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
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RSS