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2012 ELECTIONS:
FEATURE: ‘Pigsty Calligraphist’ speaks out on ‘little piggies’
IN THE BANK: Chen Shih-hsien, who lives and
works in a converted pigsty, said ‘pig culture’ runs very deep in Taiwan,
contributing to the fundraising drive’s success
By Wang Han-ping / Staff reporter
“Pigsty calligraphist” Chen Shih-hsien
lays his hand on a pig sculpture carved by artist Hou Chia-fu in Baihe District,
Greater Tainan, on Friday.
Photo: Wang Han-ing, Taipei Times
The popularity of Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “three little pigs” fund-raising
campaign is largely the result of the emotions it has stirred up among Taiwanese
and their association with the land — thoughts that cannot be suppressed or
erased, said Chen Shih-hsien (陳世憲), a calligrapher also known as “the Pigsty
Calligraphist.”
After graduating from Tunghai University and returning to his hometown of Paiho
Township (白河) in Greater Tainan (then Tainan County), Chen cleared out his
home’s vacant and unused pigsty and turned it into his studio and living
quarters, earning him the nickname.
Chen said he felt his nickname made him feel closer to the “three little pigs”
campaign, adding that the Control Yuan’s efforts to “suppress” what was
originally a story about children inspired others to get the piggy banks handed
out by the DPP to support their desired candidates.
On why the “three little pigs” campaign was so successful, Chen said that pig
culture, the relationship between the pig-raiser and the pig, is rooted deep in
the hearts of Taiwanese, and that those who do not raise pigs themselves have
friends who do.
Because pig farming is very common in Taiwan, it is not surprising that the
campaign has gained such popularity, he said.
The piggy bank itself brings back fond memories of many people’s childhoods,
Chen said, adding that in reminiscing about the past, people also look to a
better future and hope that their lives will improve.
The campaign reflects the thoughts of the common people, so it took on a life of
its own, Chen said.
Raising pigs is common, and there are many other incidents of pigsties being
remodeled for other uses, Chen said, adding that it also shows that Taiwanese
are “hardworking and thrifty.”
Pigs eat the leftovers from your family and that of other families and when the
pig is fattened, it can also be sold to take care of family expenditures, Chen
said.
This is something that the privileged cannot appreciate, Chen said, adding that
ordinary Taiwanese have to work very hard to make money.
Despite the campaign’s success, Chen also feels that pig should also be used to
focus on other issues, such as using recycled piggy banks in response to
concerns about environmental protection cited by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
It is possible to use the piggy banks and call on others to tell the tales of
pigsties, because there are many other successful cases of pigsties being
remodeled into other uses, Chen said.
Using his childhood experiences as another example, Chen said that raising pigs
had given his family the means to survive, but even after they ceased to raise
pigs, the pigsty still brought him income after he remodeled it into his studio.
Using that income, he further remodeled the pigsty into various rooms, such as a
living room and bedrooms.
“For me, pigsties have several meanings, the first meaning liberty. Because the
pigsty is not a sacrosanct and inviolable space, dirtying it with ink is not a
problem,” Chen said.
Pointing to the KMT’s opposition to the campaign, Chen said that this was not
the first incident of pigs being the focus of international media, adding that
when he went to France for an exhibition, most of the themes centered on pigs.
“When foreigners heard that I live in a pigsty and actually work in one, they
found it extraordinary, and some have even come to live in the pigsty for the
experience,” Chen said, adding that some photographers also came to take
nighttime pictures of the pigsty.
Chen said that the pigsty, up until now, was still inseparable from his work and
life.
“Foreigners who do not understand the deeply rooted pig culture in Taiwanese
society and want to suppress it will of course have cultural blind spots and
cause confrontation,” Chen said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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