Ceramic Art is a professional craft in Taiwan traditional architecture, including clay artworks, Ceramic Art and Koji Pottery. Representations of figures, stories and animals on the roofs of traditional temples are ceramic-art-made. Except for roofs, parts of walls are also ceramic-art-made, such as shuǐ chē dǔ, é tóu zhuì and lóng hǔ dǔ. It is a widely applied craft.
Guandu Temple we see today is magnificent. It is built throughout several eras. Crafts of Ceramic Art on roofs of these structures are different. What we could see today is basically Ceramic Art, plus a few duī huā and Koji Pottery. Generally speaking, Crafts of Ceramic Art of Guandu Temple, not in Guandu Temple we see today, was closer to Glass Ceramic Art, which was popular in 1950s. Products of Cochin Ware from factories, which became popular after Glass Ceramic Art, were put on the roofs of Mazu Hall, Guanyin Bodhisattva Hall, Lord Wenchang Hall, Lingxiao Treasure Hall, Heavenly Stage and Shanmen.
However, an outdated craft, Ceramic Art of Pieces of Bowl, started to be used in renovations of temples in Taipei currently. Fashionably, Ceramic Art of Pieces of Bowl was used in renovations of Sanchuan Hall, Dragon Doorway, Tiger Doorway, Praying Hall, Ancient Buddha Pit, God of Prosperity Pit and Wall of Mazu’s Miracles in Guandu Temple. This big renovation is the main reason why Ceramic Art of Pieces of Bowl is the main characteristic of Guandu Temple. It is worth to notice that some outdated statuary of duī huā are still in Guandu Temple, such as (the back of) the front of Heavenly Stage and the gate of the library.
