Keelung Customs alerted the Tzu Chi Temple and requested that an expert be sent to the northern port city to identify the items. The ceramic figures were, however, then identified only as not the Temple's particular lost treasures.
Crown Van Lines, which was shipping the lot on behalf of an overseas Chinese resident of the United States, testified that the eight pieces were the contemporary works of potter Liu Ming-wu, one of the Republic of China's ten top temple-builders, and not antiquities. Liu is a resident of Chian Village, Hualien County, on the island's east coast.
Keelung Customs sent the pieces on to reputed expert appraisers of ancient ceramic pieces for a "disinterested" final verification: The result was a declaration that the eight pieces "are important cultural relics, not made at the present time," in the class of "national treasures," and that they should not be exported.
Riding the "spring ox" —a fantasy of children.
After contacting the prospective buyer in the United States and then inquiring further of local antique dealers, Crown Van Lines was finally able to get in touch with potter Liu Ming-wu, who was not aware that his reputed works had caused a gathering uproar.
Liu, who explained that over the years he had created at least 8,000 ceramics pieces, only tentatively recognized three of the Customs-held items from the fuzzy newspaper photos first shown him. Only after reading the detailed descriptions could he fully confirm that they were all indeed his own works.
To clear up the situation and gain quick release of the pieces for overseas shipment, Liu attested to his authorship in a public declaration at a press conference. And immediately, the case of the evasive "national treasures" became a national media event.
According to the expert antique appraisers, judging from the evident manufacturing skills and glazing techniques, the eight could not be contemporary works: The figures were all molded first as individual parts, then combined with "clay flake or clay nails" -a technique that originated in the Fuchien area of old China and was especially used during the Ching Dynasty to produce likenesses of Kuan Yin (the Goddess of Mercy) and of the Maitreya Buddha. The most representative producer was Fuchien Province's Te Hua Yao (a kiln).
The tonal glazes of the ancient Chiao Chih Tao pottery were richly varied, added the experts, while today's imitations are in yellow, green, and coffee -just three glazes. The eight pieces in question, they noted, also employ three levels of blue and the noted yan chih hung (carmine), the most difficult color to blend. Since the old and complicated color-blending techniques had long been lost, the eight pieces were obviously true Chiao Chih Tao pottery and could not be contemporary works, they concluded.
Liu Ming-wu, thus directly and fundamentally challenged, now brought others of his Chiao Chih Tao-type pottery items to Taipei and made public his previously secret techniques. He said that such newly completed Chiao Chih Tao type pottery pieces are immersed in a plant dye whose main element is hibiscus leaves; when the figures dry out, they sport a moss-like dark green luster. The pieces are now processed in a strong acid solution, applied directly to the bright glazed surface. And within one hour, the corrosive action of the acid produces an effect very similar to that achieved by the ancient masters.
Liu's most effective evidence, simple and unassailable, are the fingerprints he left in the hollow interiors of his figures.
As might be expected, very quickly after Liu's presentation, a second identification session of the expert, appraisers re-identified the eight pieces of "antique Chiao Chih Tao" pottery as contemporary works and put an end to the growing furor in Taipei artistic circles.
When the "Chiao Chih Tao pottery, incident" became a media event, public curiosity was stirred about true Chiao Chih Tao pottery. The new interest was richly justified.
"Chinaware," as the very name indicates, originated in ancient China; and the quality of this "hard porcelain" heavily impressed the outside world. However, the accomplishments of Chinese ceramists in "soft pottery" are also considerable.
Direct, written records of China's "three-color glazed pottery," a type of soft pottery, trace this particular technique back to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) three-color pieces were, in later ages, especially admired, and given their own designation- Tang San Tsai (The Three Colors of Tang) .
Though green, yellow, and brown are the three main glazes for such low temp fired pottery, actually more colors than the three are involved: idiomatically, "three" usually indicates "numerous" in Chinese.
Later three-color pottery production (Sung San Tsai, Liao San Tsai, etc.) came down in a continuous line to the Ming and Ching Dynasties, when, in Kuangtung Province, Chiao Chih Tao pottery (Chiao Chih is a small Kuang tung town) gained special fame.
Left, two of a series of eight musicians; right, one of a series of ten traditional entertainers.
Many skilled temple builders and pottery craftsmen were concentrated at Chiao Chih. And since Taiwan is just across the strait from the Fuchien and Kuangtung areas, island craftsmen were deeply influenced by these mainland artisans. Of course, especially in religious beliefs and temple building, such influence was in detailed, rigorously constrained form.
Taiwan did not have local temple-building masters in its early days, but consigned temple decoration and construction to such imported mainland artisans. The skills for Chiao Chih Tao pottery, popularly used then for decoration of temple roofs, as well as interiors, were thus gradually passed on to Taiwan resident potters.
Very probably, the resultant Taiwan Chiao Chih Tao pottery would never have become so highly evaluated if it were not for the local Chiao Chih Tao potter Yeh Wang, originally, born Yeh Lin-chih in early 19th Century Chiayi, in western Taiwan.
