President Chen Shui-bian (
Huang's second son, Huang Chun-hsiung (
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also attended the funeral to pay tribute to the folk arts master who was praised as a "treasure of the nation."
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
During the ceremony, head of the Government Information Office Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), Minister of Cultural Affairs Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and Yunlin County Council Speaker Su Chin-huang (蘇金煌) jointly draped Huang's coffin with the national flag.
Huang Hai-tai passed away at his home in Yunlin on Feb. 11 as a result of pulmonary edema caused by the flu. He celebrated his 107th birthday on Jan. 2. The Yunlin County Council passed a resolution designating the date as "Yunlin Hand Puppet Show Day" in recognition of his contribution to the development of hand puppet theater and related traditional folk arts in Taiwan.
Huang Hai-tai was born in 1901 in Hsiluo Township (
Huang Hai-tai, the father of eight sons and two daughters, was the creator of a popular hand puppet drama, Yunchou Hero, which was later transformed into a successful TV series by Huang Chun-hsiung.
Through the Huang family's efforts, classic hand puppet theater was last year officially declared part of Taiwan's national image.
In 1998, Huang Hai-tai was awarded by the Ministry of Education with the honorary title of folk arts master. In the following year, he won the Global Chinese Culture and Arts Award and a lifetime achievement award. He received the National Literary Award in 2000.
Huang Hai-tai's hand puppetry has helped to preserve several aspects of traditional Taiwanese culture, including theater, carving and embroidery.
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
The Civil Aviation Administration yesterday said that it is considering punishments for China Airlines (CAL) and Starlux Airlines for making hard landings and overworking their cabin crew when the nation was hit by Typhoon Kong-rey in October last year. The civil aviation authority launched an investigation after media reported that many airlines were forced to divert their flights to different airports or go around after failing to land when the typhoon affected the nation on Oct. 30 and 31 last year. The agency reviewed 503 flights dispatched by Taiwanese airlines during those two days, as well as weather data, flight hours
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Three people have had their citizenship revoked after authorities confirmed that they hold Chinese ID cards, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said yesterday. Two of the three people were featured in a recent video about Beijing’s “united front” tactics by YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) and Taiwanese rapper Chen Po-yuan (陳柏源), including Su Shi-en (蘇士恩), who displayed a Chinese ID card in the video, and taekwondo athlete Lee Tung-hsien (李東憲), who mentioned he had obtained a Chinese ID card in a telephone call with Chen, Liang told the council’s weekly news conference. Lee, who reportedly worked in
RSS