Compunction and grief written all over his face, Chris Huang (黃文擇) talked about the large fire that hit Pili International Multimedia’s studio on Thursday, in which more than 2,000 puppets used in the performance and filming of Taiwanese traditional puppet theater, known as budaixi (布袋戲), perished.
Among those destroyed in the fire were the original prototypes for Su Huan-chen (素還真) and I Yeh-shu (一頁書), two of the main characters in a well-known Pili budaixi (霹靂布袋戲) series: Su is known for his wisdom and martial arts skills, while I Yeh-shu is his loyal and trustworthy friend.
“Money can easily replace most of the losses, the sets and the electric equipment that were destroyed in the fire, but those precious original puppet prototypes such as Su Huan-chen cannot be replaced,” Huang, the general manager of Pili International Multimedia, said in an interview on Thursday. “They represent a form of cultural loss.”
PHOTO: LIN KUO-HSIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Huang comes from the nation’s most prominent hand puppet theater family, whose members — including his late grandfather, Huang Hai-tai (黃海岱), and his father, Huang Chun-hsiung (黃俊雄) — have continued to find new ways to develop and improve on the traditional artistry of performing with wooden puppets.
Chris Huang, together with his brother, Vincent Huang (黃強華), later took up the family trade with a younger generation’s vision and passion, forming Pili Multimedia and propelling the company into the modern era by adopting Hollywood production techniques, as well as computer animated special effects and digital sound effects, taking the traditional artform to a whole new level.
For more than a decade, Vincent Huang wrote scripts for the plays, while Chris Huang took responsibility for voice dubbing.
Photo: LIN KUO-HSIEN, TAIPEI TIMES
Pili’s television channel has a record of more than 3.5 million viewers and helped Taiwanese puppet theater go international when one of its shows aired on the Disney Channel in the US.
“Budaixi represents a form of Taiwanese cultural heritage, and that it is the most important form of traditional art in Yunlin County,” Chris Huang said.
Deeply attached to the puppets, he said some of the older puppets were placed in a storehouse with 24-hour air conditioning to regulate the temperature and help preserve them.
“I still cannot believe that the puppets have been lost in a fire,” he said.
Chris Huang said it was impossible to estimate the losses in monetary terms, adding that there was no way to restore the cultural damage from the loss of 500 original handmade puppets.
“I just hope that this fire has drawn the public’s attention to the traditional art of budaixi and that the government can work harder to promote and protect this ancient art,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS