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Difficulties
1.Aging
Population:
Our palanquin masters are all well over their fifties.
Nowadays young people either find this line of work exhausting or they simply
are not willing to spend the time to learn. Therefore, the palanquin masters
felt helpless by the fact that there is no one to carry on the craft.
From the interviews we found that the other challengewhich the palanquin masters face is the fact that their descendants did not
really learn the actually carving techniques. In fact, contracted carving
masters are hired to do the work. The young owners spend their time only on the
planning and designing of the palanquins, and the managing of the business.
This wonderful art craft which was once passed down to only direct family
members may seize to exist from this generation. Furthermore, if they can’t
find contracted carving masters to work for them in Taiwan, in the future they
may have to find help from Mainland China or Vietnam, and have them send the
carvings back to Taiwan for assembling.
2.Material
Shortage:
The Chen Palanquin family business had always used the
business strategy of hoarding up large supplies of high quality Hinoki; a
strong timber favored by believers. However, nowadays Hinoki is low in supply,
and high in price, but believers still insisted on using it. The reason behind
it is that palanquins made with hinoki are sturdier and they are more expensive
which show the believer’ sincerity toward their god. Therefore, in events of
material shortage, the only solution is to use cypresses imported from Vietnam
or Indonesia.
Timber shortage may also occur when other countries
compete to get the same material, which may lead to an increase in cost of raw
materials. If the problem persists, it would hinder production.
3.Marketing:
During the lottery mania period 30 years ago, the
demand of palanquins was tremendous. Palanquin business owner, Mr. Wei-cheng
Chen stated, “During that period, the biggest order we had was 500 palanquins.”
Therefore, at that period the palanquin industry was booming. The Chen clan
started the palanquin business and members of the clam each migrated and
flourished. Everybody benefited from the business. However, due to the change
of time, the demand for palanquins decreases gradually. The once hundreds of
palanquin factories closed down one by one, and the only ones left were the
Chen Clan businesses and a few others. Sometimes the market is split by people
of own clan or people of the same industry. Therefore, in order to keep the
business alive, product marketing is a challenge which we must face and not
competitions between members of the family.
4.Competition
from China:
In the meantime, Mainland China does not lack manpower
or resources. Mr. Bao-neng Chen mentioned that the only reason that Mainland
China is a step behind us is that they don’t have design, research and
development and innovation abilities. Especially the making of detachable
palanquins where the body and the roof can be detached and assembled (enhance
mobility and convenience), is a skill which the masters from Mainland China
don’t have. Mainland China advance quickly and have a lot of talented people.
Therefore, if we don’t work hard in the keeping of the palanquin business, they
may easily surpass us in the area of research and development, and innovation.
Future
Outlook
Now the people of Mainland China show increasing
enthusiasm in the traditional culture, and they also show increasing interest
in religious beliefs. Therefore, we can sale palanquins to the people of Fujian
and Guangdong. Also with the opening of cross straight tourism, the worshiping
of ancestral temples is becoming popular, and the interchange of religious
activity had caused an increase for the need of palanquins. The above two
points may be the key to rekindle the fire of the palanquin business in Taiwan.
In term of the problem with the carrying on of the
artistry of palanquin making. In the future, We can let more children get in
touch with this folk artistry through cooperative education programs. This way
the artistry won’t be lost.
For the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Hsinchu, the
Chen Clan in cooperation with the Taiwan Glass Industry Corporation made a
glass palanquin. The glass palanquin was admired as a piece of artwork. It was
also viewed as a piece of collectable. In the future, the palanquin industry
might aim its path toward artist design and creations. This will increase the
status of palanquins; hence give it an artistic future.
 Through Cooperative Education Bring School and
Community Industry Together
An Aliance of Different Industries ---- Bring the
Element of Art into Palanquin Making
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