Chen Wan-Neng

Chen Wan-Neng (1942-), a native of Lukang Township, Changhua County, Taiwan, is a Taiwanese artisan famous for hereditary tin craft. In 2011, he was designated as the “Preserver of Important Traditional Art” by the Council for Cultural Affairs and received the National Craft Achievement Award in 2012. 
==Life==
Chen Wan-Neng's grandfather, Chen Tzu, came to settle in Lukang, Taiwan at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and made a living by making tinware. His family has been engaged in tinware making for generations. Chen Wan-Neng began learning tinware from his father, Chen Tao, at the age of fourteen. He is one of the few remaining tinware masters in Taiwan. In 1979, he opened the Wan-Neng Tin Workshop in Lukang. 
In 1966, Chen Wan-Neng attempted to innovate tinware by transforming a flat dragon candle into a three-dimensional one. He also combined mandarin lamps and dragon candlesticks (both for the offering alter) into one, creating the innovative design of dragon candle lamp. Fortunately, the new design was sold at a high price in Buddhist supplies stores around Longshan Temple in Taipei. 
He is committed to improving the quality of tinware, including its soft texture as well as tendency to melt and tarnish. He constantly experiments and improves through realistic simulation, and creates different metal alloy by combining with lead, copper, bronze, and gold in developing various works, including tea canisters, teacups, vases, and sculptures of animals and mythical creatures. His works have been widely recognized and collected by various organizations, including the Confucius Temple in Japan, Baoan Temple in Kaohsiung, Taiwan Provincial Museum, National Center for Traditional Arts in Yilan, and Centre Culturel de Taiwan à Paris.
In 2005, Lien Chan, the former chairman of the Kuomintang, made his first trip to mainland China in a historic breakthrough. He brought with him works by Chen Wan-neng, such as Peony and Phoenix, Twin Dragons Vases and Nine Dragon Square Vase, which he presented as gifts to senior officials at Peking University and in the Chinese central government. In 2007, Blissful Home by Chen Wan-neng was collected by Quanzhou’s China Museum of Fujian-Taiwan Kinship as part of its permanent exhibit and is so far the only work by a contemporary Taiwanese artisan in this museum.
Chen Wan-Neng has four sons. Except the eldest, Chen Chiung-yu, Chen Chih-Yang, and Chen Chih-Sheng, have all inherited his skills and are engaged in the production, research and development of tin art. In 2011, the Ministry of Culture officially registered Tin Art as a national important traditional art, and recognized Chen Wan-Neng as the preserver of the craft. In May 2020, Chen Chih-Yang and Chen Chih-Sheng were jointly recognized by the Changhua County government as the preservers of the county's traditional crafts - Tin Art.
==Honors==
1984. Excellent Handicraft Certificate, Council for Cultural Affairs. 
1988. 4th National Heritage Award, Ministry of Education. 
1993. 3rd Ethnic Craft Award, Council for Cultural Affairs.
1993. 2nd Ethnic Craft Award, Council for Cultural Affairs. 
2004. Wan-Neng Tin Workshop certified as the Taiwan Crafts Workshop; Chen Wan-Neng recognized as the model father of Lukang Township.
2009. Designated as the Preserver of Intangible Cultural Heritage/Traditional Arts/Fine Arts and Crafts/Tin Art by the Changhua County Government. 
2011. Featured in One Hundred Outstanding Changhua People. 
2011. Designated as the Preserver of the Important Traditional Art-Tin Craft by the Council for Cultural Affairs (in 2018, category renamed Important Traditional Crafts-Metal Craft). 
2012. National Craft Achievement Award, Ministry of Culture.
==Style and Works==
Chen Wan-Neng adheres to traditional methods of tinware making and follows ancient techniques to produce traditional tinware. However at the same time, he changes the way tin material is used, abandoning the old habit of using lead alloys and instead making tinware with pure tin. Through this way, he explores a new face of tin art. Using tin material in pure artistic creation, Chen Wan-Neng employs realistic sculpting techniques and simulated forms to carry traditional Chinese symbolic motifs and auspicious mythical creatures.
