This is a tourist attraction that I have passed too many times to remember, but only visited recently. I was pleasantly surprised by what greeted me inside, but a more accurate description would be that I was shocked it doesn’t receive the attention it truly deserves.
Shueili Snake Kiln Ceramics Cultural Park (水里蛇窯陶藝文化園區) in Nantou County’s Shueili Township (水里) was built in 1927 and is the oldest wood-fired kiln in Taiwan. Founded in 1927 by master potter Lin Chiang-sung (林江松) it remained a family business for generations before being opened to the public as a ceramics park in 1993. The 30-meter elongated kiln bears a resemblance to a snake, hence its name.
There were two reasons for founding a kiln in this location. First, in the early 20th century Shueili was home to a thriving timber industry providing an ample supply of wood to fire the kiln. Second, the local clay is ideal for pottery.
Photo courtesy of Mark Roche
After passing through the gateway the first thing that caught my eye was the three-story main building. It was like stepping into the Japanese colonial past. Ceramic jars line the outer walls of the wooden structure carved and assembled by artisans of a bygone era. Even more impressive is the fact that the whole complex had to be reconstructed from scratch.
RISING FROM THE RUBBLE
In 1999, the original kiln was completely destroyed by the catastrophic 921 Earthquake. The next year, it was fully restored and opened to the public. To celebrate its rebirth, potters created a 6.6-meter vase –—The Millenium Twin-lips Vase — certified as the tallest kiln work in the world by Guinness World Records.
Photo courtesy of Mark Roche
Shueili Snake Kiln also successfully transformed itself into a cultural park, where the family-friendly, educational and interactive pottery classes allow visitors to experience traditional clay making.
LOST IN THE LABYRINTH
I stood inside the 30-meter Snake Kiln in awe of the effort required to stack and fire its contents. Watching artisans transform a lump of clay into objects of beauty gave me extra appreciation when wandering through the gallery spaces, where traditional forms and contemporary designs contrast with more playful work.
Photo courtesy of Mark Roche
Walking around the cultural park is a sheer joy. A maze of rooms, one leading into the other includes the Snake Kiln Museum, a multi-media room, an exhibition hall and a boutique shop to name a few. If you can find it without getting lost there is also a wonderful coffee shop on one of the upper floors.
I would advise the visitor to allow a few hours to cover all the areas inside. It would be a mistake to rush it if for no other reason than to just sit in the garden area and soak in the atmosphere of this temple dedicated to the art of ceramics.
Photo courtesy of Mark Roche
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
Last week the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that the budget cuts voted for by the China-aligned parties in the legislature, are intended to force the DPP to hike electricity rates. The public would then blame it for the rate hike. It’s fairly clear that the first part of that is correct. Slashing the budget of state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) is a move intended to cause discontent with the DPP when electricity rates go up. Taipower’s debt, NT$422.9 billion (US$12.78 billion), is one of the numerous permanent crises created by the nation’s construction-industrial state and the developmentalist mentality it
Experts say that the devastating earthquake in Myanmar on Friday was likely the strongest to hit the country in decades, with disaster modeling suggesting thousands could be dead. Automatic assessments from the US Geological Survey (USGS) said the shallow 7.7-magnitude quake northwest of the central Myanmar city of Sagaing triggered a red alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread,” it said, locating the epicentre near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay, home to more than a million people. Myanmar’s ruling junta said on Saturday morning that the number killed had
RSS