The Belief in Craft: Pigeon Whistle Craftsman

Reporter/Provider - TaiwanPlus
Publish Date -

We know about pigeon racing, but have you ever heard of " Pigeon Whistle"? Pigeon Whistle is a weight-bearing competition for pigeons popular in Tainan and Chiayi, and originated from the leisure time of the farmers in ancient times. The participants will tie different weights of pigeons to the end of the pigeons, and after the pigeons fly into the sky, they will see if the pigeons are still there when they fly back. The weight points system will be used to determine the winner. Pigeon whistles are mostly handmade, and the only pigeon whistle maker in Taiwan, Mr. Hsieh, has been working for over 30 years. In the beginning, Hsieh makes the pigeon whistle only out of curiosity. He slowly understood the skills of craftsmanship on his own, and now provides the demand for Chiayi and Tainan region. The small pigeon whistle is very labor-intensive. Adapting the size of the pigeon is a lot of work, it also needs to apply the mechanics of fluids to make the pigeon transport more effort. In addition, there is also a particularity and an important part of the production of the pigeon whistle. As the wind enters the hole, it will ring to indicate to the participants the approximate location of the pigeon. While Mr. Hsieh has made pigeon whistles for most of his life, he is not weary of them. He's the one pigeon master left in Taiwan, and he thinks the pigeon whistle will eventually disappear. "What should I do? If I'm gone, I'll leave it to future generations to worry about! Although he makes light of it, he spent most of his time on the pigeon whistle and decided not to retire. Day after day, he made those crafts and left more pigeon whistles in his way.


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