The sun never sets for the wickerwork master

Yongxing Village, Jian Township, Hualian was formerly known as Caofenchang. In 1930 a group of Hakka immigrants, headed by Luo Jing-run, moved into the area from Sanwan Village in Miaoli and although their numbers were few, however they succeeded in bringing back many old Hakka traditions like chicken racing, weaving stools and regularly visiting the Tu-di Gong (Earth God Temple) to offer tea and incense to the gods.  In those days, Tu-di Gong was little more than a few rocks piled up, and it wasn’t until rebuilding in 1958 and 1975 did it take on its appearance of today. In order to ensure that incense was always burning at the temple the residents made ‘god cards’ so as households could take turns offering tea and burn incense. After the evening offerings the person would give the card to the next household – the custom has continued non-stop for the last 70 years.  The 73 year-old elderly gentleman we interviewed was originally from Shiyun Village in Guanxi Township, Hsinchu. He was mainly responsible for looking after the oxen when he was a boy. One day however he spotted a poorly designed chicken house and nest belonging to the boss’s wife, where the chicken eggs would either fall or not be concentrated together. He decided to try and come up with a solution for the problem and tried using dried cereal grass to weave a nest. The rate of chicks hatching went up rapidly as a result, and after the incident he decided to use the same material to weave grass stools and sandals to name but a few. This is where the ingenious grass stool you see today comes from. 

The sun never sets for the wickerwork master (by CJ tzuchicom)

URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/74212

URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/74284

(以下是中文對照)

日不落竹編達人(慈大傳播站)

花蓮縣吉安鄉永興村9鄰，昔日稱為草分長屋仔，有一群以羅經潤為首，在1930年代，從苗栗三灣移民而來的客家人，雖然人數不算多，卻承續著許多客家傳 統，比如閹雞比賽、手工編織禾桿凳，以及輪流到伯公廟奉茶上香的習慣。伯公廟初建時，只是由4塊石頭堆砌而成，後來歷經民國47、64年的改建，才成為今 日所見的模樣。為了讓香火不斷，居民還做了一塊神牌，由住戶輪流早晚奉茶上香，晚上之後，再將神牌交給下一戶，如此輪流上香的習慣，已承續了70多年，至 今未曾停歇。受訪的老先生現年七十三歲，祖籍新竹縣關西鎮石勻村。他從童年為主人掌牛，看到頭家娘雞寮孵雞蛋巢不理想，時常雞蛋掉下或不集中，孵不出雞 蛋，他動腦筋試著用禾桿編製成雞巢，結果孵小雞成功率提高了。而後也利用早期割禾後再來禾桿發展編成草凳、草鞋…等等，成了今日禾桿凳的緣起。

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