通霄雕刻發展史 雕刻是一種文化藝術，木雕用於建築或是日常家俱上的裝飾，也用作神佛雕像，以固有民俗工藝居多。當年興建本鎮媽袓廟時，曾從台北禮聘張木成與陳萬成等藝師，雕出對九龍柱，中間以配花木鳥蝶，柱上滾龍飛躍，花木枝葉如生，鳥蝶飛舞逼真。殿堂內部雕刻則是請回原藉南合里的李金川回鄉操持，李氏精緻靈巧的刀法，獲得地方仕紳百般讚賞，紛紛懇請授徒傳藝，當時有近百位本鎮青年跟隨學習，數 批門生學藝出師，遍及通霄各地，開啟本鎮雕刻之風，李金川也因此被公認為通霄雕刻始袓。 自李金川回鄉主持廟宇雕刻後，確實帶給通霄鎮不少就業機會，由於雕刻技術可作為謀生工具，因此未等國小畢業即拜師學藝的大有人在。木雕師傅主要以口傳心授的方式教導，古語道『師傅領進門，修行看個人』，學習技藝多少也要有點『慧根』才行。 　　 台灣光復後，當時藝品主要賣給在台美軍，尤其是台中清泉崗的美軍顧問；民國五十三、四年起，日本開放觀光，來台的日本客逐年增加，台灣雕刻轉為日本人喜歡，至此三義木雕漸為人所知。當時銷往美軍的藝品有台灣芭蕉圖、佛像及彌勒佛，但以雙手舉起的彌勒佛，最受美軍顧問喜愛，對美藉人士而已，舉起雙手是勝利的象徵。到了六十年代前後，日本觀光客卻是此舉表投降不祥之兆，故背包袱的彌勒佛或七福神才是外銷日本藝品的最大宗。 　　 民國五十五年至六十二年，由於國際經濟穩定，外銷訂單源源不斷，改善了通霄經濟環境，不少青年留下來學習雕刻，使雕刻成為當時最賺錢的行業之一，從事木雕業的盛況，可用『三腳步，一崁店』來形容。此時通霄成立『苗栗縣通霄雕刻生產合作社』會員高達數千人以上，是全省數一數二的合作社，外銷鼎盛時，不到五萬人口的通霄，從事雕刻業近五千人之多。 　　 近來通霄木雕面臨內外衝擊困擾，市場上受到大陸廉價雕工藝品的衝擊，外銷沒落；學習過程艱辛，雕刻人才外流，藝師創作態度受商業性裝飾藝術影響，無法突破工匠格局，以致雕刻師傅青黃不接；再加上受到全球性資源維護，取材日趨困難，已使通霄木雕業一落千丈，改行或倒閉者不計其數。如何突破格局，提昇創作層次；如何綢繆因應，永續經營，不但是通霄藝者更是業者當務之急。前者以朱銘為代表，後者則以荒木藝苑企業有限公司為代表。 ─ 摘錄自通霄鎮鎮誌

Sculpture is one type of cultural arts. People use woodcarving to decorate buildings and household furniture, including wooden divine statues as a form of traditional folklore art craft. When Tongsiao’s Matsu Temple was being built, local people had recruited sculptors Chang Mu-cheng and Chen Wan-cheng from Taipei, who carved out a pair of nine-dragon pillars featuring high-flying dragons, trees, flowers, birds, and dancing butterflies, all are vividly created. For the creative woodcarving works inside the temple halls, people had invited Li Chin-chuan, a native to Nanho Village in Tongsiao, to exercise his fine craftsmanship, which was highly praised by many of the local people and led them to apprentice themselves to Li. And immediately, close to one hundred young disciples were learning woodcarving from him. People considered Master Li as the founding father of the Tongsiao school of sculpture. As most of his disciples worked as sculptors in Tongsiao area, the sculpturing industry began to flourish there. In order to earn the livelihood by sculpturing, some even started the training as young as 12 years of age. Traditional masters of wooden sculptures taught via words of mouth and internalization. As the old saying goes, “Teacher can only lead you to the entry door; your future achievement is all up to your own efforts.” Indeed, craftsmanship does require a certain “gift.” 　　 At the beginning of post-Taiwan Retrocession period, most of the sculpture buyers were American military men stationed in Taiwan, especially those military advisors at Ching-chuan-kang AFB in Taichung. Since 1964-65 when Taiwan was open to Japanese tourists, they started develop a liking for those Taiwanese sculpture art works. This was when Sanyi woodcarving became famous. American customers liked wooden sculpture items such as Taiwan plantains, Buddhist statues, and Maitreya Buddha statue, which was the most popular for his hands raised high up in the air as if he is celebrating victory. Around 1970s, the Japanese, on the contrary, deemed the gesture a sign of surrender. Therefore, the back-packing Laughing Buddha statue and statues of Japan’s Seven Lucky Gods became the leading export artifacts to Japan. 　　 Thanks to the stable global economy in 1966-1973, continuous export order forms contributed a lot to Tongsiao’s prosperity. Wood sculpturing became the number one local business. Many young folks stayed there to learn the craft. There was a sculpture shop at each street corner. The Miaoli Tongsiao Sculpture Production Co-op had one thousand members which ranked among Taiwan’s top trade association. In its heydays, the woodcarving/sculpturing industry claimed 5,000 of Tongsiao’s population of 50,000. 　　 In recent years, however, the industry has been slowing down; many shops have gone out of business. One reason is the impact of low-priced sculptures from Mainland China. Other reasons are: Training a sculptor takes too much time and efforts. Good sculptors have left Tongsiao. Compromised by commercial decorative taste, traditional sculptors then could not break the old artisan stereotype bottleneck. The global conservation movement has caused the scarcity of wood materials. How to have a breakthrough? How to elevate the level of artistic creativity? How to cope with the changes and pursue sustainable operations? Such are the issues for both sculptors and sculpture shops of Tongsiao. For the former, the answer was Ju Ming; for the latter, we have the Huang Mun Art Center. ─ Extracted from the Annals of Tongsiao Township