During the reign of Emperor Tao Kuang (1821-1850) of the Ching Dynasty, three skilled master builders were brought over from Kuangtung Province to construct temples in Taiwan. The eldest master—some sources identify him as Liu Kou-shih-on his way to build a Kuangtung-Kuanghsi Guild headquarters in Tainan, reportedly came across the child Yeh Lin-chih, tending sheep and cattle in a field.
The child was molding figurines of field clay and vividly sketching Chinese opera figures on bare ground with reeds. Liu, the story goes, chatted with the child and found him bright and likable. The old master received permission from Yeh's parents to bring the boy back with him to Kuangtung as his apprentice after the temple building work in Tainan was finished.
During his apprenticeship in Kuangtung, Yeh mastered all of Liu's consummate temple building and decoration skills, and even surpassed the master: Declares the old Chinese saying, "Indigo blue is extracted from the indigo plant, but is bluer than the plant from which it comes."
On returning to Taiwan, the adult Yeh immediately became the most sought-after builder for temple construction everywhere in Taiwan. Indeed, south of Chiayi, the vast majority of temple decorations in the categories of landscapes, figures, flowers, and birds are at Yeh's hand. The still-lost Tzu Chih Temple antiques are Chiao Chih Tao pottery pieces made by Yeh Wang.
Because his kilns were simple and small, usually not higher than half a meter, Yeh had to fire bigger pieces in parts. Since the kilns were fueled with charcoal, the temperatures could not be higher than 800°C. or so, and his pottery "hardness" was actually relatively soft.
Yeh did not use molds in making Chiao Chih Tao pottery; his pieces were all hand-made with the aid of a simple bamboo comb. His works, thus, all differed in their charms. Most of all, they are remarkably lifelike, and he is clearly deserving of his honorific title, Wang Shih (Royal Master).
Among the legends concerning his great artistic skills, people take special delight in relating a tale about Yeh's molding of a horse.
It is said that when Yeh Wang was invited to make a horse-god figure for the Chenghuang Temple (Temple of the City God) in Chiayi, there happened to be a horse frolicking in the sandy area in front of the temple. Yeh used the convenient horse as the model for his horse-god.
On the inauguration of the new figure, when the rites were completed, all of a sudden this horse, to everyone's astonishment, charged at the temple and battered itself against the walls until it died. The soul of the horse, it is said, attached itself to the statue and often, itself, appears.
Perhaps it is just a story. However, it does demonstrate how much people admired the god-figures of Yeh Wang.
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Taiwan became a Japanese colony for a half century. During this period, Yeh's works were posthumously sent by the Japanese government authorities to France for exhibition at the Paris World's Fair. They made quite an impact. Yeh's Chiao Chih Tao pottery was praised as demonstrating "Taiwan's consummate artistry."
Among the musicians —a pipa player.
In the out-of-print book Chiayi Chiao Chih Tao, authored by Chang Li Te-he, Yeh Wang is described as having "an arrogant disposition and being of a rather taciturn nature. His most particular eccentricity was to mold figures as his moods came: He would not randomly create works. Yeh would not bend in his artistry to either authority or wealth. A slight criticism would lead him to disdain the employment."
Throughout his life, Yeh was poor. And he never taught a formal apprentice. That is why the once-glorious Taiwan achievements in Chiao Chih Tao pottery were generally assumed to be lost here for more than a century.
Liu Ming-wu, whose traditional works were responsible for the recent "Chiao Chih Tao pottery incident," is himself a man with many stories.
At the age of 14, when he had just completed elementary school, Liu was apprenticed to Lin Wen-hsien, then the top temple-builder in Taiwan, and he learned sculpture from Lin's son, Teng-chuan.
The next nineteen years of his life were involved in temple building; he became thoroughly versed in the eight main skills-temple design, engineering execution, chien nien (a decorating process with colored glass), wood sculpture, oil painting, Buddhist sculpture, stone sculpture, and the composition of Buddhist temple niches.
In 1976, Liu participated in a province-round competition in temple design and was graded as first ranking. Since, he has been considered one of Taiwan's top temple-building masters.
Ever since childhood, Liu had been interested in painting and ceramics. During his temple-building career, he especially polished his skills at clay sculpture. However, he often despaired because he could not achieve such splendid kilned glazes as in the Chiao Chih Tao pottery of Yeh Wang.
By chance, he learned from some antique dealers that the old glaze prescription for Chiao Chih Tao pottery was not really lost, as was generally believed. He received the news with intense excitement.
The glaze materials for Chiao Chih Tao pottery are various and the blending procedure is complicated. During the Ching Dynasty, when the manufacturing techniques for Chiao Chih Tao pottery began to pass to Taiwan from the mainland, the prescribed glaze materials for Chiao Chih Tao pottery were brought over from the Amoy and Fuchou areas.
Almost all Chiao Chih Tao pottery makers after Yeh Wang focused on shaping skills, avoiding problems in making their own glazes, and those who knew the prescriptions for the Chiao Chih Tao pottery glazes became fewer and fewer.
Then, during China's War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-1945), the traffic between Taiwan and mainland China was broken off. And after the reserve supplies of Amoy-Fuchou glazes were used up, the production of Chiao Chih Tao pottery in Taiwan dropped off.
