rattan and planing bamboo slices can only be done well after long-term experience accumulation.In the countryside of Taiwan, every household must have a kind of "Xie Basket" (large bamboo basket), which is flat and stable in shape, with precise seams, and various beautiful patterns are woven around it, which is breathable, airy, and beautiful.It is used to hold chickens, ducks and fishes during big worship; when the daughter is married, it is used to hold various cakes.There are many other kinds of bamboo tableware, ranging from tea cabinets, vegetable cabinets, rice sieves, various bamboo baskets, etc., to chopsticks, rice spoons, and rice spoons that must be used for every meal...

The houses of the early residents were inseparable from bamboo: bamboo walls, bamboo columns, bamboo windows, bamboo curtains, bamboo mats, bamboo beds, bamboo ladders, bamboo fences, bamboo cradles, bamboo fans and various bamboo tables, bamboo Chairs, bamboo stools... It can be said that "no bamboo can't make a home"!Taiwan is hot in summer, and bamboo mats are the most popular. When you lie on it for a short rest at noon or sleep at night, you will feel cool and cool, and the heat will disappear. It is regarded as a "treasure of summer" by Taiwanese people. The production technology of bamboo mats is very high. From cutting bamboo, punching holes, threading holes, weaving to sewing, it is all done by a pair of skillful hands. If you are not careful, the woven bamboo mat will be uneven, and it will inevitably make people suffer from "skin pain" when lying on it.

Bamboo is widely used in rural Taiwan to weave food storage containers. The big ones are called "Drum Ting Stupid", which has a complex structure and has doors for entry and exit. It can store tens of thousands of kilograms of rice. ".The small ones are called "bamboo containers", which have a relatively simple structure and can also store several thousand catties of grain.Other bamboo labor tools, such as bamboo brooms, bamboo rakes, bamboo dustpans, bamboo baskets, bamboo hats, etc., are too numerous to mention. In addition to various practical bamboo ware, Taiwanese folks also use bamboo to weave and carve various handicrafts for entertainment.Taiwan's bamboo carving works of art are ingenious in conception, simple and exquisite, and have unique artistic charm.

Taiwan's bamboo furniture is best in Lukang, Chiayi, Douliu, and Zhushan in Nantou; while weaving and bamboo carving techniques are best in Tainan's Guanmiao.The Guanmiao area is known as the "Village of Bamboo Bamboo Ware", and there is a folk song that sings: "Pineapples are fragrant, bamboo shoots are sweet, rattan chairs are cool, bamboo wares are pretty, and the special products of Guanmiao are croaking!" Taiwan is known as the "Umbrella Kingdom", among which oil-paper umbrellas are more antique, economical and practical. The craftsmanship of oil-paper umbrellas in Taiwan was passed down from Chaozhou, Guangdong.The production of each umbrella can be divided into four processes: umbrella bone, paper pasting, oiling and painting (xiuxiu, meaning lacquered objects).The entire production process of paper umbrellas relies on fine traditional handicraft skills: first, the bamboo is sawn into sections according to a certain size.To prevent moths from eating in the future, the cut bamboo sections should be soaked in water for a month to remove the sugar.After soaking, it is cut into umbrella ribs, umbrella heads and umbrella handles.On each slender umbrella rib, small holes with equal spacing are also drilled.Then the umbrella rib, umbrella head and umbrella handle are threaded and shaped to make an umbrella stand.The second step is to paste the umbrella surface.The umbrella cover is cut from tissue paper and pasted piece by piece between two umbrella frames.The viscous agent is made of smashed and soaked green persimmons, which has excellent viscosity and is not easy to deteriorate and fall off.After the umbrella surface is glued and exposed to the sun, the third step is to apply tung oil.Tung oil is both waterproof and increases the toughness of tissue paper.After drying in the shade, apply a layer of varnish, and you're done with a light and beautiful oiled paper umbrella.

The early oil-paper umbrellas were monotonous in color. With the changes of the times and people's aesthetic concepts, colorful paper umbrellas came out one after another. Colorful and beautiful, it is especially loved by girls. According to folklore, the oil-paper umbrella was invented by Lu Ban in the Spring and Autumn Period.Therefore, every family in Taiwan who makes paper umbrellas enshrines the tablet of "Qiaosheng Xianshi" as their patron saint, and pastes a couplet saying: "Pieces cover the rain and dew, and one pole sets up the universe", which is very vivid and exaggerated. .

Most of the oil-paper umbrellas in Taiwan are Cantonese Hakka people.Hakka people in Taiwan have a custom: married daughters must have two umbrellas as a dowry, because the traditional Chinese character "umbrella" is composed of multiple "person" characters, and sending a daughter to marry with an umbrella means "many children and grandchildren".When the son becomes an adult at the age of 16, his parents will also give him a pair of paper umbrellas, because "paper" and "zi" have the same pronunciation, and the umbrella is round when opened, which means "fulfillment". Sending a son with an umbrella means that he has grown up , is about to start his own business, and wish him every success in the future.During religious ceremonies and celebration parades, believers also like to wear an umbrella, because "umbrella" and "shine" have the same pronunciation.

Lanterns are an ancient traditional handicraft in China. They can be used not only for lighting, but also for auspiciousness and light. This ancient and elegant folk craft is still very prosperous in Taiwan. The most common lanterns in Taiwan are bamboo lanterns and umbrella lanterns.Bamboo lamps are made of strong and elastic osmanthus bamboo or hemp hedge bamboo, which are split into bamboo slender and woven. The shapes are mainly round, cylindrical or olive-shaped. Cotton paper for painting on top.The material and production of the umbrella lamp are relatively complicated. After the whole bamboo tube is split, repaired, peeled, deboned, drilled and woven, it is embedded in the groove of the pedestal, and then it is stretched out according to a certain After the shape is fixed, it is made by mounting yarn, mending yarn, applying agaric glue and finally painting.

The making of lanterns is an organic combination of the two folk arts of bamboo weaving and painting.The characteristic of Taiwanese lanterns is not its bamboo weaving shape, but its variety of patterns, fonts and colors, which are full of gorgeous, solemn, festive, or mysterious folk skills. Decorative paints used to be made of water-based minerals, but now most of them are used as advertising materials and paints, including bright red, pink, dark green, light green, blue, white, yellow, purple, indigo and other colors.The patterns are painted with different themes according to the needs of customers and different occasions of use. The figures are mostly painted with the Eight Immortals or the three stars of Fu, Lu, and Longevity, and there are also dragons, horses, unicorns, elephants, cranes, birds, plums, bamboos, and orchids. , Chrysanthemum, etc., with different expressions and styles.

The fonts on Taiwanese lanterns have certain rules, and the colors used are also limited according to the folk customs of various places.The lanterns used by ordinary people often have their surnames written on them, which are called "zi surname lamps".If the ancestors held official positions, write the surname on one side of the lamp and the official name on the other side.The lanterns used in temples either write the name of the temple, or write the name of the main god worshiped in the temple, such as "Jade Emperor", "King of Three Mountains", etc. This kind of lantern is called "Buddha light lamp" or "ancestral god lamp".The characters on these lanterns are generally in vermilion.However, the surnames such as Lin and Ye in the Zhudong area use green; the temple lamps in Tainan and Chiayi areas use blue, and the names of gods use vermilion.The colors and fonts of the "auspicious lanterns" and "filial piety lanterns" used for funerals in various places are also different.In short, there are many famous halls, which make Taiwan's lanterns look grotesque, colorful and full of strong folk customs.However, nowadays, a large number of lanterns have been made of plastic. Although they can be produced in batches, from an artistic point of view, they can no longer be compared with hand-made bamboo and paper lanterns!

