Su Qiaohui, the Democratic Progressive Party's New Taipei City mayoral candidate and legislator, recently released a video on the online community of her recent visit to Xinzhuang's "Xiangrenhe Drum Art Workshop" with President Lai Qingde. The two asked the third-generation master Wang Teng about the drum-making skills and the drum-making history of Xiangrenhe. They also witnessed the second-generation master Wang Xikun, the "national treasure in the world", personally playing the drum, showing the scene and momentum of wind, rain, thunder and lightning. Su said that after the Taishan factory was melted down in 2024, she accompanied Xiangrenhe to regain its footing. In the future, she also hopes to use city government resources to let more people see Xiangrenhe’s craftsmanship and let the world hear the voice of New Taipei and Taiwan’s craftsmanship.
Lai Qingde, Su Qiaohui, and DPP Secretary-General Xu Guoyong were recently guided by masters Wang Xikun and Wang Teng to get to know the ancient drums in the museum that have survived from the Japanese occupation era. They also admired the museum's treasure "painted temple drums with dragon and phoenix patterns" handmade by Xiang Renhe's founder "Atu Master" Wang Guizhi. The two put their ears close to the drum surface and heard a slight buzzing sound. Exclaiming about the exquisite drum making craftsmanship, Su Qiaohui also tried drumming. Su Qiaohui imitated Wang Teng's drumming method and showed a brisk rhythm with precise force. Lai Qingde hit the drum surface with a calm and steady rhythm. Wang Xikun and Wang Teng also presented a handmade "seller's drum". Lai Qiaohui laughed and said, "I may be better at playing this", which caused a lot of laughter.
Su Qiaohui said that Xiangrenhe is the top hand-made drum workshop in the country. Xiangrenhe's drums can be seen in major temples in the country and domestic and foreign performance groups. They are important cultural assets of Taiwan and New Taipei. When she was a child, she went to the store to see the drum-making process of Xiangrenhe. Later, she was fortunate to become a legislator and had the opportunity to connect many resources for Xiangrenhe. In the future, she hopes that more people will see Xiangrenhe not only through the power of the city government. The drum-making craftsmanship also hopes to connect Temple Street, Sports Park, China-Hong Kong Pavilion and Honghui Plaza to develop a "tourist cross corridor", with temple culture as the core, combined with local shops, to develop special activities to sell local culture and promote regional development, so that outsiders can better understand Xinzhuang's rich cultural heritage. Next year will be the centenary of Xiangren Temple, and Su Qiaohui made an appointment to come with the president next year.
Lai Qingde pointed out that he was grateful to Wang Xikun, the "national treasure in the world", for maintaining his exquisite drum making skills, and praised Wang Teng, the third generation successor, for using new methods and new technologies to continue to spread traditional skills. "Doing one thing to the best and being willing to keep doing it is Taiwan's precious craftsman spirit." Lai Qingde said that he also hopes that Su Qiaohui can lead the city government team in the future to let more people see New Taipei's craftsman spirit.
Wang Teng thanked Su Qiaohui for helping find resources after the fire and helping Xiangrenhe start anew, so that Xiangrenhe could continue to adhere to the craftsmanship and continue to spread the precious craftsmanship.
