Wu Ming-chang and students revive traditional art of tairyo-bata

Wu Ming-chang and students revive traditional art of tairyo-bata

2023-08-07

Now we have a story of artistic revival. Have you ever seen a photo of a ship covered in exuberant hand-painted flags? If you have, then you’re familiar with the tradition of tairyo-bata. These colorful ship flags are a Japanese custom, brought to Taiwan almost a century ago. Amid changes in the fishing industry and the dominance of the printing press, Wu Ming-chang is one of the last tairyo-bata masters in the country. He thought his art was in terminal decline. But to his surprise, he was approached by some young people with other ideas.

This ceremonial ship launch is a magnificent event. The ship is covered in colorful “tairyo-bata”, or fishermen’s flags. The flags are intended to bring the new ship a big catch.

Wu Ming-chang
Tairyo-bata master
When a new ship is made and launched, you don’t send red packets. You send flags with the ship’s name written on them. When the ship has more flags on it, that means the boss has a lot of connections.

The tairyo-bata tradition was brought to Taiwan from Japan in the 1940s and ‘50s. At first, the flags had to be entirely handmade, and even the paints used were special.

The master paints the lines on the flag with a paste made of sticky rice. It’s all freehand – no preliminary outlines here. Now in his seventies, Wu is one of the last tairyo-bata masters in Taiwan.

Wu Ming-chang
Tairyo-bata master
When you paint the sticky rice paste on, it soaks into the cloth. When you dye the cloth, it doesn’t bleed. Now things have changed and they’re printed with machines – thousands in a single day. This tradition has already disappeared in Taiwan. I’m pretty much the only one left in Taiwan who can still do it.

With the changing times, hand-painted tairyo-bata have gradually been replaced by machine-printed flags. Wu was once resigned to the idea that his skills would fade into history. But then he received a surprising request from some local students who wanted to learn this precious traditional art.

Wu Ming-chang
Tairyo-bata master
I thought they were scammers! I tried to ignore them. But they kept coming back to me again and again. I think they’re very sincere. So I started to teach them.

National Sun Yat-sen University student
We went to pay our respects to the master, and he shut the door on us! Because he didn’t think there was anybody who would want to do such a complicated craft anymore. We are determined to bring this craft back.

The tairyo-bata is an art in danger of extinction, but with these students throwing themselves into learning, there’s hope yet for this beautiful maritime tradition.