Back in the days when young ladies were encouraged to stay at home and occupy themselves with needlework, they were afforded few opportunities to learn the ways of the world. That is why the parents of one newlywed bride felt it necessary to give her a stone engraving of explicit images as a way of initiating her into the marital arts.
The engraving now belongs to Liu Pang-hsien, the president of Hsinchu County Cultural Relics Association, and is part of an impressive collection that has established him as the best in the business in the eyes of other collectors.
Liu has been collecting such antiques for over 20 years, and has no idea how many he owns, but estimates that the figure stands at over 10,000. The collection, which is on a scale rarely seen in Taiwan, contains items from the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese colonial era, right up to the period of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) one-party rule.
Although he treasures every item, the scale of the collection, maintenance and preservation process is immensely difficult and would be difficult for outsiders to get their head around.
Out of all his items, Liu says the one that made the biggest impression on him is a camphor wood granary from Sinpu Township in Hsinchu County. With a diameter of 150cm, the granary was too big to fit through the door of the old building it was kept in. When the owner passed away, his family had to dismantle the house to get rid of it.
The item that cost Liu the most to acquire is an “eight trigram” bed that belonged to the wealthy Yang family from Cingshui Township in Taichung County.
The family hired two master carpenters from China to make the bed, which took them 15 years to complete. They carved it out of the best quality incense cedar, added a glass mosaic and meticulously made three layers of carving to produce a bed that never fails to amaze collectors.
Liu also owns an ordinary-looking sheaf of bamboo sticks that were commonly found on household altars in agricultural societies. But the sheaf served a dual purpose. Not only was it used to dispense corporal punishment to unruly kids, but it also symbolized to the children the idea that “unity is strength” and that the family unit cannot be easily broken up.
The oldest item in Liu’s collection is a Pingpu tribe ox cart made 300 years ago.
Liu has arranged his artifacts into collections, such as hand bells, needlework, clothing, fire-fighting, traffic, agriculture and old photographs, and each collection is a fascinating journey of surprises and discoveries.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
閨女在家學女紅，沒有機會接觸外界事物，出嫁後全靠父母給她的「壓箱寶」，用石頭雕刻圖文的性愛手扎，學習房事。新竹縣文物協會理事長劉邦賢，收藏琳瑯滿目的日常生活文物，常讓專家們觀後發出驚嘆，直誇他「第一名！」
二十多年來，劉邦賢的收藏物數以萬計，連他自己都難以細數，時間從三百年前清朝、日治時代到國民黨政府，規模之大在國內難得一見。
每一樣文物都是他的寶貝，但收藏、保存與維護的過程，歷經千辛萬苦，外人難以體會。
其中，最令他印象深刻的，是新埔鎮樟樹林的大穀倉。劉邦賢說，這個直徑一百五十公分、一體成型的樟木穀倉，是屋主過世後，家人特地拆掉老屋，才能搬出體積超過家門的穀倉。
最讓劉邦賢費心斥資收購的，是早年台中清水鎮首富楊家的八卦床。他說，楊家請來中國兩名師傅，花了十五年，用肖楠上等木材雕刻打造，鑲嵌的玻璃畫、細緻的三層鏤空雕刻，令收藏家嘖嘖稱奇。
還有古人放在神桌上的「家寶」，看似一根根不起眼的竹條，卻是農業勞動社會，長輩用來教育子孫「團結力量大」，不要輕易分家的象徵。另外，收藏品歷史最久的是三百年前平埔族使用的板木牛車。
劉邦賢儘可能收藏整套相關的文物，如手搖系列、女紅系列、古裝系列、消防系列、交通系列、農耕系列、老照片系列等，每一系列都提供豐富內容的主題展。
（自由時報記者廖雪茹）
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