When Ju was 15 years old, people in town hired the craftsman Li Chin-chuan to renovate the local Sea Goddess Temple. Ju's father, impressed with Li's skill, persuaded Li to take on his son as an apprentice. Ju ended up staying with Li for the three years and four months that make up a standard term of apprenticeship in Taiwan.
十五歲時，鎮上要替媽祖廟翻新，找來了雕刻師父李金川，朱李記見師父手藝好，就帶著十五歲的朱銘拜師學藝，展開三年四個月的學徒生涯。