:::Your present position is：home／About Puyan／Well -Known People in Puyan Township
Self-Taught Painter- Chen Li-yan
Chen Li-yan, who lives in Sihu Village and is 68 years old, didn't attend school and didn't know that she could draw well, neither. Several years ago, while taking care of her husband hit by a car, she killed time by drawing something at her will on paper. She turned out to draw something very vivid. Her husband praised her for her work and she since began her picture-drawing career.
Self-taught Chen Li-yan imitated images she could get in the very beginning; later she took an easel with her for painting from nature in the countryside. She was mistaken for buying watercolors for her grandchildren and painted alone in a remote corner due to the fear of being teased when participating in the paint-from-nature contest held in Lung Shan Temple in Lugang.
Being illiterate, she signed her name by drawing a plum and a swallow instead. Later she practiced again and again and eventually could sign her own name. Changhua County Chief Wong Chin-chu visited her in the beginning of the year and encouraged her a lot. She also sent the county chief a drawing titled” Smooth Weather and Safety for the Country as Well as Its People”.
Chen Li-yan expressed she never imagined to have become a painter and had the opportunity to hold exhibitions. She would value the opportunity and keep going.
Hu Chin Master- Chen Shu-jih
Chen Shu-jih, who is a 67-year-old farmer living in Dayou Village, began to learn how to play the Hu Chin himself in his teen age. He also masters in Nanguan and Beiguan music and performed them round the island.
Chen Shu-mu recollects he'd ever seen an old farmer enjoy himself by playing the Hu Chin when he was a little kid. Too poor to purchase a Hu Chin, he finally found an empty can of canned pineapple to replace and practiced how to play the strings for 3 to 4 years.
Later, he was able to purchase a Hu Chin and even, dissatisfied with the sound of the Hu Chins sold in the market, made one out of coconut shell and Lin Tou wood by himself. There are many coconut-shell-or-Lin-Tou-wood-made Hu Chins of different shapes hung on the wall of his house. The quality of Hu Chins made by him are so good that many friends ask to play one of them.
Hu Chin Master- Shih Nan
Shih Nan, who lives in Nansin Village , saw old men playing the Hu Chin since he was a child. Being talented, he learned how to play the Hu Chin by himself. In addition to enjoying himself by playing the Hu Chin, he also, out of his interests, makes Hu Chin himself for sale.
Shih Nan doesn't consider it difficult to play the Hu Chin. He said, so long as you pay more attention watching how others play Hu Chin and consult them whenever you have a question, coupled with practices, you can play it well, too. He doesn't care how well his Hu Chins sell, neither. He just hopes to make friends with more people.
Craftsman- Shun Jiao
Shun Jiao, 82 years old and living in Dayou Village , has been devoting himself to the making of lion-heads for the lion dance for more than 60 years.
Because of his love of martial arts, he has been devoting himself to the making of lion-heads for the lion dance for more than 60 years. He would make the lion-heads so long as there is a need, be it a temple fair or a worshipping. The lion-heads he made would not deform and wound not get rotten when being soaked in the water and could be kept for 30 years to 40 years. There is a 40-year-old lion-head kept in his living room. Besides the lion dance, the lion-heads can act as a way of driving away the evil spirits and get popular in the villages. Shun Jiao expressed the top secret of making a strong lion-head is the stickiness of the paste, which he makes from rice milk. The top secret is too difficult for the outsiders to understand.
To Turn the Useless into Marvels- Chen Jyue
Everything Chen Jyue, living in Chushuei Village, touches, be it a steel filament, a ball of knitting wool , a plastic tube, a paper box, he can turn them into a vivid “animal”. Many villagers couldn't believe it at the very beginning.
Chen Chueh, who is 75 years old, never attended the school. He never learned the skill from anyone neither. Actually, he was a farmer. It all began 20 years ago when his son was discharged from the army and brought back with him a lobster made of plastic tubes and steel filaments. He liked it and tried to make one himself. He turned out to make a piece of wonderful work.
He thus threw himself into creating such little things as butterflies, little birds or such animals in the Chinese zodiac as a dragon or a cock from plastic tubes, steel filaments or balls of knitting wool from then on.
Waste Reuse-Chen Ruei-tang
Chen Ruei-tang, who is 58 years old and lives in Dayou Village , collects PET bottles to make lively peacocks, farming wares and ox carts. It is hard to believe these works are done by a cement worker.
Chen Ruei-tang was a construction site worker since he was young. Two years ago, due to recession, he didn't have much work. Killing time, he tried to make some farming wares out of the waste and throwaway he handpicked. As a result, he successfully made a tilling machine, an ox cart, etc. He also plans to make some farming wares that have long vanished since to pass down to the future generations. His proudest work is “A Peacock Spreading out Its Tail Feathers”, made from plastic, pasting piece by piece.
Craftsman of Bamboo Weaving- Kao Shu-keng
Kao Shu-keng, a resident of His Hu Village, carefully and dexterously cuts and strips bamboos and weaves them into useful baskets.
Kao Shu-keng, who is 60 years old now, learned the craft from his grandfather and father when he was 8 years old. However, he didn't earn a living by this. After several decades, witnessing bamboo goods replaced by plastics, he decided to weave miniaturized bamboo baskets as a collection to let his grandchildren and future generations know the beauty of bamboo weaving.
Jin Cheng Pavilion: Gaojia Opera
Jin Cheng Pavilion of Site Temple , which is situated in Sihu Village , Puyan Township , is where the only one Gaojia Opera Performance in Taiwan exists. It is one of the most precious cultural assets of Taiwan . The most distinguished characteristics of Gaojia Opera is that it combines Nanguan and Beiguan music. Jin Cheng Pavilion used to play Nanguan music. After Taiwan was restored sovereignty from Japanese occupation, Jin Cheng Pavilion was passed down by Chen Lao-bao to his son Chen Chang-jie, who was good at Beiguan music and he thus combined Nanguan and Beiguan music together.
Paper Clay Artist
Chen Yu-ling, who is just twenty-odd years old, has created countless precious paper clay works, held many exhibitions and had many students through her classes in her workshop, schools or the community university.
Chen Yu-ling comes from Fengze Village , Puyan Township . She was much very interested in paper clay when she was a student. Besides learning from her teachers, she also began instructing the beginners how to create paper clay. Graduated from the school, she devoted herself to the promotion of creating paper clay. Not only did she establish a workshop in Changhua City , she also worked as a teacher in many elementary schools as well as a paper clay teacher in Community University in Wen Hsing Senior High School and Taichung Healthcare & Management University .
She ever held a personal exhibition in Changhua Cultural Affairs Bureau and was greatly appraised. Because of Chen Yu-ling's high-standard work, coupled with her enthusiasm in teaching, she was elected one of “Excellent Model for Youth in Changhua County , 2003”. She really deserves it.