Kite, also known as "paper kite" or "kite", is an ancient Chinese folk art.According to folklore, when Chu and Han were fighting for hegemony, Han Xin and Zhang Liang trapped Xiang Yu's army in Gaixia.One night, he carried two soldiers on a cowhide kite and flew to the sky around Chu camp to play Chu songs.Its sad and plaintive flute sound aroused the nostalgia of the Chu soldiers, causing the Chu camp's troops to collapse and collapse.In the famous "Surfing the River During the Qingming Festival", at the beginning, it depicts the scene of young people flying kites in Bianjing. "Qingming flying harriers" has been a folk custom in my country since ancient times.When the Ching Ming Festival comes, people lift kites into the distant clear sky, imagining that all illnesses and misfortunes are placed on the kites, and then they cut the strings and let them go with the wind, symbolizing the disappearance of disasters and misfortune forever... … The materials used to make kites in early Taiwan were similar to those used to make lanterns. Bamboo and paper were mostly used for pasting, but now a large number of plastics are used for poles, nylon cloth is used instead of paper, and nylon rope is used for kite strings.There are various shapes and varieties of kites in Taiwan, such as the antique "Thirty-six Flying Swallows"; there is a line that flies five black bats in succession, which is known as "Five Blessings"; there is a kite called "Flying Bullets" which is more interesting: first put a large After flying a kite from an airplane to high altitude, after it remains stable, a butterfly-shaped "wind bomb" is attached to it. Driven by the force of the wind, the bright red butterfly suddenly lets go of its hand and soars up along the string until the "flying bomb" touches the sky. When "flying", there is a sudden "pop", and the wings are closed and dropped back into the hands.However, the most famous ones are the "centipede kite" and the "octagonal dragon kite" evolved from the "centipede kite". Its length reaches more than 100 knots, and it is called "the king of kites".Flying this kind of large kite, if you don't have quite high skills and experience, I'm afraid it can only be "helpless" and "looking at the kite and sighing". Taiwanese kites are well-known internationally for their simple and changeable shapes, and have become folk items of great interest to foreign tourists.The sales volume is very large, and every year there are a large number of orders from the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and other countries, vying to buy kites made in Taiwan. Taiwan, the island of Taiwan, has beautiful scenery and is like spring all year round. No matter what season you can see colorful kites flying in the wind, it brings endless fun and beautiful enjoyment to people! The coastal area from Hsinchu to Tainan in Taiwan is rich in a kind of "triangular rush", also known as "rush grass".The stems of this kind of grass are slender and triangular. After being harvested, they are dried and pressed to become tough and soft. They are the best raw materials for weaving various handmade fabrics.In the early Qing Dynasty, Taiwanese people began to use it to weave straw mats.The rush produced in Dajia, Taichung is of the best quality, and it is the largest and most famous production area for straw mats and straw hats. It is known as "Dajia Mat" and "Dajia Hat".Authentic Dajia mats are both ventilative and sweat-absorbing, and it is cool and fragrant for people lying on them in hot weather.Among them, the most famous one is "Jiawen Mat", that is, adding various patterns of dragon and phoenix, flowers and birds, double happiness of blessings and longevity, etc. when weaving, which is not only beautiful and practical, but also reveals "auspicious meaning".It is said that when the officials stationed in Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty went to Beijing, they never forgot to bring the patterned mat as a gift to their relatives and friends. It was very popular among people in the capital and regarded it as a rare and precious gift. It is elegantly called "Dragon Beard Mat". In the past, most of the people who weaved Dajia mats and hats were illiterate peasant women. They did not need to draw or make samples, but relied on their ingenuity and the skills taught by their elders. They took advantage of the slack season to weave from dawn to dusk, and sold them to subsidize their families.Dajia Mats and Dajia Hats entered the international market at the beginning of this century. In the 1930s, they became the third product among Taiwan's "Five Specialties". Every year, millions of straw mats and 16 million straw hats are exported to countries all over the world. There is a story about the "big armor hat" among the folks in Taiwan: In the 23rd year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1897), not long after Japan occupied Taiwan at that time, Asano Yuanling, the director of the Yuanli Affairs Office of the Governor's Office, went to the countryside for a tour, and saw a group of women. Sitting around weaving mats, he took off the rough top hat he was wearing and asked the women if they could weave it, in order to make things difficult for them.A young woman named Hong Yuanyang saw the shape of the top hat, thought about it, and started to weave it. Soon she made the first "big armor hat" in Taiwan.Later, she enthusiastically taught techniques to local women, and was invited to Taipei as a handicraft teacher for many years, teaching many apprentices.Due to Hong Yuanyang's vigorous promotion, the Dajia hat, like the Dajia Xi, has become a well-known Taiwanese specialty all over the world. There is a kind of "yellow rattan" in the deep mountains and old forests of Taiwan. This kind of rattan is more than 30 meters long and less than 2 centimeters in diameter. After processing, it is flexible and not easy to rot. and other high-quality materials. The production process of rattan ware is quite complicated. First, the whole rattan should be heated, baked and bent into various shapes of utensils to make shaped outlines (some are made of bamboo); Long strip type (that is, rattan); then use rattan to weave the shaped outline into pieces of utensils by hand, and ingeniously and carefully decorate according to the required patterns and patterns when weaving; finally apply tung oil, bright After drying, the lacquer becomes usable rattan.Small decorations such as animals, plants, flowers and plants must be woven with