Taiwan Today

Huang Chun-chieh is a lifetime devotee to the art of woodworking.

On the morning of May 20, Huang Chun-chieh (黃俊傑) was preparing for class when his mobile phone suddenly began lighting up with a barrage of notifications. Checking to see what was causing the onslaught, the professor at the Department of Wood Science and Design at National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) in the southern Taiwan county was greeted by messages from friends and former students congratulating him on his contribution to President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) second term inauguration ceremony taking place at the Presidential Office in Taipei City. As Legislative Speaker Yu Shyi-kun (游錫堃) handed over the seal of state to Tsai, it rested atop a wooden stand expertly crafted by Huang to add an elegant touch to proceedings. His work’s appearance in the high-profile ceremony is the latest in a long list of accolades bestowed upon Huang for his excellence in woodworking. With decades of experience, he was the natural choice for such an honor.

Born in 1957 in southeastern Taiwan’s Taitung County, Huang jump started his career by majoring in furniture making at the local Kung Tung Technical Senior High School. Soon after graduation he rapidly advanced from teaching assistant to full-fledged instructor. As an advocate of vocational education, he played a pivotal role in turning Kung Tung into a stronghold of carpentry training. Students under Huang’s tutelage excelled in annual competitions and certification events organized by the Skill Evaluation Center under the Ministry of Labor’s Workforce Development Agency, making particularly good showings in the furniture, interior decoration and door and window categories of woodworking.

Huang credits his skills to time spent apprenticing under Li Han-ching (李漢卿), a master of architectural painting recognized as a “living national treasure” by what is now the Ministry of Culture (MOC). The apprenticeship is funded as part of an ongoing MOC project aimed at conserving the nation’s artistic heritage. Speaking of the influence his four years with Li had on his work, Huang said he learned to observe the natural environment and use plants, animals and landscapes as a constant source of inspiration.

Subtle Art

In addition to drawing on natural elements, Huang’s woodworking utilizes traditional techniques such as inlay and mortise-and-tenon joints. These have been used for thousands of years to securely interlock pieces of wood without using nails, though today supplemental adhesives are often applied to strengthen the hold. “Originally such methods were used for constructing wooden buildings, but they were later refined and adapted for making furniture,” Huang said. This approach used by ancient Chinese builders matured during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) into a simple yet graceful style prioritizing effective use of wood materials, he added.

According to Huang, the woodworking style developed in China has played a considerable part in shaping furniture design around the world. The art traveled from southern China’s Fujian and Guangdong provinces to Taiwan, where it continued evolving. Under Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945), wooden furniture began incorporating Western elements popular in Japan at the time. As a result, the mortise-and-tenon structural system Huang uses today reflects the rich, multifaceted art culture of Taiwan. “We’ve cultivated a distinctive homegrown style that combines Eastern and Western features while resonating with our own ideas and ingenuity,” Huang said.

With its high-quality, understated designs, Huang’s work is acclaimed in the art world, taking center stage in collections at MOC-administered National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI) in central Taiwan’s Nantou County. Among Huang’s pieces on display is a wooden box titled Eternal Harmony, which has been commended for coupling traditional painting skills with innovative machine-tool techniques. A dressing table called Graceful Being has also been recognized for its classical elegance with a modern touch, receiving first prize in an NTCRI-organized national crafts competition. Artist-critic Hsieh Li-fa (謝里法), who was on the panel of judges, described the table-and-chair set as “sculpting nobility out of an ordinary household item.”

Next Generation

Huang is not content with simply being a master woodworker himself, however. From the very beginning of his career, he has strived to pass the craft down to the youth of Taiwan. In 2004, Huang helped found the Luban Woodwork School at Tainan City’s Furniture Manufacturing Eco Museum, operated by locally-headquartered Yung Shin Furniture Enterprise in southern Taiwan. The move was a major step in efforts to extend woodwork training beyond the vocational school system, which Huang believes often mistakenly classifies the discipline as a subdivision of interior design.

“Wood science involves a lot of elements,” the professor said. “From formulating an idea to creating a product, the woodworking process requires consideration of a wide variety of factors beyond the look of the finished item.” During a recent consulting job, for instance, he found a proposed bicycle design unfeasible because it failed to consider the unique properties of bamboo, iron and wood. Huang noted that this is a common problem among industrial designs drafted by recent university graduates.

Ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials is another major concern in the woodworking industry, Huang said. He accordingly supports the government’s policy to make effective use of homegrown resources. Concerned about Taiwan’s high reliance on imports, the Forestry Bureau under the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture is currently promoting reforestation programs, which Huang believes can protect the ecosystem while helping grow the forest economy. In line with the bureau’s recommendations, Huang chooses to work with locally grown wood and encourages his students to do the same.

As part of Huang’s efforts to guarantee students receive well-rounded instruction, he plays a leading role in a Ministry of Education-sponsored program at NPUST. The initiative directly recruits graduates with carpentry majors from National Feng-shan Senior Commercial and Industrial Vocational School in the nearby city of Kaohsiung, admitting them to NPUST without requiring them to take the college entrance exam. Participating students are taught by Huang from their freshman year of high school all the way through their senior year at NPUST. “Since we know each other so well, our interaction is far more effective than that of a regular teacher-student relationship,” Huang said.

For the professor, this innovative education model offers the perfect environment for following his personal philosophy of integrating wood science into practical training. Throughout his teaching career, Huang has remained devoted to fostering a modern approach to the established tradition of woodworking. Now, he can take pride in having nurtured the next generation of artisans, just as he can take satisfaction in seeing his work bear the highest symbol of state. 

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw