When muralists Tsai Lung-chin (蔡龍進) and his son Tsai Chin-yi (蔡謹屹) answered a call to restore the murals of Syuntian Temple, they did not expect to find murals by Pan Chun-yuan (潘春源), an artist born in the 19th century.
The temple in Puzi City (朴子), Chiayi County, was rebuilt twice, in 1934 and in 1976.
Before he received a reference photograph of the old temple, Tsai Lung-chin, who studied under Pan Chun-yuan’s son Pan Li-shui (潘麗水), said he had no idea the elder Pan had painted the murals on the temple doors.
In the fading photograph, Pan Chun-yuan and the temple’s managers are shown in front of the temple and the murals adorning its portals.
Few works by Pan Chun-yuan have survived the years and it is an exceptional honor to see a photograph of his master’s father and touch up his work, Tsai Lung-chin said.
The elder Pan used his signature technique to create an optical illusion in which the eyes of painted gods seem to follow the viewer, Tsai Lung-chin said, adding that he and his son would recreate the effect.
Pan Chun-yuan, born into of a family of painters in 1891, created many paintings featured in the colonial government-sponsored Taiwan Art Exhibition, while his son Pan Li-shui has received the National Crafts Award from the Ministry of Education.
The door god murals of the elder and younger Pan are treasures of Taiwanese religious art, Puzi Rixin Cultural Foundation president Chen Chun-che (陳俊哲) said.
For much of the 20th century, there was no awareness that historic artwork should be preserved and temple managers often knocked down temples to be rebuilt, resulting in the loss of nearly all of the murals created by the Pans, Chen said.
“Probably fewer than five temples” house original murals created by the Pans, he said, adding that he and Tsai Lung-chin verified that the Syuntian Temple houses one of them.
Tsai Lung-chin, 71, said he learned his craft from age 13 under the tutelage of Pan Li-shui.
Until the restoration project, he had only seen Pan Li-shui’s ink paintings and he never imagined that he would be restoring the work of Pan Chun-yuan, he said.
Tsai Chin-yi said it has been a profoundly moving experience to see a photograph of Pan Chun-yuan and his work.
Syuntian Temple head Huang Ching-ju (黃慶如) said he was prompted by divination to ask Tsai Lung-chin, who was working on a separate project in Chiayi County’s Dongshih Township (東石), to help restore the murals.
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