He is a Taiwanese aboriginal, also a restaurant chef, retired to learn painting and wood carving, but to a spread to Milan and Paris

Taiwan Hualien, Taroko Mountain, an ordinary country restaurant. When I ordered the meal was brought together, 8 dishes 1 soup, almost packed the entire table, I was shocked:

Is this really a “single” package for NT 300 (about RMB 60)?

It was such a big surprise that I was the first stop on my second trip to visit Taiwan’s aboriginal people.

The story goes from beginning to end: Last year, when I set foot on the land of Taiwan for the 8th time last year, I decided to change something new.

Better to see Taiwan’s aborigines?

In our textbook, they are always referred to as “Gaoshan”. But in fact, they are dozens of different ethnic groups and have different languages ​​and cultures. Needless to say, even the Taiwanese also know very little about this – I searched for a long time in the book sea of ​​Taipei’s largest Eslite Bookstore, and only found a set of three books on aboriginal tourism. The author actually still had blonde eyes Foreigner, translated back to Chinese from English.

This restaurant is seen from this book. But the author did not say that the food here is so cost-effective ah!

Here is located in the east coast of Taiwan’s Qingshui Cliff, with I think the most magnificent mountain scenery in Taiwan, is now only 30,000 people of the Taroko’s home. Even more interesting is that the book said that the restaurant owner Mr. Guo “is a bit ‘national treasure master’ wood carving.

Did he inherit some mysterious ancestral skill?

Contents

Chef, painter, and sculptor

Mr. Guo is next to the room, he warmly invited me to tea. I use the compliment as an opening statement: “This book says that you are a national treasure master!” He laughed and waved his hand, “There is no no difference. But you should look at my painting!

Looking up, and sure enough, in addition to the middle of the room filled with all kinds of wood carvings, walls were all filled with oil paintings, leaving only a small piece of a few photos. I recognized the words in the photos: Guo Wugui’s China Pavilion at the Milan Expo . And next to it reads: Paris Buddha Guangshan oil painting works charity exhibition .

He saw my surprise, greeted me to sit down, talked about his story:

He, who is 71 years old this year, occupies a primary school teacher in rural areas for the first time in his life and has no connection with art. Surprisingly, middle-aged people who accidentally return to life, but unfortunately returned home, in their own house to open a small restaurant for a living, only two tables, the boss is a cook – so he had a full decade of fried ladle.

Restaurant white walls, he wanted to find a friend picture painting, but people are too busy, no time. In desperation, the basis of painting 0 he bought his own colored wall paint, with the feeling of completing his first piece. Who knows, there are constantly diners praised the painting. He was thrilled to draw the rest of the wall painted on the whole, not fun, they bought the plywood, paint continue to brush wall “engage in creative.” I guess some people coveted his paintings for a long time, but suffer from the wall to move away, which finally can be proposed to buy a high price – “What, my paintings can sell?” This time he out of control, simply Master when the main business, painting as sideline.

 

Painter on the plywood

During this period, he created innumerable “three-ply paint” paintings, which he did not know until he got the advice of a professional. In this way, while he was holding a spoon and painting oil paintings, he actually did not delay the two: the original small restaurant now has hundreds of tables and is famous for its signature Aboriginal cuisine. He finally can no longer hold hands himself. His paintings, as you have seen, have not only spread to the mainland, but also spread far and wide to the world art capitals of Milan and Paris! “And there’s an exhibition in the United States that invites me to offer my artwork!” He said proudly.

“Painting, we must integrate into their own imagination, can not draw too much, for example, you see my sunflower, both similar, not exactly like.”

I looked around, and sure enough every painting is so abstract, a rare one is a faction. For example, a piece called “fish” works, at first glance is the two whirlpool, but when he will vortex eye one by one, this genuine “crowning touch”, immediately let the whole picture live! Another painting called “Beauty Looks Back” looks like it just dyed a variety of colors on a black background, but the whole thing seemed smooth and harmonious!

I do not know painting, but from his paintings, I can really feel the beauty of the existence. Perhaps this is why so many people are willing to buy his paintings at a high price.

Pick up the wood from the sculptor

Compared with the process of learning to paint, he became familiar with the wood carving, and even free. Taroko is the mountain side, one side is the sea, often trees were uprooted by torrents into the sea, was pushed back by the currents, stranded on the beach. He took a fancy on this piece of nobody’s “treasure,” and took the “broken wood” in the eyes of these other people for a fortnight of return home. With a little modification and paint, he became a table, a stool and a pillar in his home. He was not satisfied, once again play his god-free self-taught skills, playing wood with sawing saw wood!

A house of wood, without his explanation, can only be seen at a loss. And when he said the name of each piece, suddenly let people have the impulse! It was an abstract style that was exactly the same as his painting. The majority of works in woodcarving, are reflected in the image of his tribe.

I am pleased to admire him far beyond the ordinary art talent at the same time, even more lamented in his perseverance. After a hard day’s work, take pains to paint and even make it easy to talk about!

He laughed: “I often tell my son that the chance is like the wood lying on the beach , obviously there, potentially worthless, but no one can pull them back in. I just pull the wood back, Then polish your own ideas. ”

I am an Aboriginal and a Chinese

It has been a long time in Taiwan to meet locals and become accustomed to keeping sensitive topics such as state identity as short as possible. The Aboriginal people are even more special in their specialties. Therefore, I have been cautious about the start of the dialogue so as to prevent everyone from being unhappy. However, Mr. Guo himself said first, “I am also a Chinese,” and has repeatedly said several times.

He has been to more than a dozen provinces on the mainland. He not only tours but also communicates with local artists. Even the personal exhibitions in Milan and Paris were just presented as “Chinese artists”. He has always mentioned the rapid development of the mainland in recent years and is proud of it. Even when I said that there are still many gaps between China and Taiwan in many details, he believes that those disparities will soon be eliminated.

This kind of identification with the motherland is definitely not a case in today’s Taiwan. Perhaps many people can only hear the voices of the most self-styled Taiwanese independence activists on the Internet. But when I walked through cities and villages in Taiwan myself, I found that more people, those who are silent, have in fact slowly seen the progress of the Mainland and I feel proud of being a Chinese. And this national identity beyond the national or even political identity, but also make me proud.

But when he sent me out, but pointing to the empty tables and chairs next to his face a kind of unspeakable embarrassment: You see us this, “520” before, every day is full of guests, you Luke Say we are good here, not only happy to eat, but also with our native handicrafts left. Now, there are only a few Taiwanese people left behind every day …

There has been a kind of argument in Kiseki, as if as long as boycott travel to Taiwan, you can starve the DPP, forced Tsai English step down. In fact, Taiwan’s economy is diverse and the tourism industry is only a small part of it. Even if the landlords are reduced to zero, I am not hungry or die of the DPP. I do not know, but there must be many ordinary travel industry practitioners who like China and agree that they are Chinese and are enthusiastic about cross-Strait exchanges. Life will end without cause. , Silently assume their responsibility should not be assumed.

Next time, if you go to Hualien, go to Mr. Guo’s restaurant for a meal, first of all, whether his meal is really delicious and cheap, even if he just let the elderly know that there are many people in mainland China like him and are willing to agree that they are The people on both sides of the Chinese people walk closer and closer to us.

His shop name is: Dacromet Creative Studio , located in Zonta Village, Xiu Lin, Hualien, just beside the bus station of “Zonta Church”.