Stone Sculpture Warrior - Lu, Chih-Sung
[Carving out hopes and God’s divine nature]
Now that the memories of childhood sadness and immature thoughts have subsided, I’m striving to create stone sculptures of my life.

Lu, Chih-Sung

Fighting to mend his defect life
    Lu, Chih-Sung, now working as a lecturer at the Department of Crafts and Creative Design, National University of Kaohsiung, has suffered from pediatric paralysis with severe disability since childhood. His father earned a living in sea fishing, and his family was not well off. Chih-Sung could only crawl on the floor then, looking at the neighbor kids running and jumping merrily around. The children’s ridicule attitudes and the unintentional speeches spoken by the relatives and friends had once made him lose hope for the future.

However, with encouragement from the teacher, Chih-Sung continued to pursue studying, thus cultivating rich knowledge and skills to recreate and redevelop a new Chih-Sung that everybody loves.

From honing in a shell processing factory to the achievements of stone carving creations, Chih-Sung can carve the ordinary stones to compensate their imperfections, allowing the sculptures to leap on the art stage and mending his defect life with determination and perseverance. Chih-Sung is trying to “heal” and “beautify” his spiritual soul in the process of creating his sculptures.

Carving out hopes with knives and tears
Although Chih-Sung faced an adverse life to experience many grievances due to polio and inconstancy in human affection, he was not afraid of difficulties and conquered the low ebb of life. He defeated the congenital dissatisfaction, painstakingly completed a master’s degree in Tungfang Design University, worked as a lecturer at the National University of Kaohsiung, married and settled down. He has won the National Craft Awards and Taiwan Crafts Workshop and dedicated to sharing his struggling story to encourage the public.

Although Chih-Sung has now grown up, he still wanted to fulfill his youthful dream, i.e., a desire to pursue knowledge. Currently, he has completed a master’s degree in the Department of Product Design, National University of Kaohsiung. He adheres to the concept of “compatibility between life and art” and “coexistence between inspiration,” while paying attention to “changes in space and reality” and “performance of the essence of life.” He hopes to promote his honing and skills in the past 30 years of creation to advocate and share the idea of “Stone Singing” through using a thesis teaching and autobiography approach. He has carved out magnificent and unique stone teapots to show his love and hopes, expressing his gratitude towards those who have helped him, and offering charity teaching for the vulnerable people. He deserves to be praised as a “Stone Sculpture Warrior,” and stood out among 2,723 recommended candidates from all over the world and earned him the “22nd Fervent Global Love of Lives Award 2019” from Taiwan’s Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation.

The Foundation welcomes all walks of life around the world at any time to recommend candidates of life warriors who possess the contexts of endeavors, love, braveness, and achievement.
 
The Fervent Global Love of Lives Medal - Chou Ta-Kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation, Taiwan
Recommended hotline: 886-2-29178770
Fax: 886-2-29178768
Address: 3F, No. 52, Mingde Road, Xindien District, New Taipei City 231, Taiwan
Website: http://www.ta.org.tw
Email: ta88ms17@gmail.com

Stands up from the ground
Chih-Sung, who was born in Penghu on August 18, 1964, suspected that he was a defective product created by God. He once blamed God for being unfair, and why would his parents give birth to him, letting him crawl on the ground and living with so many injustices and complaints? He should have a carefree childhood.

Before the age of 16, he used to crawl on the ground with both hands instead of feet, and subjected to despise eyes and taunts from the children around him. Coupled with the unintentional verbal injuries spoken by his relatives and friends, he always wanted to give up his life. Unhappiness in his heart had swallowed up his hopes for the future.

He suffered from polio when he was 10 months old. With a physically disabled child in a poverty-stricken family, his parents were treated with strange eyes from others in the village. Under the influence of the superstitious theory of causation, the country people thought it was retaliation from the last life. What he didn’t understand was why he has to bear the “adverse payback” even though he has done nothing.

His hometown at Penghu, the offshore island of Taiwan has relatively backward development, inconvenient traffic, and underdeveloped medical facilities. These factors had hindered him from receiving appropriate education and medical care and generating a difficult situation for him to study.

Worried that he would be taken care of by close kin in the future, his parents always reminded him to be tolerant and not capricious, and should get along with his brothers and sisters well as his life would have to depend on their help in the future.

The heartfelt reminder from his parents has allowed him, now already 50 years old, to keep a close knit among his brothers and sisters. There are indeed many things in daily life that he needs somebody to help, which reminds him that everyone must help each other, and he would also help others when he has the ability and opportunity.

He Never Gives Up
To date, he still remembers his sixth-grade class teacher, Wu Mei Bei, a young female teacher who had just graduated from a college then, making heart-to-heart chats with him when he was left alone during the physical education classes or extracurricular activities, and enlightening him to be pessimistic and about things he never thought of.

