30-second overview: Li Mei-shu wasn't just a prize-winning painter from the Taiwan Exhibition, but Taiwan's only artist to direct traditional temple reconstruction with academic aesthetics. From 1947, he spent 36 years overseeing the reconstruction of Sanxia Zushih Temple, creating an unprecedented fusion of Western and Eastern art that earned a rural temple the title "Oriental Palace of Art."
One day in 1947, painter Li Mei-shu, who had returned from Japan three years earlier, was discussing restoration work inside Sanxia Zushih Temple when he happened to pick up a fortune slip: "A true person appears, like a jade qilin, heavenly flowers and dragon spouts, spring blossoms at the summit." The 45-year-old artist, fully trained in Western academic art, decided to interpret this as divine instruction and accepted the local community's commission to oversee the temple's reconstruction.
This decision would rewrite Taiwan's art history.
From Elementary School Teacher to Taiwan Exhibition Winner
Li Mei-shu (1902-1983) was born into a grain merchant family in Sanxia. At 17, he organized the first campus-wide art exhibition at Taipei Normal School. In 1920, when sculptor Huang Tu-shui became the first Taiwanese artist to be selected for the Imperial Art Exhibition with his work "Mountain Boy," young artists including Li Mei-shu were profoundly inspired.
After graduating from normal school in 1922, Li Mei-shu taught at Ruifang Public School. He wanted to study art in Japan but faced his father's opposition. In 1924, he joined the "Summer Art Workshop" organized by Ishikawa Kin'ichiro, where he befriended fellow artists Ni Chiang-huai, Chen Zhi-qi, Li Shi-qiao, and Chen Cheng-po.
In 1927, Li Mei-shu was selected for the first Taiwan Art Exhibition with his work "Still Life," followed by "Sanxia Back Street" in the second exhibition. These consecutive selections forced his family to acknowledge his artistic talent, and his doctor brother Liu Qing-gang even opposed family opinion to finance all his study expenses.
In November 1928, Li Mei-shu sailed to Japan with Chen Cheng-po, attending Kawazui Art School and Shinjuku Doushusha to practice sketching in preparation for the Tokyo School of Fine Arts entrance exam. In March 1929, he passed on his first attempt and enrolled in the Western Painting Department, studying under renowned masters including Naghara Kotaro, Kobayashi Mango, and Okada Saburo-suke.
💡 Did you know?
In 1935, Li Mei-shu won first place in the Taiwan Exhibition's Special Selection with "Lady Resting in the Garden," featuring his nephew's wife Liu Zeng-mei as the model. This painting remains a masterpiece of Taiwan's plein air realist painting.
After graduating and returning to Taiwan in 1934, Li Mei-shu continued creating while co-founding the "Taiyang Art Association" with Yang San-lang and others. Unlike pure painters, he simultaneously engaged in local politics, serving as Sanxia Village councilor, street chief, town representative chairman, farmers' association director, and Taipei County councilor.
An Unprecedented Experiment in East-West Fusion
In 1946, Sanxia Zushih Temple needed repairs after wartime bomb damage. Li Mei-shu, then acting Sanxia street chief, was chosen to oversee the reconstruction. While local residents initially planned a simple two-to-three-year "repair," under Li Mei-shu's direction, the temple underwent massive reconstruction planned to take 24 years.
The project ultimately lasted 36 years, remaining unfinished when Li Mei-shu died in 1983.
Li Mei-shu's direction of traditional temple reconstruction with his Western art education background was unprecedented in Taiwan's art history. He categorized temple decorations into three types: works he designed and had traditional craftsmen carve; sketches provided by artist friends; and works created by art students under his guidance.
The most famous are the "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to Plum Blossoms" stone pillars in the main hall. Li Mei-shu abandoned traditional dragon pillar designs, requiring craftsmen to redesign pillars with 50 uniquely-shaped birds each, using bird identification guides as reference. Craftsman Chen Tian recalled: "Teacher Li required us to abandon traditional patterns and carve each bird through observational sketching."
📝 Curator's Note
This marked a turning point in Taiwan's craft history—traditional craftsmen, for the first time under academic artist guidance, shifted from "copying ancient methods" to "observational realism." Li Mei-shu indirectly introduced Western sketching concepts to folk craftsmanship.
Li Mei-shu invited contemporary painters including Lin Yu-shan, Guo Xue-hu, Chen Jin, and Chen Hui-kun to create sketches for stone relief carvings. This collection represented a complete cross-section of Taiwan's ink painting circles from the 1950s-70s.
More innovatively, he brought National Taiwan Academy of Arts sculpture students into the temple to create reliefs and sculptures of deities. Students including He Heng-xiong, Huang Jin-zhong, and Lin Wen-de created reliefs like "Confucius Asking About Rites from Laozi" and "Yue Fei's Loyal Service to Country," presenting traditional themes through realistic techniques, becoming the temple's most distinctive features.
The Struggle Between Aesthetic Ideals and Reality
Li Mei-shu's commitment to the temple bordered on obsession. He personally drew design blueprints and insisted on pursuing perfection, preferring slow progress to compromised quality. Former National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts director Huang Cai-lang compared him: "Li Mei-shu's passion and perseverance rivaled Michelangelo's work on the Sistine Chapel."
But this dedication also brought controversy. Repeated delays and escalating costs turned local support into skepticism. In 1982, when Sanxia township office planned to build a bridge in front of the temple to solve traffic problems, Li Mei-shu strongly opposed it, believing the bridge would destroy the temple's scenic beauty. Scholar Li Qian-lang and others supported him, ultimately forcing the township to change from a vehicle bridge to a pedestrian bridge.
After Li Mei-shu's death, the temple management committee began purchasing imported stone pillars from China, resulting in two different carving styles coexisting in the same temple, and later controversies over imported stone railings.
Artistic Legacy Transcending Time
Li Mei-shu's reconstructed Sanxia Zushih Temple became Taiwan's only traditional temple directed by an academic artist, differing from both traditional master craftsman-led ancient architecture and later concrete temples mixed with Western techniques, creating a unique existence.
✦ "This is not just a temple, but an unprecedented experimental ground in Taiwan's art history—exploring how to fuse tradition and modernity on the foundation of local faith."
Li Mei-shu's painting style evolved through three periods: early "Plein Air Period" (1924-1948) with works like "Lady Resting in the Garden" and "Weaving" depicting Taiwanese customs; middle "Taiwan Native Period" returning to authentic visual experience; and late "Return to Nature Period" emphasizing harmony of light and color.
In his later years, he taught at National Taiwan Academy of Arts, founding and directing the Sculpture Department in 1967, combining academic education with folk craftsmanship. Student Huang Yuan-long recalled: "Teacher Li was extremely demanding, hoping we would become independent artists rather than mindless craftsmen."
Li Mei-shu died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at National Taiwan University Hospital on February 6, 1983, at age 80. Today, Sanxia houses the Li Mei-shu Memorial Gallery (established 1990) and the annual "Mei-shu Month" art festival in March, continuing his artistic spirit.
Li Mei-shu proved through his life that artists need not maintain distance from society. He participated in his era through painting and transformed faith through aesthetics, leaving behind an irreplaceable "Oriental Palace of Art."
References
- Li Mei-shu - Wikipedia
- Li Mei-shu Memorial Gallery
- Sanxia Zushih Temple - Taiwan Religious Culture Map
- National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts Archive
- Tang Huang-chen, "Sanxia · Realism · Li Mei-shu," Lion Art Books, 1998
- Zhuang Bo-he, "Stone Carving Art of Sanxia Zushih Temple," Lion Art Magazine No. 107, 1980