Not just a jigsaw puzzle
In the end Wanfukung Temple was reassembled from some 2000 pieces, of which 60% were newly made. The first step in the process was to calculate the dimensions of the missing parts on the basis of the surviving fragments. Then full-size mock-ups were made from plywood and reassembly attempted. Only when this trial assembly was successfully completed did the craftsmen carve the replacement pieces from good timber and carry out the final reassembly.
Chen Yi-tsung felt that the most difficult part was judging the length, breadth and thickness of the nearly 1000 newly made pieces. Any errors in calculating these dimensions would not only mean that they would not fit together with the original parts, but would also create a difference in the roof inclinations of the front halls and the main hall so that they would not join correctly either. And any mistakes in the trial assembly not only meant that the elements had to be manhandled apart and back together again using only simple trolleys (there was no room inside the hall to set up a crane), but also jeopardized the deadline for finishing the job, in which every minute counted. "Every night I would dream I saw those lumps of carved wood flying about in the air looking for their right places," says Chen Yi-tsung, describing the pressure he was under.
During the assembly process there was one phoenix-shaped toukung support which the craftsmen looked at for a long time but could still not figure out where it belonged. According to traditional architectural custom, such supports are always oriented front-to-back through the building, but exceptionally this one was oriented across the width of building. "If Yi-tsung hadn't known so much more than everybody else, we would never have figured it out," says Wang Chiu-piao. Relying on his wealth of knowledge of traditional architecture, and by examining the mortises and tenons by which the components were fitted together, the dust deposits on them and the shade to which they had been blackened by incense smoke, Chen Yi-tsung completed the reassembly of Wanfukung Temple from old and new parts on time within four months.
But Chen Yi-tsung says with some regret that there are two imperfections in the reconstruction of Wanfukung Temple. Firstly, there is an almost 10-centimeter mismatch in height between the innermost main hall, where people prayed, and the hall in front of it which housed an incense burner dedicated to the ruler of heaven. And secondly, because there was not time to season the wood for a long period, with the changes in humidity caused by the museum's air conditioning being turned on by day and off at night, the beams and columns are already starting to split. "If only we'd had a bit more time," says Chen Yi-tsung sadly.
A way of collecting without destroying
In over a decade of involvement with traditional architecture, Chen Yi-tsung has never lost his love of the detail and carved motifs of traditional buildings, but he has not amassed a houseful of antiques. "I don't collect things, I collect images," says Chen Yi-tsung. The reason is that collecting the items themselves indirectly leads to their destruction, by encouraging antique dealers to get hold of them by fair means or foul. In the past, when people went into traditional homes to take photographs, the owners would welcome them with open arms. But today most are none too willing to let strangers visit, for once word gets out, they may soon find themselves the victims of burglars who not only steal small pieces of the structure, but carry away whole doors or even their ancestors' spirit tablets. Owners have little choice but to surround the finer decorations with iron bars and gratings, or to refuse visitors altogether. This is the reason why in the three notebooks illustrated with sketches of traditional architectural motifs which Chen Yi-tsung has compiled and published, he does not indicate the source of every design.
In his collection of images, window lattices form the largest group, numbering over a thousand. In traditional architecture, window lattices serve to divide space and soften light, but what is most captivating about them is the variety and content of the motifs they incorporate. The traditional designs which decorate homes use homophony, symbolism and allusion to auspicious words. Common examples are bottle gourds, coins, swastikas and crisscross patterns, which can all be combined, broken down or reshaped. Through repetition, the basic motifs can be assembled into different, larger images. Just the swastika, which symbolizes eternal good fortune, can be combined in different ways to produce some 60 different patterns!
As well as variations on single patterns, different motifs can be combined together too. For instance, in a "four segments and bottle gourd" window lattice, the four segments of a persimmon together form a juyi scepter pattern, and on top of this is added a shape which turns the whole into a bottle gourd. The composite image can be read: "Four persimmons, juyi, bottle gourd, both complete," which by assonance means, "Everything as you would desire, happiness and wealth in equal abundance."
These richly decorated window lattices are all assembled with mortises and tenons. On the one hand this saves material, and on the other hand if the whole lattice were carved from a single piece of wood it would warp more easily. The mortised strips of wood are also much more flexible and much stronger.
In more than ten years of involvement with traditional architecture, Chen Yi-tsung has realized the rich creativity of folk art, and the sense of beauty and prayer which it brings to every aspect of daily life. This has prompted him to bring together good friends from various fields, and open up his chests and cabinets full of information and photographs, in the hope of turning these images from something which could only be looked at and studied, into things that can be used in people's everyday lives.
Coming from life, returning to life
Since October last year, Chen Yi-tsung has been rushing around like a delivery boy, taking materials to the studios of each member of the group, and collecting their products. Although these members' ages average only 35 years, most have 10 to 20 years' experience in their respective fields. Huang Sheng-chung, a sculptor from Yuanli in Miaoli County, has been carving wood for 22 years, and Yang Cheng-yung, a potter from Pali in Taipei County, has been working in ceramics for 15. Their aim is not to produce pieces that will be venerated as great works of art, but merely to act as a catalyst to spur on others with similar ideas--especially companies capable of mass production--for only this will achieve their goal of bringing traditional designs into everyday life.
For after all, traditional images were originally inseparable from daily life, whether they appear on the roofs of houses, in windows, on the cups, bowls, tables and chairs we use or even on the food we eat or the clothes we wear: a button knotted in a criss-cross pattern symbolizes a long life, wealth and rank, while the curve of a garment's shoulder is the perfect place to embroider a bottle gourd or applique a butterfly (symbolizing good luck).
"If we take those old artefacts home, they may not be usable or convenient, but our hopes in life are no different from those of people in days gone by," says group member Yang Cheng-yung. And what makes folk art so accessible is its origins in everyday life.
The late painter Hsi Te-chin, who was also a student of traditional architecture, once said: "It was China's traditional architecture which gave me a clear insight into the soul of the Chinese." What easier way could there be of appreciating our own culture than by communing with our ancestors' souls when putting on a piece of clothing or drinking a cup of tea?
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In his home, his clothes and the things he uses, Chen Yi-tsung's life is full of designs drawn from traditional architecture.
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Fingered citron--sounds like "happiness and longevity"
Bottle gourd--sounds like "happiness and wealth"
Pomegranate--many sons and grandsons, prosperous descendants
Peach--longevity
Happiness and wealth in equal measure
Prosperous descendants
(courtesy of Chen Yi-tsung)
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Wanfukung Temple has been reassembled and set up as a hanging display in Taichung's National Museum of Natural Science. The inappropriate way the temple was demolished made the reassembly a difficult job, and completing it was the most important challenge in Chen Yi-tsung's life. (photos by Chen Yi-tsung)
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Auspicious motifs used in traditional buildings' window lattices: a persimmon pattern, a swastika pattern and a coin-and-bottle-gourd pattern. (photos by Chen Yi-tsung)
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A greetings card design composed from a folk print and a swastika pattern from a window lattice.
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In answer to Chen Yi-tsung's call, professionals from a wide variety of fields have come together to design and make objects which bring traditional motifs into daily life.