Transformations
The Wang family’s skills can be traced back to Jen-hui’s paternal grandfather, Wang Chuan-bao, who honed his craft in Japan. After returning to Taiwan, Chuan-bao established a bamboo products shop called Futai in 1907. Thanks to his fine craftsmanship, many Japanese customers came for bespoke furniture. Jen-hui’s father, Huo-yao, focused on constructing bamboo buildings.
Wang Jen-hui says that Taiwan’s bamboo industry flourished during the Japanese period. There was even a “bamboo street” in downtown Tainan. People of his father’s generation witnessed that golden age. When Wang, aged 16, took over the family business in 1976, he never guessed that the very next year, plastic furniture would come onto the market. The bamboo furniture shops were all but wiped out.
“I chose to stay in the bamboo business, but to change tack,” Wang says with pride. During the first transformation, he began to make bamboo structures for florists, as well as various shop fronts and decorated archways. It was an age of rapid economic growth in Taiwan, and people were increasingly choosy about decorations for special occasions such as weddings and funerals. Wang’s flower stands, which absorbed elements of Southern Min and Baroque architecture, were very popular. However, in the 1990s, he shifted his focus to designing and making bamboo structures for flower shows.
After 2010, Wang’s business underwent a third transformation, this time returning to its original area of expertise: bamboo furniture. At that time, there was also a rekindled public interest in religious festivals and parades. Drawing on his childhood memories, Wang produced traditional religious contraptions such as ornate drum stands and hexagonal stands for flowers and incense burners, mounted on carrying poles. With more and more people in Taiwan going on pilgrimages, there have also been customers ordering bespoke shoulder carriers to transport their gods and goddesses.
Wang Sheng-nan, who originally trained as a computer engineer, completed his bamboo craft apprenticeship in 2014. Since then, as a young “slashie,” he has been working in IT and as a bamboo artist, helping his father out during holidays, and managing a Facebook page for the family’s century-old shop. He adds a creative touch to the traditional craft he has inherited, developing collectable products such as mini bamboo chairs, which are popular with tourists from Japan and Hong Kong.
If Xin’er is more than 100 years old, how long will its bamboo chairs last? Pointing at a stool in one corner, Wang Jen-hui tells us: “That one has lasted 30 years. It’s a bit wobbly, but otherwise it’s fine. I deliberately haven’t repaired it, just to show it to my customers.” Underlying his words is a craftsman’s confidence, and the enormous potential of bamboo furniture.
From simple stools to pilgrims’ shoulder carriers, bamboo products continue to cast a spell on us in the modern age.
courtesy of Xin’er Bamboo Shop