Fortunately for Taiwan potters, before the war broke out, a mainland Chiao Chih Tao pottery glaze expert and merchant, Chang Tzu-chuan, was on a business trip in Taiwan, and when the sea traffic across the Taiwan Strait was interdicted, he was forced to temporarily stay on.
Chang's quarters were close to those of Chiayi temple-builder Lin Tien-mu. They became acquainted, and Chang imparted the secret formulas for Chiao Chih Tao pottery glazes to Lin.
But temple-builder Lin was, stunningly, later converted to Christianity. He gave up his career as a temple-builder and sculptor of traditional religious figures. Thus, the elusive glaze formulas for Chiao Chih Tao pottery began a four-decade hiatus.
Though no longer a temple builder, Lin retained his personal enthusiasm for ceramics. During the ensuing forty years, 'he did further research into the glaze formulas, developing them into three and a half "sets" —the original eight basic colors were expanded to more than 70; now, almost every degree of color could be blended.
But since Lin treated it all as a leisure hobby, outsiders were not aware of his attainments. His best friends knew only that Lin liked to sculpt and fire small ceramic heads of theatrical figures, and then string them together around his waist to make comical ding-dong noises when he moved.
When Liu Ming-wu first asked Lin to teach him the Chiao Chih Tao pottery glaze formulas, Lin politely rejected the request. Four years later, when Liu also converted to Christianity and abandoned his own temple-building career, Lin agreed to teach him the glaze-blending formulas. Later, after Lin had finally imparted the information to Liu, he told Liu that since he himself had abandoned temple-building and converted to Christianity, he felt reluctant to teach others the skills for careers connected to competing religions.
Liu has since dedicated himself to pottery production. The major subjects for his Chiao Chih Tao pottery have been traditional heroes, legendary figures, and various gods and goddesses (mostly, today's market is not for temples though, but for interior decoration).
Traditional figures "are indeed most difficult-beyond the scope of sculpting," said Liu, "since you must thoroughly understand the background for each piece before you begin it." He added, not without a bit of evident self-pride: "Therefore, though I never went on past elementary school, I have become familiar with almost every important Chinese novel. Of course, this should be attributed to the inspiration of a life of 19 years at temple-building. Surely, a truly competent temple designer must be learned in Chinese culture in addition to mastering the various skills. "
At home in Hualien County, he joked about his life being "half secluded," then proceeded to demonstrate his clay-molding skills. In a short 40 minutes, he shaped a foot-high woman general of old in all the separate pieces- boots, feet, shield, belt, scarf, headgear, etc. The living expression and delicacy of the work were breath-taking.
He molded the clay balls thin. The torso and four limbs were hollow within. Then separate pieces were later joined with the same (liquefied) clay. A home-made bamboo stylus was then used to cut-in decorative patterns and such details as eyebrows.
He dries his molded figures outdoors in the shade for about two weeks before the first firing; after the glazes are applied, they are committed to the kiln for a second time ... and his colorful and vivid Chiao Chih Tao pottery pieces are completed.
Liu rejects the term "antique-imitations" in respect to his works. First of all, he has never seen or known exactly how ancient Chiao Chih Tao pottery was made, he said, adding: "Imitation is foreign to my nature. Even with my own works, there are never two exactly alike. At most, some can be described as 'antique-finished' —in the ancient style. But even the finish-glazes are my own formulas."
Liu has expanded the "subject areas" of Chiao Chih Tao pottery. In September this year, the Taiwan Provincial Museum sponsored his fifth exhibition, introducing his new approach, the "School of the Dragon."
"During my military service, I would often think about contemporary directions in Chinese artistic creation. In my opinion, many of our modern arts are too Westernized. Perhaps, now, only Chinese painting and calligraphy should really be referred to as Chinese modern arts. But few artists today can surpass the achievements of the ancients in these areas.
Ready for glazing the tragic beauty Wang Chao-chun.
"How can modern artists create art forms that are both 'Chinese' and 'contemporary'? The introduction of the 'School of the Dragon' is one experiment, a result of long years of meditation." Liu chose "dragon" as the descriptive term since it is a symbol of China and considered, by the Chinese, a most auspicious beast.
Typical of the new Dragon School works is Ode to Chao-chun. Wang Chao-chun, a lady of the court of the Han Emperor Yuan, was presented to the chief of a barbarian Hun tribe in a traditional act of "matrimonial diplomacy."
Emperor Yuan was actually tricked into sending Chao-chun by a court painter, who made an ugly portrait of her to show the Emperor when she refused his demand for a bribe. The Emperor saw her in person only as she set off on her journey, and he was then repentant.
Ode to Chao-chun blends figure-realism with symbolism. A winged horse incorporates the head and torso of Chao-chun. She turns back to look for the last time at Changan, capital of the Han Dynasty; her hands raise the pipa (a plucked string instrument with a fretted fingerboard), afterwards her only "home-companion" in a distant land. Two hills, separated by the Great Wall (beneath the horse's legs), symbolize the two countries. The horse's hooves are divided, a dark omen (because Chao-chun finally died in exile).
Liu remarks that all this is just a starting point. Many are watching closely to see where it will lead.