Chinese Name: 林國隆
Born: 1958
Place of Birth: Nantou County (Central Taiwan)
Did You Know?
Traditional snake kilns are difficult to maintain. For centuries before World War II, Taiwan was home to over a hundred snake kilns, but today, only three of them are still intact and operational. Lin Kuo-lung's family owns one of these kilns, located in Shuili Township (水里鄉) of Nantou County, which was built in 1927 and is the oldest functioning snake kiln in existence.
Lin Kuo-lung, a ceramic artist, was born in Shuili Township, Nantou County, where his family has been involved in pottery making since his grandfather's generation. His father continued the family business and moved to Shuili Township in 1927 because of its proximity to the Central Mountain Range, which made it a convenient location for wood distribution due to the presence of a railway. Additionally, the area had high-quality clay deposits, making it suitable for pottery production. Thus, Lin Kuo-lung's father built the snake kiln, which has been producing pottery ever since. With abundant resources and fuel, Shuili became a paradise for kiln firing and has a history of nearly a hundred years.
The technique of snake kiln firing originated from Fuzhou, China. The Shuili snake kiln is the oldest and most traditional wood-fired kiln in Taiwan, with a kiln structure made of clay bricks that follows the slope of the hill, resembling a snake and stretching over 30 meters. It uses firewood as fuel, and when the ash falls on the pottery, it creates rich color variations and a rustic texture that cannot be replicated by modern kilns.
When Lin Kuo-lung, the third-generation owner of the Shuili snake kiln, took over the business from his father, the pottery industry was declining, and the kiln was on the verge of being phased out as a sunset industry. However, his father still hoped that he would preserve the snake kiln, continue the family legacy, and preserve the snake kiln culture. Therefore, Lin, who originally studied Marine Engineering in high school, transferred to the only ceramic science program in Taiwan at that time.
In 1983, Lin Kuo-lung returned to his hometown to promote ceramic culture and started developing new products using innovative ceramic techniques. He pondered on ways to transform and survive, believing that besides connecting with people's daily lives, it was essential to create a platform for teaching ceramic techniques. Thus, in 1993, he repositioned his family kiln as the Shuili Snake Kiln Ceramic Cultural Park and continued his efforts towards cultural preservation, tourism, and community development. The park attracted a constant flow of tourists, becoming a popular destination during the tourism boom.
However, his father initially disagreed, questioning how they would survive by sharing their techniques with others. But Lin believed if more people knew about the snake kiln, it would build support. He transformed the business through leisure tourism, turning from manufacturing to the service industry, giving the Shuili snake kiln a combination of historicity and cultural competitiveness.
Although the successful transformation of traditional culture allowed the preservation of cultural assets, six years after the official opening, the park suffered a severe blow from the Jiji earthquake of September 1999. All four buildings in the park were destroyed, many ceramic artworks were damaged, and the precious main body of the snake kiln was completely destroyed, bringing everything back to square one. The media extensively reported on this, causing Lin Kuo-lung to feel disheartened. However, he turned the crisis into an opportunity and efficiently rebuilt the park in just 50 days, reopening it on November 12, the anniversary of the Shuili snake kiln.
In 2008, the Shuili snake kiln was officially approved by the UNESCO International Advisory Committee and established a sister exchange relationship with the Jeonju Hanji Culture Village in South Korea in June of the same year. This was the first official technical and academic cooperation between a private ceramic cultural park in Taiwan and an official ceramic cultural park abroad. The cultural diplomacy achievements of the Shuili snake kiln did not happen overnight. The promotion and educational activities of the snake kiln had a history of over 25 years, including several international and domestic ceramic symposiums, making it a precious teaching material for preserving Taiwanese ceramic culture. Lin Kuo-lung also rooted himself in academia, teaching at various universities and institutes, fostering collaboration between industry and academia.
Due to his expertise in designing, constructing, and repairing traditional snake kilns, as well as his knowledge and skills in preserving this technique, Lin Kuo-lung was registered as a traditional snake kiln restoration technician by the Nantou County Government in 2020.