Lukang craft is represented by woodcarving. Among the six craftsmen wining the "National Art Heritage Award", four engage in woodcarving, which showed the important position of woodcarving in Lukang culture. Lukang woodcarving art is mostly embedded in woodworking industry. The development of Lukang woodworking industry can be divided into below several periods:

(1) Before 1851 Immature woodworking industry

     In 1784, plentiful businessmen conducted maritime commercial intercourse in Lukang, Quanzhou, and Hanjiang, making them the key places of trade between Taiwan and mainland China. In order to build temples, craftspeople from places including Quanzhou were employed to Taiwan and promoted the development of the craft in Lukang. In 1843, Lukang's first woodcarving shop, named ""Shi Shun Xing Hao", was opened in the end of a street. Mr. Ke-chiu Li, a craftsman from Quanzhou, and Mr. Tien Wu, a craftsman of statues of Buddha began to engage in the creation of woodcarving works in Lukang. Their shop mainly had Tangshan craftsmen and had not trained Taiwanese craftsmen yet. Most of the craftsmen at that time followed the style of "woodcarving with gold lacquer" and were proficient in hollowed carving to present the sense of space, complex changes, and magnificent feelings.

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(2) 1851-1945 Rapid development of woodworking industry driven by demand

     In 1851, Lukang harbor became silted up followed by the decline of commercial transporting and the decrease of handicraft products imported from mainland China. Under the context, the woodworking industry of Lukang developed rapidly along with the transition of economic structure. The industries, labor, and vendors depending on the harbor had to find alternative means of livelihood. During the period, due to the need to rebuild temples, many craftsmen from Tangshan accepted Taiwanese as their apprentices and assistants. They also cooperated with Taiwanese craftsmen for the same woodcarving works, which is called "dui chang". (dui chang: In traditional architecture, two different craftsmen cooperated to build one building with each responsible for one side. Thus, the completed building had the different styles of both craftsmen with extra ornamental value, especially, the buildings made by rivals.) Taiwanese craftsmen were inspired by the carving skills of Tangshan counterparts.And temple building promoted the rapid development of woodworking industry and left Lukang with rich artistic assets.   

      In 1876, Mr. Ke-chiu Li, a woodcarving master, and Mr. Kuang-mao Shih, a craftsman, gathered their peers of the industry to establish a craft union, named "Xiao Mu Hua Jiang Tuan Jin Sen Xing". Annual diviner, deputy diviner, and headman were decided by throwing divination wooden blocks, responsible for the worship to Lu Ban, the patron saint of Chinese builders and contractors. The craft union deepened the social contact and friendship among practitioner of the woodworking industry. The woodcarving works at the time were mostly attached on practical wooden furniture and temple architecture with a style of strong Han customs and cultural tradition and four implication of survival, pursuit of good fortune, avoidance of disaster, and indoctrination. Craftsmen had "four golden skills"—figures, flowers and birds, being conversant with things of the past, and being jack of all trade.

 (The front and back sides of the main hall of Lukang Mazu Temple were constructed separately by Mr. Hai-tung Wu, a Taiwanese craftsman, and Mr. I-shun Wang, a Hui'an craftsman in 1936.) 

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(3) 1945-1988 The prosperity of woodworking industry

     After the civil war, the government of Kuo Min Tang moved to Taiwan and actively promoted and supported the handicraft industry. The expansion of export trade after 1960 led to economic take-off and re-created the prosperous period of Lukang woodworking industry and golden age of woodcarving industry. The craft industry was mainly "grid carving" exported to Japan. In 1964, there were over 40 woodware shops and over 3,000 practitioners of the woodware industry. The prosperity lasted till around 1971. Lukang carving techniques were well known in Taiwan. Temples of various places competed to invite Lukang woodcarving masters of statues of Buddha to make Buddha statues. The furniture industry and other industries related to furniture in the 1960s had supported one third of Lukang population.

     However, good times never last. In the mid-1960s, reconstituted wood (e.g., plywood, dense board, melamine board, and etc.) and plastic materials by mechanized production had replaced raw wood as the main materials, which threaten the market of raw wood furniture and led to the fast decline of Lukang woodworking industry. After 1960, craft industrialization, affected by "grid carving", had the main pattern of manifestation of Japanese architecture and decoration, flat relief, and the retention of the natural color of timber without painting.   

At "Chin-fu Shih Woodcarving Workshop", Master Shih preserved two Japanese-style grid carving, hung on the wall.)

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(4) 1988-Present The transition of woodworking industry

     Lukang had lost the market margin of woodcarving industry due to the import of cheap products from mainland China and emerging Southeast Asian countries and the change of production and selling modes. In 1985, the government set up the "method to select and employ vital national art craftsmen" and held the "National Art Heritage Award" to raise the acknowledgement of cultural craft of the public and exert a significant impact on traditional folk arts. There were more and more cultural events, exhibitions, and competitions held in central areas, cities, and counties. In 1984, five woodcarving masters including Mr. Chen-yang Shih and Mr. Sung-lin Li, held an exhibition together at Changhua County Cultural Center. In 1988, a national woodcarving competition was held to provide rising stars with a platform to present their traditional woodcarving skills via single small woodcarving works. The woodcarving of Taiwan began to transit. Traditional woodcarving works of Lukang were also sent to participate in external competitions and cultural exhibitions to convey local woodcarving culture and present Lukang carvings publicly outside of the traditional space of temples.

(Master Chin-fu Shih participated in an exhibition at Tainan Living Art Center)

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