The Ministry of Culture (MOC) held an award ceremony at the National Taiwan Museum (NTM) on Nov. 24 to honor three cultural heritage preservers. Culture Minister Shih Che presented the awards to Lee Ching-hai (李清海), Su Ching-liang (蘇清良), and Hsu Ming-he (徐明河), recognizing their contribution towards the preservation of cultural heritage.
Starting in 2010, MOC has been documenting important cultural heritage preservation techniques and their preservers, also known as “living national treasures,” in accordance with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act. As of now, they have recorded 10 techniques and 16 preservers. Notably, Lee, Su, and Hsu were recognized in 2022.
Lee accepted the award himself, while Su’s grandson, Su Chien-ming (蘇建銘), and Hsu’s son, Hsu Chao-lin (徐朝琳), received the awards on behalf of their family members who passed away earlier this year.
As a preserver of the technique of stucco and plasterwork, Lee is a master in making traditional roof ridges and has made significant contributions to the maintenance of the traditional buildings in Kinmen.
Also an expert in plasterwork, Su has participated in several restoration projects of national monuments, including Taipei Guest House (臺北賓館), Hsinchu Municipal Government Hall (新竹州廳), and Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan Transportation Administration Railway Department (臺灣總督府交通局鐵道部).
Hsu is a preserver of the "Jiannian (trencadís)" and clay sculpture techniques. He dedicated his life to honing his skills and later worked on educating and training the younger generation of craft workers.
In the ceremony, Minister Shih said that the preservation of cultural heritage is a race against time and that these national treasures’ brilliance and spirit will keep on living in their legacy and through their successors.
An exhibition displaying the works of these three living national treasures is also being held at the Cultural Heritage Park in Taichung, running now until Feb. 29, 2024. For more information, please visit the Bureau of Cultural Heritage (BOCH)’s website and Facebook page.