Fengyuan Lacquer Art

Fengyuan, formerly called "Huludun," saw its lacquer craft take shape in the Japanese colonial era; with the Dasyueshan and Basianshan forests supplying wood and lacquer and the Japanese authorities deliberately fostering the industry in central Taiwan, the foundations of Fengyuan lacquer were laid. The craft reached its height in the 1970s, when Fengyuan was Taiwan's chief centre of lacquer production.

Lacquer art layers natural raw lacquer over a wooden core, built up through repeated coating, polishing and burnishing in a long, exacting process; Fengyuran work blends Japanese maki-e technique with local subjects, spanning bowls, tea ware, furniture and ornamental pieces, with a warm, lasting sheen.

Fengyuan lacquer bears witness to the changing fortunes of central Taiwan's forestry and craft industries, one of the few local crafts uniting forest resources, a Japanese-era industrial legacy and the rebirth of contemporary handwork, with real value for the study of Taiwan's craft and industrial history.

The craft is displayed and taught at the Fengyuan Museum of Lacquer Art.