Confused and craved to know about his future, he asked the teacher: “What can I do in the future for a man like me?”

The teacher gave him a book titled “He Never Gives Up.” After reading it, he thought it was an inspirational story. The teacher said that it is a true story and also cited many foreign examples of people with disabilities who have overcome various hurdles and become successful figures.

The teacher hoped he would never give up studying. Only with good knowledge and talents would he have the opportunity to become a confident person to live in dignity. Those words from the teacher have deeply imprinted on his mind, wishing that he could accomplish this ideal someday.

Strives for schooling and sows the seed of art
His parents did not intend to let him continue education, but he fought very hard and won the opportunity to continue studying in junior high school.

His father kept on bearing the hardships to look after him for three more years, carrying him on an old bicycle to and fro the school under the scouring sun during the summer and strong bittering cold northeast monsoon season in winter. It was already tough to fish in the sea, and yet his father had to take him to school on time. He felt very guilty and hoped that he could learn to live up to his father’s hard work.

Although he studied very seriously, he didn’t seem to get a glimpse of the dawn of hope.

In the 2^nd semester of the 3^rd year in junior high school, he got anxious about his next move with the approaching graduation. Would he obey his parent’s arrangement or venture into his imagination courageously.

In the end, he went against his parents’ decision to make his own choice, whether it was good or bad. He wanted to find a place suitable for him to face the fate he chose!

He has never attended a handicraft class before, and yet he still received excellent results from the teacher. Although he couldn’t operate the machines in school for the work assigned by his teacher in class, he could finish his work using his father’s hand tools instead.

The teacher also guided him in the drawing class. He did his homework seriously and received high recognition from the teacher. He looked forward to seeing some success in the school’s study and finding a way out for himself.

However, it was easier said than done. What he learned in junior high school was basic education, which he thought was very limited and not what he expected.

To avoid living without hope continuously, he broke the silence and boldly asked the craft teacher for help. The teacher found four jobs he might be suitable.

He decided to take risks in the unknown world. If he succeeded, he might be able to support himself. If he failed, at least he had tried hard. He thanked Lee Fu Hua, the teacher of Siyu Junior High School, Penghu County, for giving him a choice that has changed his life.

Shell processing vocational factory
After graduating from junior high school, he left Penghu with simple belongings and blessings from his parents and family members and landed on the unfamiliar Taiwan island. His goal was very humble then, merely to support himself with his strength. Didn’t want to increase the burden of his family anymore, he prayed to heaven after coming to a strange place called Kaohsiung County Ocean Shell Park to learn the techniques of shell processing.

It is a shell processing vocational factory to train people with disabilities. When first arriving at the foreign land, he felt unwell. Being the youngest apprentice in the factory, he didn’t understand anything and didn’t dare to ask.

When he felt homesick in the evening, he couldn’t help but think of writing a letter to his mother to bring him back. He was afraid that the elders in that strange environment would bully him and frightened what would happen in the days to come?

However, he thought that if his parents come to take him home, wouldn’t he become a burden to the family forever? The day dragged on, he gradually got adjusted to the factory’s life and slowly got into his apprenticeship life.

The craftsmanship he could learn in the shell production factory was very limited as the work assigned for each trainee is fixed, and he couldn’t learn the comprehensive production technology. After staying there for a year, he only managed to scratch the surface of the craft. He began to worry that he would accomplish nothing if he carried on like this.

He chose to leave the barrier-free environmental training program specially planned for the disabled and went to the outside world alone to find more severe challenges. He had worked in a shell grinding environment without dust collectors (deliberately inhaling a lot of dust and covering his whole body with shell powder), did work without being paid, and worked endless chores that would stretch through the night. In wintertime, he had bathed in a roofless bathroom that would cause white steam to emit from his body, starved and endured in freezing temperature, and even lost contact with his family. He had a clear goal to learn some skills.

Carves out hopes and gratitude
Fortunately, the Creator did not give up on him, and the God who loves him still cares about him. At age 20, he had already finished his apprenticeship. After returning to the Ocean Shell Park, he was eventually accepted as a sculptor and designer who could undertake the carving tasks alone. He thought that his excellent skills could be useful in the workplace and put him in a prominent position in the company.

However, his good fortune didn’t last long. The shell processing industry was subjected to competition from low-cost countries which stole all the orders, and they were all unemployed.

With a good foundation in carving, he quickly found and engaged in a similar nature of engraving work on such materials like jade, acrylic, coral, animal bone, etc.

In such a multi-faceted world of carving, he then found the direction of life in carving stone teapots.

