Celebrating Matsu

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Celebrating Matsu (Chinese: 迎媽祖) is a water-based woodcut print created by the Taiwanese artist Lin Chih-Hsin (born 1936) between 1975 and 1995. The work took 20 years to complete, and was inspired by Lin's personal and profound spiritual connection to Matsu, and his miraculous recovery from a longstanding asthma condition.

Celebrating Matsu showcases Lin's incorporation of Taiwanese subject matter and his faith in Matsu. After it was completed, Lin was invited to display the work in museums both domestically and abroad.

The design of Matsu ascending into the sky in Celebrating Matsu has also been used in a variety of cultural and creative merchandise, including the Tainan Only Grand Matsu Milk Puff and Grand Matsu Pea Crackers, which were both immensely popular when they were released.

Background

During his childhood, Lin accompanied his grandfather to a Matsu celebration in Fucheng, where the vibrant, captivating scenes made a lasting impression on him. He stated:

I've noticed that in the industrial age, beautiful religious and folk customs have gradually diminished, even reaching a point of devastation. The ceremonies are not as grand, the costumes and props have become oversimplified and coarse, and successors to folk performances are scarce. I am deeply concerned that the esteemed Matsu celebration, one of the world's three largest religious events, may slowly disappear. Hence, I feel a duty to preserve this cultural heritage.

At the age of 40, Lin experienced another asthma attack and went to the Matsu temple to pray. He vowed to make a long Celebrating Matsu print, and prayed that Matsu would cure his asthma. Not long afterwards, Lin's longstanding condition was cured, which prompted him to begin creating the work. After extensive research, he began drafting it, and revised the drawing and dimensions three times. In 1987, on the 1000-year anniversary of Matsu's ascension, Lin began applying paint to his work, and also began the carving process at noon of the Double Ninth Festival. The work was completed in the middle of 1995 when Lin was 60 years old.

Description

The Celebrating Matsu print series shows the events of the 1000th anniversary of Matsu's ascension, including the honor guard, Tīn-thâu (parade leaders) and Yi-Ge (the traditional art that involves the making and manning of intricate floats for folk parades), participating temples and worshippers, documenting scenes of the Matsu pilgrimage. The prints showcase unique performance groups and Yi-Ge and Tīn-thâu, which are only seen in southern Taiwan. The 68 prints show a total of 1,066 human figures, with no repetition.

Celebrating Matsu is 124 meters long, and composed of 68 paintings that are three meters wide and six meters long. Created as a water-based woodcut print, it used techniques commonly used by painters after the 1980s. Lin's water-based woodcut prints showcase unique expressions, while the process itself is separated into two sections: first printing and then applying color. Through this method, the works show both the qualities of print and the characteristics of drawing. Pan Yuan-Shih, the former director of Chimei Museum, commented:

Lin Chih-Hsin's woodblock prints are characterized by three aspects. Firstly, he demonstrates a flexible and skillful use of the carving knife. Secondly, he has a talent for simplification, making woodblock prints more captivating. The third is his rich arrangement of colors.

Huang Guang-Nan, the former director of the National Museum of History, also stated: "Lin's techniques are neat and clean, and his colors are bold and captivating, fully depicting the vitality and beauty of the sunshine and folk lifestyle of southern Taiwan."

Celebrating Matsu documents in detail the early scenes of Matsu worship. Lin stated: "Research, drafting the composition, carving, coloring, and descriptions are all completed by me. Celebrating Matsu gathers the different Tīn-thâu, Quyi, Yizhen, and Yi-Ge, among which focal points are selected and arranged according to traditional forms and procedures. Finally, the essential parts are selected and re-arranged to become the final scene."

Exhibitions

Celebrating Matsu was first exhibited at Taipei Fine Arts Museum, and later was displayed at a number of different museums in Taiwan and abroad, including the Taiwan Province Museum in Taichung, Meiji University in Japan, M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum in Lithuania, the Latvian Museum of National History, the Museum Fünf Kontinente, and Ningbo Museum in China. In 2022, the 68 prints of Celebrating Matsu were presented at the National Tainan Living Art Center in Lin's hometown, Tainan.

Reception

Su Jen-Ming comments that Celebrating Matsu is like "an encyclopedia of the celebration events of the Matsu festival and Yizhen performances". Huang Guang-Nan, who helped it be exhibited in major overseas museums and was the director of the National Museum of History at the time, stated: "The large print work, Celebrating Matsu, meticulously documents the folk culture and religious ceremonies of Taiwan, as well as the artist's worship and reverence toward Matsu, and further manifests the cultural spirit of local Taiwanese culture."

References

This article "Celebrating Matsu" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Celebrating Matsu. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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