For people who were born after the 1970s in Taiwan, their elders’ lifestyle and entertainment habits such as watching luan tan xi (one of the six traditional Taiwanese opera genres) or a performance of Nanguan music on a regular basis, hardly ring a bell and are difficult for them to relate to. Those born in the 1990s may never watch a Taiwanese opera performance, and regard traditional folk arts as the remnants of an ancient past.

This cultural disconnection felt by the younger generation is not a random outcome. Taiwan-born opera (ge zi xi) gained its popularity during the early Japanese colonial years, but the Japanese suppression of Taiwanese cultural activities prevented it from prospering. Traditional arts including gao jia xi, luan tan xi, Hakka Tea-picking operas, kui lei xi, regained momentum and were at its peak of popularity from 1950 to early 1960s. Professional Taiwanese opera troupes toured and staged performances across the island, with Beiguan and Nanguan music dominating the cultural scene.

But the local customs and arts born out of the agrarian age have suffered a gradual decline due to rapid social and economic changes since the 1960s, the rise of entertainment media greatly influencing audience acceptance of folk artists and their hand-made craftsmanship.

To preserve and pass on the technique and art inherited from our ancestors, the government began pushing for the establishment of an art center for local arts in the 1990s. After six years of preparation, The National Center for Traditional Arts officially opened to the public in 2002.

Potpourri of local arts

Located in Yilan’s Tungshan River Scenic Area in northeastern Taiwan, the Center covers an area of 24 hectares above the beautiful Tungshan River and Chinghsiu Park. The Center is said to be a potpourri that gathers Taiwan’s diverse cultural activities into one single complex. Whether you are a first-time visitor to the island or want to know more about Taiwan’s folk arts, drama, crafts, and customs, a day at the Center is guaranteed to be a fruitful trip.

The Graduate Institute of Building and Planning of the National Taiwan University was commissioned by the Council of Cultural Affairs to be responsible for the overall planning of the Center. The central design concept was to present the Center as a true living community that provides an in-depth look into folk arts and local culture, instead of making the Center an amusement park with sheer entertainment.

Architects including Chien Hsueh-yi, Chen Sen-teng, Tsai Yuan-liang, and Huang Sheng-yuan, applied modern design concepts tinged with Taiwan’s traditional architectural features, such as double sloped roofs, red bricks, aggregates, and pebbles. Large amounts of turf, trees, shrubs, and trails were used to set a natural ecological environment.

Following the traditional lifestyle where towns and villages would flourish along a river, the compound of the art center is separated by an inland waterway, with three main streets (the Waterfront Boulevard, the Folk Art Boulevard, and the Education Boulevard). The Wenchang Temple, the Guanghsiao Shrine, a stage, a theatre hall, a concert hall, a food court, an administration center, and a library, take up the space on the right side.

On the left side visitors will see Scholar Huang’s Residence, a plaza for outdoor performances, and a bridge connecting to the Forte Dong-Shan Villa.

Grab a tour guide first

The most important thing to bear in mind when entering the Center is to talk to the tour guides who are well equipped with professional knowledge about each of the Center’s different buildings.

Wenchang Temple: God of Wisdom
At the first government-built temple, the Wenchang Temple, senior tour guides would tell you always to enter a Taiwanese temple by the right door and using the left door for exit to gain good luck. The right door symbolizes a dragon, while the left door a tiger. The middle door is never opened except when the country’s president visits.

Temples in the past were a major venue for artists to display their creativity and for community bonding. The two door gods painted by artists Pan Li-shui and Pan Yueh-hsiung for the temple are most noted for their “omnipresent eyes.” Visitors looking at the gods from any direction would feel as if the gods were staring at them and monitoring their every move.

The Wenchang is the Taoist God of Wisdom, Literature, Books and Writing. He started out as a mortal by the name of Zhang Ya Zi, a Zhou Dynasty sage who could predict the future and perform great transformations. He is also a God of Education and Learning, who helps students and blesses schools. It is said that it is easy to get on his good side: all you need to do is love books.

Besides the Wenchang God, the temple also features five other gods, including those of traditional drama and craftsmanship.

Facing the entrance to the temple stands a traditional theatre stage with exquisite carvings and paintings on its pillars. The stage has double eaves and four-sloped roof with a green basalt base. Below, the wooden balustrades are separated by eight wooden pillars; on the four corners are 12 octagonal flower baskets. The roof is supported by seven frames and four major columns; in the background stands a screen with decorative carvings.
There is a drawing of “Tatung bao bao” on the pillar, which, according to the center’s tour guide Nancy Lee, was painted to record a slice of Taiwan’s history. The Tatung bao bao is a famous mascot of local Tatung Company.

If Kids Theatre, the Center’s resident artist group this year, gives lively Taiwanese opera performances from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily enabling audiences to immerse themselves in the story lines like never before.

Taiwanese opera is performed in the vernacular, a style that spread not only throughout Taiwan, but also to Fujian province and other Chinese areas in Southeast Asia. In its heyday, Taiwanese opera was performed on indoor and outdoor stages, over the radio, in movies, and on television. It was an important part of temple festivals, special celebrations, and even the daily lives of ordinary people. Indoor performances began around 1925.

Meet the resident artists

On Waterfront Boulevard, visitors can see the different architectural styles that are mostly known in Taiwan and Kinmen, while on Folk Art Boulevard, one can gain first hand information on more than 30 local folk crafts, get to talk with the folk artists, and see them demonstrate their skills.

Sugar onion, one of the fashionable snacks that is said to have originated from the Japanese occupation period, is a not-to-be-missed snack on Folk Art Boulevard. Sugar onion tastes nothing like green onion, but its thin and white texture explains its name.

Craftsmen would first add the main ingredient white sugar into water, and bring the sugar syrup to a boil, then let it cool for a short while. The craftsmen would begin pulling the sugar syrup for as long as possible. The pulling would eventually make the sugar thin and crispy. The sugar onion stand on the boulevard is a family-run business that has been passed on to the third generation.

Other must-see crafts include wood-carving, weaving, dough figurine, whipping top, and Chinese calligraphy. Another highly recommended visit is to artist Chen Hui-mei’s shop which features a rarely-seen art of “the blessing flower,” or “Tshun-a-hue.” The flower is also known as “thread” or “wrapping” flowers, names that refer to the way they are made. Silk or rayon threads are used to give them glitter, and the skill is seen in wrapping the thread to form the flower. The flower used to be an essential hair decoration for every bride during the early agricultural age of Taiwan. The blessing flower made by Chen is so tiny that one has to use a magnifying glass to appreciate her delicate handiwork.

Buildings from the past

Families in the traditional society built family temples in their homes to honor their ancestors and local deities. The Kuanghsiao Hall is a traditional building with 80 years of history. The building used to be located on Sheng-Ho Street, Yilan City; it was disassembled and pieced back in the Center. The ceramic tiles used at the Hall in the shapes of squares, farms, and turtles symbolize integrity, prosperity, and long life, respectively.

The 120-year-old house of Scholar Huang where Yilan’s first scholar Huang Tsuan-hsu once lived, was worth the visit. The architectural patterns visible in Taiwan today owe their inception to influences from southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong provinces. The scholar’s house kept the original san-ho-yuan pattern, or the three winged pattern that symbolizes a father sitting in the middle and holding out his arms to protect his family.

For daily performance schedule at the NCTA, visit http://www.ncfta.gov.tw/ncfta_eh/main/index.aspx