rattan. There are many kinds of rattan wares produced in Taiwan. They are simple in style and durable. They are one of the traditional handicrafts that are popular with people from all walks of life at home and abroad.The most famous production of rattan wares in Taiwan is Guanmiao Township in Tainan.Now, when people come to the border of Guanmiao Township, they can see yellow and resilient rattan products piled up in factories and courtyards of many people from afar.The rattan wares of Guanmiao are exquisitely handcrafted, beautiful in shape and have a strong classical flavor, and most of the rattan materials used are first-class rattan imported from Indonesia.This kind of rattan is better in quality than Taiwanese rattan, with bright color and high toughness, and will not be broken or deformed by the influence of climate or temperature.It is said that 80% of the villagers in Guanmiao Township are engaged in the processing and manufacturing of rattan wares, which are exported in large quantities every year to earn foreign exchange. Speaking of Taiwan's rattan wares, it has made great achievements in the history of the anti-aggression struggle!However, this "rattan weapon" is actually a kind of "weapon", that is, the "rattan token" used by infantry in ancient wars.There was an important branch of Zheng Chenggong's army called the "Tengpai Army".This kind of rattan card is made of mountain rattan. The rattan brand is soaked in tung oil and has a smooth and tough surface. Lightweight and flexible, it can be used freely in combat.Therefore, Zheng Chenggong's "vine card army" is very good!In the battle to regain Taiwan, the Dutch colonists were beaten to the ground and frightened. After the Qing Dynasty unified Taiwan, Taiwan's rattan army was sent to Heilongjiang to fight against the Russian invaders, and made great contributions in the famous "Battle of Yaksa" in history: in 1687 (the 26th year of Qing Emperor Kangxi), at the end of this battle In one battle, the Taiwan Tengpai Army was ordered to cross the river to attack the Russian stronghold.They fell into the water and went downstream. The Russian army shot like locusts, but they couldn't hit them.The Russian aggressors had never seen this kind of "new weapon". When the army was in a state of confusion, Taiwan's rattan soldiers took advantage of the situation and jumped onto the river bank, killing and hacking violently, capturing the enemy's formation, and even the leader of the Russian army, Erikshe, was captured alive.For a time, China's "Big Hat Army" (the Russian name for the Rattan Army) shocked the world, and it was rumored to be miraculous. In 1696 (the thirty-fifth year of Kangxi), Taiwan's Tengpai Army also followed Emperor Kangxi to fight against the rebellion of Galdan, the running dog of the Russian invaders, and defeated the rebels in the pursuit of the Kherlen River and the siege of Zhaomodo.After the war, Taiwanese rattan soldiers stayed in Heilongjiang to engage in reclamation activities and made positive contributions to the development and construction of Heilongjiang. Coral has always been regarded as an auspicious thing by people. It is believed that wearing coral can drive away wind and cold, take refuge and eliminate disasters. In ancient my country, coral was listed as one of the "seven treasures". It is recorded above. Coral is formed from calcareous skeletons secreted by a coelenterate "coral polyp" that lives in shallow sea reefs. , if processed, it can become a variety of precious handicrafts.Coral was first discovered in Taiwan in 1923 in the waters of Keelung and Ruifang. According to expert appraisal, its color and quality are far superior to those produced in Italy, Japan and other countries.Later, advanced processing technology was introduced and a large amount of mining was carried out. In 1979 at its peak, Taiwan’s coral output accounted for 80% of the world’s total output, so it was known as the “Coral Kingdom”; among them, the output of Penghu accounted for 70% of Taiwan’s total output. %, and the quality is excellent, so Penghu is also known as the "Hometown of Coral". In October 1979, Taiwanese fishermen harvested the largest coral in the world so far outside Guishan Island in Yilan. This coral weighed 70.5 kilograms and was 125 centimeters high. It is said that it has lived on the seabed for 21,000 years. For the "coral king".In addition, the sea areas of Orchid Island, Green Island, Suao, and Pengjiayu are also rich in corals. Taiwan’s corals are not only of good quality, but also of a wide variety. Currently, there are at least 300 known species, in various colors such as white, pink, red, green, purple blue, and black.Among them, the deep red coral is bright in color, hard in quality and uniform in structure, but it is also the most difficult to harvest, so the price is the most expensive.The second is pink and white.In the pink category, there is a kind of coral called "angel skin color". , very popular with European and American people. Taiwan's coral processing industry is very developed, with as many as 400 to 500 processing factories, most of which are concentrated in Penghu, Suao and Taipei.The recovered corals are artistically processed according to their size, shape and color.If the large branches are intact and beautiful in shape, they are mostly kept in their original shape as decorations, which are full of natural beauty, and some are also carved into precious works of art, such as portraits, flowers and birds, etc.; middle branches can generally be used as plain rings, bead necklaces and earrings, such as Partially withered, it is carved into various jewelry and decorations according to the situation; the small branches are matched with jade to make flowers, insects, birds and animals, used to inlay screens, etc., or cut into short branches, and strung into simple and lovely coral necklaces. In addition, coral can also be processed into various women's favorite decorations such as bracelets, hairpins, cufflinks, and brooches.Naturally, Taiwan coral sculptures are inseparable from the deep influence of Chinese traditional culture. Most of their works are made of Eight Immortals, Twelve Zodiac Signs, Avalokitesvara, Maitreya Buddha, Ladies, Flowers and Birds, etc., all of which are lifelike and interesting, and are sold well in Japan, Europe and the United States. Taiwan and other countries have become the export products with the highest economic value among Taiwan's special products, earning a lot of foreign exchange.