Chen Hsi-huang (陳錫煌), 91, has resolved to preserve glove puppetry, or budaixi (布袋戲), from disappearing as an intangible cultural asset in Taiwan.
“As long as there are people who want to learn, I am willing to teach, no matter whether they are from Taiwan or abroad,” said Chen, who on Thursday was awarded the National Cultural Award for his life-long dedication to the craft of budaixi.
Chen, born in 1931, is the oldest son of master puppeteer Li Tien-lu (李天祿), although he assumed his mother’s surname because his parents married in a matriarchal culture.
Photo: CNA
Chen has for most of his life lived at the Chen Yue-ji Residence, or “Teacher’s mansion” as it is known locally, in Taipei’s Dalongdong (大龍峒) area.
Built in 1807 during the Qing Dynasty, the residence was a beacon of art and literature, Chen said, adding that it housed more than 100 families at its peak, compared with a dozen today.
The residence was designated as a national historic site in 2018.
Despite having fewer residents, the rooms and halls are always filled with beiguan (北管) music, a genre of traditional melody and theatrical performance prevalent from the 17th century to the middle of the 20th century, he said.
Apprentices of the Chen Hsi-huang Traditional Puppet Troupe (陳錫煌傳統掌中劇團), founded by Chen in 2008, practice drums, cymbals and the trumpet-like suona (嗩吶) in the residence’s compound, Chen said, adding that puppeteers also train there.
After graduating from elementary school, he joined his father’s troupe and traveled around performing, Chen said, adding that his father had little time to teach him, so he learned by observing and imitating.
A strict father, Li would reprimand him each time he said a line wrong or picked the wrong puppet, leading him to eventually leave his father’s troupe and join the Hsin Hsing Ku Puppet Show Troupe (新興閣掌中劇團) in southern Taiwan, where he “took refuge,” Chen said.
With his new troupe, Chen learned the difference between northern and southern puppet theaters, and picked up how to make finely crafted puppet clothes and accessories, he said.
“I like to observe,” Chen said, with his legs propped up on a chair and his eyes on the TV, which was showing The Jungle Book, a 2016 animated movie.
“I love watching animals and pay attention to the details of their movement,” Chen said, adding that these details are often his source of inspiration for performance design.
Besides considerable effort expended in training pupils, Chen said that he would replace the long-standing methods of storytelling used in puppet theaters with newer ones designed to suit the taste of modern audiences.
In the past, glove puppetry typically took place in front of temples, where passersby could come and go, and a single performance could last up to three-and-a-half hours, given that a narration of what had happened in earlier scenes would be repeated whenever the main character met a supporting character, he said.
People no longer have that much patience, so repetitive plots need to be cut out, Chen said, adding that sometimes he starts with a fight scene so that the show immediately captures everyone’s attention.
“My teacher teaches us everything he knows without hiding any techniques,” said Chen Kuan-lin (陳冠霖), 25, who has been a protege of Chen Hsi-huang since the eighth grade.
The effort to pass down glove puppetry is a race against time, as much craft know-how is difficult to transmit via text, so it needs to be done face to face, Chen Kuan-lin said.
The number of younger viewers has increased since director Yang Li-chou’s (楊力州) Red Box (紅盒子) — a movie that tells the stories of Chen Hsi-huang and his theater family — came out in 2018, he added.
“My teacher says that as long as there are theatergoers, we will strive to give the best performance, telling the stories to people who are interested in learning more about glove puppetry,” Chen Kuan-lin said.
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