A Study on the Traditional Craftsmen in Taiwan a Survey of Vocational and Technical Competence

Abstract

Through literature data analysis, expert interviews and field study, this research was mainly to analyze the demand analysis of the technical skills poessessed by traditional Taiwanese artisan workers. It was also for clarifying the analyses of the contexts and occupational behavior of traditional Taiwanese artisans at present. In Cultural Heritage Preservation Act , intangible cultural heritage restoration is always implemented by means of traditional artisans' restoration skills. The common thinking is that this should be completed through traditional processing procedures, techniques, allocation proportion of construction materials, and applications of tools. However, traditional skills should rely on “persons” for passing down and continuing such technical skills. At present, domestic traditional restoration skills are not necessarily equal to cultural heritage restoration skills; they do not necessarily tally with the needs for cultural heritage restoration. Therefore, the methods such as literature data, field study and expert interview were applied in this research, for framing the technical skills required for traditional artisans according to their occupational behavior, and for discussing the scope and intension of the preservation skills shown by traditional artisans in old days. What's more, through the basic listing materials regarding traditional Taiwanese artisans in modern times, explorations were also made in this research in terms of the phenomenon of skill discontinuation between traditional artisans in the past. Explanations were also made one by one through this research, regarding whether the listed works meet the needs for the preservation work at present.