===Works===
Dragon and Phoenix Candlestick (Mandarin Lamp), National Taiwan Museum collection.
Han-Tai (Longevity Characters), National Taiwan Museum collection.
Door Gods - Shentu Yulei, 2008, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute collection.
Lead Generals, 2008-2010, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute collection. 
A Peaceful Age. 1995-2000, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute collection.
Dragon Pillar Lamp, 2012, National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute collection.
==Exhibitions==
1978. 1st National Folk Art Activities Week.
1984. Solo exhibitions at Changhua and Nantou County Cultural Centers.
1988. Solo exhibition tour at various cultural centers in Taiwan.
1989. Group exhibition of National Heritage Awardees in the category of craft. 
1990. Solo exhibition at the Gallery of Council for Cultural Affairs; opening exhibition of the Cultural Gallery at the Taipei Train Station by Council for Cultural Affairs (solo exhibition).
1991. Solo exhibition of Twelve Chinese Horoscopes at the Lukang Mazu Temple Historic Center; special exhibition at the Former Handicraft Exhibition Hall by the Taiwan Province Handicraft Research Center; solo exhibition of tin art at the Chinese News and Cultural Center in New York, USA by Council for Cultural Affairs. 
1994. First solo exhibition tour at local galleries around the country by Council for Cultural Affairs; National Heritage Award: 10th Anniversary Exhibition and on-site demonstration, Gallery of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. 
1995. Chinese New Year of Pig Exhibition, Chinese News and Cultural Centers in New York and Paris. 
1995-1998. Exhibitions on Chinese New Years of Rat, Ox and Tiger, Chinese News and Cultural Centers in New York and Paris. 
1997. Ethnic Craft Exhibition.
1998. Selected by the Presidential Hall and Executive Yuan offices. 
1999. The Year of Rabbit Special Exhibition, Presidential Hall; National Art Exhibition; exhibitions in the cultural centers in New York and Paris. 
2000. Opening exhibition of the Jenn Lann Cultural Building, Dajia Jenn Lann Matzu Temple.
2001. Tin art exhibition, Xinzhuang Wenchang Temple.
2002. Special invitation to the National Art Exhibition; From Tradition to Innovation: Chen Wan-Neng’s Tin Art, Kaohsiung Museum of History.
2004. Huangsi Art Exhibition; Year of Monkey Exhibition, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Changhua County; Art Taipei; Craft to Go exhibition, National Taiwan Craft Research Institute; Thousand Faces of Formosa exhibition, various museums in the Czech Republic and Germany. 
2005. Art and Life joint exhibition, Half-line Art Season, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Changhua County.
2006. Dog Heart, Dog Art joint exhibition, National Taiwan Craft Research Institute and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Tainan; New Life Ware exhibition, Huashan 1914 Creative Park, National Taiwan Craft Research Institute; Brilliance of Tin Art: Chen Wan-neng and His Sons exhibition, Changhua County Art Museum; New Year cultural demonstration at the National Traditional Arts Center and the Presidential Hall Plaza. 
2007. Metalworks-Tin Art exhibition, National Center for Traditional Arts. 
2008. Huangsi Award Exhibition in Changhua. 
2009. Peony and Phoenix collected by Japanese baseball player Wang Chen-Chih/Sadaharu Oh. 
2010. Commissioned to create a collection of twelve ceremonial pieces for the Lu Ban Gong Banquet by the Chaoyang Lukang Association, including dragon candlesticks, a wine offering table, and wine cups.
==Anecdote==
In 2009, during an interview with the Lukang Times, Chen Wan-neng stated that “in the past, even accredited by the National Heritage Award, I could only count on myself to survive.”
Category:1942 births
Category:People from Changhua County
Category:Taiwanese people
Category:Artisans