Calligraphy

At the National Center for Traditional Arts, I stopped in many of the shops where artists and artisans were working on their art. One of the first shops to catch my attention was a shop where ink brushes are made. This shop had at least two artisans in front making brushes by hand. Inside, a calligrapher was demonstration her craft. When you consider that this type f brush has been used for at least 3,000 years along with the belief of Chinese artists to maintain the highest quality workmanship, you know much care and skill goes into their creations. One of the teachers at my school, Pei-Ling (who I will tell you much more about at a later time), told me that it is a recent practice of parents to use the first haircut of their children and have it made into a set of calligraphy brushes, or just a single brush, depending on the amount of hair the baby/toddler is blessed with. These brushes are called fetal or foetal brushes and are treasured by families. Ordinarily, the ink brushes are made from the hair of goats, rabbits or weasels, depending on the purpose of the brush. As you can see, there is quite a variety. These brushes were beautiful to look at and the calligraphy was outstanding. Brushes give the calligrapher much more flexibility than using a pen and ink, but additionally, it takes much more skill and practice to use a brush and ink. I have many regrets that I didn't buy myself a brush or two and some ink and paper... but, it was only several short weeks ago that I was in a mad rush to empty my 14 room house of decades of collecting possessions. Had it not been for four very dear people, I would never have been able to leave the United States in August. I will forever be grateful to those four very important people in my life. Heck, at the very least, I should have bought each of them a set of calligraphy brushes. ;-) Here in Taiwan, I have almost no possessions. I think I can grow to like having the freedom of not owning and worrying about what to do with my belongings should I want to go somewhere new when my stay in Taiwan ends.
Now, on to the sculptor shop a few doors down. What a delight it was to watch the clay work being done here. The man who graciously smiled for the camera worked steadily beside a little girl who was no more than 4 years old. Ordinarily I have no problem photographing children and even though the man here had already given me permission to photograph them, something inside would not allow me to photograph her directly. Perhaps it was because I considered her to be an artist even at that young age and it didn't feel as if her father's permission was quite enough. The sculptures in this show were truly incredible as the tradition was carried down so beautifully. In looking at these sculptures, many were able to transport me back to my perception of ancient days and ancient lives and I was lost in the stories that inspired the creation. Well, either that or my imagination was in high gear that day. ;-) A few of those images are here for you to see. I do not know the stories behind the sculptures as no one was near who could translate them to me.
Next I will show you some puppets from the traditional arts and then I will try to skip to my school and students and let you know my perception of education in Taiwan. After having taught in the United States for around 17 years, Taiwan is a very different look at education.