Taipei, Dec. 22 (CNA) The Ministry of Culture (MOC) honored three men who have dedicated their lives to the conservation of traditional culture as "national living treasures" Thursday, in recognition of their efforts to preserve Taiwan's cultural heritage.
The MOC awarded Hsu Ming-he (徐明河) the title for preserving exquisite traditional claywork techniques, while Li Ching-hai (李清海) and Su Ching-liang (蘇清良) were recognized for their excellence at preserving traditional Han and foreign style building techniques, the MOC said in a press statement.
Clayworking is a unique decorative art form used on many traditional buildings in Taiwan. It involves the complex process of making figurines, animals and flowers to decorate the interior and exterior of temples or traditional structures, the statement explained.
Growing up in Taoyuan, Hsu worked with manual techniques and traditional materials since he started restoring national monuments in 1998, the MOC added.
The building engineering techniques used by Li and Su involve two distinct systems: the traditional Han building system which includes laying foundations, building walls and making statues, and foreign modern building techniques (mainly Japanese and Western), which are essential to preserving and restoring historic sites and monuments.
Li, who was born in Kinmen, learned his craft in Tong'an in China's Fujian Province, the MOC said. He is an expert at building walls and paving bricks and has made a major contribution to the preservation of traditional buildings in his hometown.
Kaohsiung-born Su is an expert at restoring traditional buildings such as bamboo houses and temples but also specializes in using foreign building preservation techniques and is able to adjust his tools and techniques to different situations, the MOC added.
The title of "national living treasure" was first awarded by the MOC in 2010 based on the provisions of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act. As of December 2022, it has honored 10 national important cultural heritage conservation techniques and 16 cultural conservationists, the statement said.