He loves such creative work. Not only can it express his ideas and imaginations, but also condense the thoughts flowing in his life and the excitement in his heart while engaging in “stone carving creation.” Every piece of work has a story attached to his emotion and part of his life.

Using the ordinary stones, he can carve to compensate their imperfections, allowing them to leap to the art stage and mending the missing parts of his life with determination and perseverance. In the process of creating his sculptures, he has healed his spiritual pains with disability.

He spent more than 30 years working diligently to create fine art pieces, and his creations also stood out in the “National Art Exhibition,” the “Provincial Art Exhibition,” and the “Nanying Art Exhibition,” and won the “National Craft Awards” for two consecutive sessions. He also received the “5^th Golden Eagle Award” from the Ministry of the Interior, and recognition from The Ministry of Culture to award him the honor of “Taiwan Crafts Workshop.” His creations are included in the art collections, allowing him to share his joy of creations to the art world.

His stone carving creations have caught the attention and courage from the media. The school invited him to give a life education testimony. He has also been hired by the university to teach stone carving skills. He can already support himself to defeat the innate dissatisfaction and even exceeded his expectations. He thanks God for giving him a free sky and allowing him to fly in the air with both hands.

Owns a family of love
He often conducts self-exploration: “What do you want?” He replied to himself: “Besides doesn’t want to be a useless person, he wants to have a home and his own business; he also wishes to have marriage, love, children, and a family to love with.”

At the same time, there is a (negative) voice that will tell him: “Look at you! You’re only good at supporting yourself!” Then, another (positive) voice will encourage him: “As long as you want, you’ll get it. If you don’t want it, you’ll get nothing.” These two emotions kept on fighting in his heart, and he chose to head towards a positive direction.

At the age of 20, he took the courage to pursue a girl he liked. After three years of interaction, she persuaded her family to let them get married and didn’t get any objection. Like children playing a role-playing game, they began to build a family by first renting a small room, and then have a decent house on their own and a child. Now he has a partner to accompany him to challenge the rough path of life.

Together, they worked hard on the shell processing business, went up to the mountains in search of stones and materials for creating stone sculptures, and sold them around. They finally teamed up with the head office of TenRen’s Tea in Taipei, helping him to explore the market of his stone teapots.

In a series of exhibition activities, Chih-Sung’s wife acts as a curator and an exhibitor. Whenever Chih-Sung receives an award, he always hopes his wife would accompany him to receive the award on the stage, but she would refuse due to shyness. Whenever TV news likes to interview her, she would also reluctant to be interviewed and filmed. When the President summoned Chih-Sung and his wife, she preferred to keep a low profile and only helped Chih-Sung with the preparation work.

Time flies and 30 years have passed, Chih-Sung’s children have already graduated from college, and his elder son has also got married and has children on his own, making him a grandfather now. Chih-Sung thought he has already enriched his life! At the age of 50, he could have led a leisure life to look after his grandchildren and create something whenever he wants to.

Continues to the next level
However, the words from his 6^th grade primary school teacher keep on echoing in Chih-Sung’s memory: “If you have good knowledge, you can become a confident person to live in dignity.”

Chih-Sung has always wanted to accomplish his youthful dream, i.e., a desire to pursue knowledge.

To date, Chih-Sung has returned to school to study. Not only did he complete a master’s degree, but also served as a lecturer at the National University of Kaohsiung to narrate his creative ideas solemnly. He wants to spread the love he has spent over the past 30 years through a promotion of carving skills, thesis presentation, teaching, and his “Stone Singing” autobiography.

Thank the Creator for creating love
A few years ago, the polio syndrome started to ruthlessly erode Chih-Sung’s body again, causing him to become a patient who needs to report to the hospital every month. In addition to his mobility inconvenience, he also suffered from pains in his hands, spine, and joints.

Chih-Sung prayed to God not to give him too many pains, not before he has finished his academic research, and not to let his wife suffer also.

Chih-Sung begs God for giving him less pain because he intends to write down what he has learned and the practical creation techniques he has developed over the past decades. He also wants to narrate the untapped energy and the growth he has painstakingly struggled in his life. To accomplish these tasks, he still needs a lot of spiritual strength.

After so many ups and downs, he has only managed to fulfill a small achievement. Chih-Sung thanks the Creator for giving him love and implanting firm confidence in his inner heart to face the challenges of life, presenting him with the courage to walk through the shadows with both hands.

Looking back over the past years, Chih-Sung wants to analyze and record how he overcame the adverse conditions of life, how he strived to fulfill his dreams in the past. He still feels that the journey he has gone through is precious.

I hope to share how I endured through the adverse life with friends who also experience similar sufferings as I am, telling everybody to let out their positive energy of life together.

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