After leaving behind his life as an underworld boss to care for his ailing father more than 10 years ago, Yu Jung-ching (尤榮慶) is content to pass his days as a wood carver in his hometown of Kaohsiung’s Liouguei District (六龜) and has even obtained a patent from the Ministry of Economic Affairs for his multilayer carving technique.
Yu said he left home after finishing junior-high school, wound up in Taipei with friends and joined a gang.
Yu said his personality and willingness to get his hands dirty won him the favor of one of the gang bosses.
However, this meant he was sent to jail twice: once for battery and causing injury, and once for breaching the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例).
He gained serious street credibility because of his time in prison, so once he was free, he became very involved in gang-related affairs in Taipei, Yu said.
“One night, about 10 years ago, the memory of my aging and ailing father suddenly overwhelmed me,” he said, adding that in that instant he decided to return home.
He gave up everything in Taipei, but upon returning home he found it hard to find work, as he had not cultivated any skills, Yu said.
“I certainly did not want to survive off the money I brought back from Taipei,” Yu said, adding that after some thought, he submitted an application to the local Forestry Bureau to remove driftwood along the Laonong River (荖濃溪).
That was the start of his driftwood lumber trade, and he continued to clear driftwood for about five to six years, he said.
One day Yu was absentmindedly toying with a piece of driftwood and began carving into it using a box cutter, he said.
“It was my first wood carving, and I have been carving ever since,” Yu said.
He developed his multilayer carving technique because he wanted his carving to stand out from others on the market, Yu said, adding that those who collect his carvings have said they remind them of classical works.
“I am proud to say that my carvings are one of a kind in Taiwan and cannot be duplicated,” Yu said.
When asked if he misses being a gang boss, Yu said some gang members visited him two years ago after his father had passed away and tried to talk him into returning.
Yu said he was sorely tempted.
“My adopted sister and friends talked me out of it, and those days — the violence, the bars — are history,” he said.
Obtaining the ministry patent was very encouraging, Yu said, adding that he wants nothing more than to continue his days as a wood carver.
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