The word ‘tradition’ expresses the
idea of passing on history and culture to future generations, whilst ‘art’ is a
creative result of our daily experiences and is a product of beauty. The
inspiration for the creation of traditional art usually originated from the
daily activities of people and traditional arts represent a specific way of
thinking, different beliefs, cultures and religions that are local to a certain
place.
Traditional arts are rooted in people’s lives and are a form of beauty derived from the art of living. According to our ancestors, the origin of our culture was divided into two categories. One was performing arts such as music, folk songs, dance, acrobats, story-telling, theatre, puppet theatre and so on. The second category was art concerned with design. This category placed an emphasis on traditional handcrafts such as sculpture, weaving, painting, collage-making, ceramics and the gold-silversmith trade. These were considered the most developed and appreciated forms of traditional arts.
Traditional performing arts evolved out of the leisure
activities and the beliefs and practices of people in certain areas.
Thepopularity of traditional performing arts is timeless. Traditional performing
arts mimic the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness of life as well as the natural cycle of life and death. These aspects
of life are told through story telling, singing, dancing, and drama. Much of the
humor and sarcasm of life as well as human wisdom are embodied in these
performances. Traditional performing arts express human emotion as well as all
the basic conditions of life. The concept of art being life is clearly evident
in this tradition.
Traditional handcrafts can either be functional or decorative. Some handcrafts are both functional and decorative whilst others emphasize one aspect over the other. In any case, the aesthetic values and human spirituality traditional handcrafts represent are now harder to obtain in today’s industrialized society. Local handcrafts in Taiwan were made according to our daily needs, our climate, our natural environment, culture, history and religion. Traditional handcrafts represent generations of wisdom and creativity and represent the beauty of the harmony between man and nature.
Traditional arts change over time. Traditional arts are rooted in life and the concepts of life, cultural distinctiveness and ways of evaluating beauty they express can become a new source of creativity and interest for our modern society. Traditional arts can also be seen as a fundamental aspect of our culture; one that is extremely valuable and greatly significant.