Meigan cai paper carving carries on Hakka culture, Ye Changyu earns a cultural and creative master's degree at 72

Ye Changyu, 72 years old this year, is a graduating student of the Graduate Institute of Cultural Industries and Innovation Design at National United University. Graduating tomorrow, she stands out strikingly among the neatly lined-up crowd of uniformly youthful faces. Before retiring and pursuing her master's degree, she had worked in the financial industry for 46 years and had devoted herself to the creation and promotion of paper sculpture art for 15 years. A recent series of works titled "The Fragrance of Preserved Mustard Greens" is the research subject of her graduation thesis.

"The Fragrance of Preserved Mustard Greens" transforms a series of photographs by the renowned Miaoli photographer Xie Qijiong (jiong pronounced the same as jiong) about the harvesting and pickling of Hakka preserved mustard greens into new three-dimensional paper relief works. It not only enhances the original photographs' sense of depth and visual appeal, but the exquisitely three-dimensional jars and baskets of preserved mustard greens make it seem as though one can smell wafts of vegetable fragrance even through the framed glass.

Her daughter Wu Yingying, currently serving as director of the Alumni Office at National Taiwan Ocean University, said that her mother continuously takes it as her mission to pass on and promote paper sculpture art and Hakka culture, and further inspires everyone both inside and outside the family.

No. 6 of the "The Fragrance of Preserved Mustard Greens" series, the paper relief work , in which paper sculpture involves cutting down and stacking repeated materials, tests the paper sculptor's aesthetic sense, experience and cutting technique. (Provided by Ye Changyu)