Yung Shing's Furniture Museum in Tainan is Also a Popular Tourist Destination

After moving most of its production lines to China, Yung Shing Furniture, a pioneering furniture manufacturer in Tainan, southern Taiwan, found itself at the perfect junction to realize a long-brewing ideal that not only serves the community, but also preserves, chronicles the furniture-making industry in Taiwan: to revamp the idle plant into a museum of furniture making.

With years of effort and the assistance from Y.L. Lu, doctorate in architecture, Yung Shing finally unveiled its dream project in 2005. The sign outside the building reads "Furniture Manufacturing Eco-Museum in Tainan," in fact a mistranslation of the Chinese; but once inside, one discovers that more care has been taken in its planning, construction than in the translation of the name, which should simply be "Museum of Furniture Making in Tainan." Besides attracting considerable attention from the government and others in the industry, the museum has also become a popular destination for tourists.

Thematic Displays

Spread over more than 108,000 square meters, the museum contains four showcases and three thematic areas. The four showcases display classical, modern Oriental, and ready-made furniture, as well as furniture crafts; while the three thematic areas are dedicated to a mini plantation, craftsmanship training and a technology evolution display, and an interactive carpentry workshop.

The classical pieces displayed are traditional, deeply-carved furniture typically from the Ching Dynasty, indigenous Taiwanese furniture made during the Ching Dynasty, pieces developed in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation, and contemporary Taiwanese furniture, all of which offer a snapshot of the evolution of the wooden furniture industry on the island.

The pieces in the modern Oriental furniture showcase are not only modern Oriental, but also introduce furniture-making woods and crafting, polishing techniques.

Displaying a wide range of rare antiques to popular home furnishings, the ready-made furniture showcase contains a variety of simple, sophisticated wooden furniture of modern, classical, local, international styles.

Contributing to Progress

Another area is the furniture forum, one dedicated to brainstorming and intellectual exchanges among craftsmen, artisans, and master designers, setting the stage for a rare opportunity for teamwork that may contribute to the progress of the industry.

The mini plantation is akin to a botanical garden that grows different, favored trees harvested as furniture-making woods, including beech, camphor, birch, oak, teak, varnish tree, rosewood, sandalwood, mahogany, Taiwan incense cedar, Taiwan yew, Taiwan ebony etc., offering a crash course in what materials are typically crafted into furniture.

The craftsmanship training area chronicles the evolution from traditional carpentry to advanced furniture manufacturing technologies. Yung Shing also periodically organizes seminars for industrial experts and furniture manufacturers to develop ways to promote the wooden furniture industry. This area is also a stage upon which master craftsmen and leading designers can lecture and share know-how, experience with apprentices, as well as enabling Yung Shing to help the furniture industry cultivate more talents.

The interactive carpentry workshop, as the name suggests, is equipped with furniture-making tools and equipment for interested visitors and aspiring furniture craftsmen to try first-hand woodcarving and furniture making. The museum invites interested people to sign up for the beginner classes. Yung Shing not only tells the story of furniture-making in Taiwan, but also builds an element of fun into the museum by allowing people to live the furniture-making experience.