名加紙糊店

The Customs in Paper Art and the Culture of Temples

Mingjia Papier-mâché Shop

The art of "papier-mâché" enjoys a long history. It is said that Taizong of Tang went to the underworld in his dream, and commanded his craftsmen to build houses with bamboo and paper after waking from the dream in order to burn in the ritual as tributes to ghosts, which becomes a custom that lasts for thousands of years among folks. As our forefathers arrived to Taiwan with the customs of papier-mâché, it is commonly seen in religious rituals and funerals. Hence, it gives off an impression that "papier-mâché is the making of spiritual house (house for afterlife)", and people tend to avoid papier-mâché as the result. In fact, after the modern funerary services takes the place of the archaic customs of wearing mourning attires of white cloth and hemp as well as burning spiritual houses, the rituals of Taoism like JianJiao (Dedication Ceremony), YuanJiao (Celebration Ceremony), and Pudu (Paying Tribute) become the main purposes of papier-mâché art nowadays, which help maintain the craftsmanship of traditional papier-mâché.

Mingjia Papier-mâché Shop has passed down for 4 generation over 90 years. At present, it is Tsou, Chun-Jung that inherited the shop, together with the second brother Tsou, Yung-Fu and fifth brother Tsou, Chi-Tsai, that practices and protects this traditional art. The shop is also the only papier-mâché shop in Taoyuan that could supply materials for celebrations and funerals. Nurtured in the family of papier-mâché, the shop has been passed down to Tsou, Chun-Jun all the way from his great grandfather, which is a live testimony of the traditional papier-mâché in Taiwan over a century.

「糊紙」起源甚早，相傳唐太宗夢遊地府，醒後命工匠以竹子和紙糊成屋，於普渡法會焚燒予亡靈，民間仿效而成流傳千年的習俗。先民渡臺，帶來糊紙習俗，普見於宮廟紅事和民間白事，但一般人往往有「糊紙就是糊靈厝」的印象，對糊紙頗有忌諱。其實，在現今生命禮儀取代從前披麻戴孝、燒靈厝的舊俗後，建醮、圓醮、普渡等道教科儀反倒成了糊紙主要的製作項目，也維繫了糊紙業的傳承。