Tung Tsao, what an amazing plant in the world. I knew it since I was born in pith of Tung Tsao management family. Tung Tsao also was full of my mother’s life. She treated it as treasure handing down to me. Hence I have a pretty and memorable experience with Tung Tsao about more than 50 years up to now.

Pith paper in Taiwan, it had been ever a pretty gorgeous time in HsinChu city where was the hometown of my mom and me both. HsinChu was the famous for pith paper particularly. Due to the World War II caused the business of Tung Tsao had been once stopped temporarily, and then back to normal condition gradually after Taiwan departed from Japanese colony in 1945. Pith paper were usually used to be flowers by handmade what looked like the real flowers. Japanese people pretty loved kind of unique in paper for flower by handmade.

In first of the 20^th century, there was a lack of money, short of food and worse stuff on living in Taiwan. My mom got a very poor living when she was child, too. When she was around 6 years old, she climbed up to tree with crying to her parents “please didn’t sell me out of family, I would earn much money for you” when her parents wanted to decrease daily expense to be forced to sell kid out of family. At 13 ages, she dressed up that borrowed from someone a beautiful dressing for obtaining a good image by boss of Tung Tsao’s workshop, to appeal for learning the skill what was to make paper from pith of Tung Tsao by rotating slice with sharp of long knife. Under she was working hard and eventually achieved her dream to be a qualified technician who made pith paper by rotating slice. After several years, when she was 30 ages something, she set up to be an owner of Tung Tsao’s workshop by herself finally. In her life, nothing was the most important and valuable more than Tung Tsao. She only concentrated her mind and paid all attentions on issue of Tung Tsao until she passed away in 1992. I completely took over the Tung Tsao issue either workshop or business when I was 33 ages. After take-over, everything handled was smooth under my control since I always assisted to do routine work every of Tung Tsao issue for my mom since I was teenager. She was as same as other women could not go to school at that then if their parents could not afford to pay tuition. During peak season for pith of Tung Tsao purchased in winter, she needed to go to tribes where was located at an altitude of 1000 meter or over of mountain for purchasing management from aborigines of Taiwan. She asked me to go with her together to write deal statement while I was off school day. Another, I had to assist her delivery pith of Tung Tsao to buyers by bicycle after class since I was a student of sixth grade. Although weight of pith was not so heavy, it still made me hard to ride bicycle very well because it was the windy in HsinChu especially in fall. Even though such as, I did not think of as miserable thing for me. I always enjoyed fantastic scene during the riding way. The other one thing in recall, my mom was car accident on delivery way what happened at when I was a high school student. I had to be in charge of dispatch all works of workshop before I went to school in early morning and did some trifles after school. Then I also needed to stay up for taking care of her in hospital until she recovered the health back home. During the time she was at hospital, I extremely settled down everything of workshop and no trouble happened. That was why I could take over her all Tung Tsao issues successfully.

After taking over all issues of Tung Tsao from my mom, I faced the biggest trouble at hand that was how to solve the much inventory either pith or pith paper at warehouse? However one of flower made manufactories my mom offered pith paper had ever been asked to hurry up exporting quantity with one container of 40 feet per day and totally amount with 100 thousand pieces of flower handmade by pith paper were delivered to buyers in whole summer season in 1981. But unfortunately, business of Tung Tsao in Taiwan was getting depression in or about 1990 that caused by the cheaper price of plastic flowers made fast by machinery rose up and further replaced to all procedures must be made by humans either pith paper or flowers.  

In my really serious thought that I could not live well if still stayed in domestic to do nothing. After thinking it over and discussed with my husband, we had to quit Taiwan market one day if we wanted pith paper to be rebuilt. After all, in 1993, we set up and renew business on craft giftware of pith paper in China. It meant there was no more Tung Tsao shop in Taiwan after I quitted. I only left some of paper works and transference in Taiwan.

In fact, there was a dream showed in my mind frequently that I kept going to intend managing Tung Tsao issues one more in Taiwan even there was no more Tung Tsao for business deal in Taiwan. My luck was in eventually around 2011, I met a lot of friends who also had a revival of interesting in Tung Tsao plant on ground of Taiwan. Then I finally set up a studio in 2012 named 【TUNG TSAO CULTURE AND ART STUDIO】to remind and promote for Tung Tsao issues in Taiwan. Wish myself is the best.