Gods’ Garment Embroidery Factory

Religion is one of the essential cultures in Taiwan. A variety of traditional folk deities are placed in the temples or in the homes for worshipping or family blessing. The splendid colors and delicate embroidery deities’ garments have become public attention. Seventy percent of Taiwan’s deities’ garments are produced in the “Shen-Fu, Creative of Embroidery” factory in Puzi, Chiayi County. (嘉義縣朴子市) Once we entered the factory, I was attracted by all the vivid colors and cute mini deities’ clothes on the display counter. From there, Taiwanese traditional folk religious deities’ garments are no longer far away from me to feel, touch, and own. “Shen-Fu Creative of Embroidery” (神斧) has changed my look of Taiwanese deities garments from a mystery religious piece to a gorgeous art piece.

Shen-Fu is operated by the third generation of the family. Three brothers of the family utilized their creative skills to develop all kinds of deities’ clothes, hats, belts, and flags for different events and needs. They not only pass on the traditional religious, but also make it to attract younger generations to discover the fun side of religious.

I found the mini deities clothes are the cutest. According to the legend, the garments that deities worn can bring luck and expel evils. Parents ask for these worn clothes in the temples for their children to keep for these reasons. These mini garments are made with different colors for different deities. I bought a “Good luck orange mini deity clothes” (NT150/$5). They told me the orange clothes can be worn by all kinds of deities. Each mini clothes comes with a description, a cute container, and a well-design store bag.

Here is the factory in the back making the embroidery garments. The process is pretty complicated, which includes drafting, picking colors, sewing, hand embroidery, coating, sewing again, and quality control.

The workers are so friendly, but busy. Many buyers were there, workers took time to assist each one of them in selecting the garment to fit their needs. Generally speaking, the garment of the deity can be replaced every 10 years or for different events. The worn clothes usually are placed in the back of the cars to protect driver’s safety. Do not toss the garments as they said; they are better being off to burn.

Here are the various accessories for the deities, such as hats, belts, flag… and so on.

The customer brings its own deity statue here. He or she can either choose the already made garment or the custom made by carefully measuring the size, heights, and widths of the deity from the Master. Customer can also select the accessories. Masters will carefully put them on.

I found Shen-Fu products very creative, fun, attractive, and impressive. This factory not only promotes its business in order to attract tourists, but also turns this place into a local folk art and culture exhibition center.

Shen Fu website

Address: No.211, Bowen St., Puzi City, Chiayi County

Telephone: 05-3706384 Read More