Holy palanquins were gradually evolved from the bridal palanquins.

Holy palanquins were grouped into, wen palanquins, and wu palanquins. The “wen” officials ride on the wen palanquins while the “wu” officials ride the wu palanquins.

In the past the holy palanquins were smaller and one can hold it with both hands. However, as the economy got better the holy palanquins were made bigger, and more detailed. In fact the roof of the palanquins has grown from a single storage to two or three storages tall.

When my grandfather was young he did holy shrine and ancestral shrine carvings. After the retrocession of Taiwan, my father started making holy palanquins. In the beginning, holy palanquins were called “fo jiao”. During the 70’s of the republic, the lottery mania period, many started to pray to gods for lucky lottery numbers and holy palanquins were needed for worshiping ceremonies and redeeming vows. This created a large demand for holy palanquins. In fact it was at this time that people started calling “fo jiao” the holy palanquin.

I started taking part in the making of holy palanquins with my family while I was still studying in elementary school. It didn’t take long for me to master the craft. It wasn’t until I’ve had some experience and the less skillful apprentice asked me to teach them had I realized that I’ve already know the craft.

When I see our customers nodding their heads approving the holy palanquins we made, my heart is filled with great joy and happiness.

In the past the holy palanquins were all handmade. However, the holy palanquins nowadays are made by machine. Nevertheless, It takes one month to complete a simple holy palanquin and takes over 6 months to make a more complicated one.

Yes!  There were customers who would ask to use different parts of the same batch of wood to make a palanquin. Sometimes there may be a shortage of timber and other times there may be a shortage of time. If the customer finds the work truly unacceptable, we would have to arrange a different time and make a new palanquin all over again!

In the past auspicious objects such as qilins, dragons, and phoenixes were used. Nowadays, the deeds of Matzu, the deeds of Guan Gong of the three kingdom era, and stories of the ba xian are used in the carvings.

We buy them from timber merchants.

There aren’t really any restrictions to holy palanquin making. There are only palanquin riding restrictions. Women are prohibited from riding a palanquin during their menstrual period, and within one month after giving birth. Women are also not allowed to carry palanquins.

Ask what the customer wanted and then draw it out.

Holy palanquin making does not pose any injury. However, passing down the craft to the next generation is a real problem. We still hope that our next generation would carry down the business, since we’ve devoted our heart and soul into it.

It will have to depend on the child’s willingness and interest. Financial pressure is also an important element. My child is now in university He has his own thoughts. Nowadays young people don’t like to do hard labor. Therefore, the craft of holy palanquin is dying off.

The main reason that less and less people want to learn the craft is that it’s really hard work. You need a lot of patience. It’s an arduous and thankless job. Nowadays we buy the timber and send it to mainland china for the masters there to carve. This would reduce manpower cost. There isn’t really any innovation in holy palanquin making. It’s just that when we see photos of holy palanquins made in the past we realize that they were really ugly. The palanquins made now are more and more exquisite.

Ha! Ha! I didn’t exactly say that I would be carrying forward the craft! All I can do is do my very best and make it beautiful. The people at the temple would complement it and I can also admire it. It would give me a great sense of accomplishment

Team members interviewing Mr. Bao-neng Chen.

Mr. Bao-neng Chen responding happily.

Team members taking turn asking questions and taking notes.

Mr. Chen giving us an introduction on the roof of a giant holy palanquin.

Mr. Chen explaining to us the process of holy palanquin making.

Mr. Chen’s team working on a holy palanquin.