Alive-The Year 2000
H: 33cm D:11cm
Holding Up Heaven
H: 50 cm , D: 42 cm

The pate-de-verre production method used in glass making follows the same principles as the pate-de-verre methods used to make bronze during the Shang and Zhou periods of China. Liuli Gongfang found the capability to sculpt the exact desired image offered by the pate-de-verre method properly suited the preciseness of Chinese realism. They thus cast aside the glass-blowing methods common in Taiwan at the time, and put all of their efforts toward developing the pate-de-verre production method. In 1987 there existed a studio in France with a history of more than one hundred years of operation. At the time, it was the only studio in the world capable of mastering the ancient technique of pate-de-verre production, a process which originated in Egypt, and used in Art Nouveau. Liuli Gongfang's attitude was "if the French can do it, so can we."

Over the next three and a half years, the original founders of Liuli Gongfang invested NT$75 million (US$2 million). During that time, they thought of nothing except how to implement their vision. Starting from scratch, Liuli Gongfang went through the initial hardships of inexperience as they continually researched and learned from their mistakes. They watched many of their pieces go up in flames or shatter, and their electric kiln brake down, but despite these blows they vowed to never give up. These and other setbacks made Liuli Gongfang incur a heavy load of debt. After Yang Hui-Shan's personal savings were exhausted, she mortgaged her own house for a loan, followed by her father's, her brother's, and her sister's homes. But she and Chang Yi only had one thought in mind: this one small part of Chinese history had to be preserved.