Taiwan Today

In Cheng Chu-hui's Ming Huang Tsa Lu, which records anecdotes from the reign of Emperor Hsuan Tzung (713-755) of the Tang Dynasty, the ap­pearance of this poem is evidence that the string puppet show was already in existence.

Stories vary on the origin of the ancient art. Lieh Tze, a book of philosophy, states: "A legend says that during the reign of Emperor Mu (1001-952 B.C.) of the Chou Dynasty, a worker named Yen Shih created puppets able to dance."

A legend recorded in Yueh Fu Tsa Lu indicated that the marionette show originated while Emperor Liu Pang (247-195 B.C., founder of the Han Dynasty) was under siege by Mo Tu (son of Tou Man, the chieftain of the Huns).

Tu Yu Tung Tien notes: "Puppets were made for dancing performances. The shows were originally performed for funerals, and it was not until the declin­ing years of the Han Dynasty that puppets began to appear on happy occasions." Later, the art form spread to many parts of China, accommodating to local languages, music, and customs.

No matter when and how the Chinese puppet show started, it became generally popular in the Tang Dynasty and occupied an important position in Chinese drama. In the Sung Dynasty, the folk art reached its zenith and new variations sprang up. All together, ancient China offered string puppets, tsou hsien (walking-on-thread) puppets, stick puppets, firework puppets, human pup­pets, and water puppets.

In Taiwan, "puppet show" particular­ly refers to the string-puppet show (kue lei hsi) , a form somewhat more com­plicated, less direct, and – maybe - more expensive in time and labor to create. The string-puppet show presents the most delicate and complex motion in the puppeteer's art.

String puppets came to Taiwan from the southern part of Fukien Province, where they became popular during the beginning years of the Southern Sung Dynasty. Taiwan's string puppet theater, therefore, has inherited very old traditions and still follows the old customs.

Taiwan's puppet troupes derive from two different schools. One, the pei pai (northern school) is centered in Han County, northern Taiwan. Most northern group performances are present in Keelung, Taipei, and Taoyuan. The nan pai (southern school), takes Tainan as its center, and its performances take place mostly in Tainan, southern Taiwan.

The nan pai tradition, deriving mainly from Chuanchou, Fukien Province, limits performances to the birthday of the Jade Emperor, Ruler of Heaven, which falls on the 9th day of the First Moon, and to wedding ceremonies - to appease the gods. Otherwise a puppet troupe is seldom invited to put on a show. At wedding ceremonies, the performances symbolize the obtaining of Heaven's blessing for the happy union of husband and wife.

Traditions of the northern school were introduced originally from Changchou, and performances are designed especially for (1) Dissipation of calamities and expelling evil spirits. Whenever fires, or traffic, mining or drowning accidents, or suicides occur, local residents may invite a string-puppet show troupe to "suppress fire," "clear roads," "walk through the dark mining shaft" and "subjugate spirits." (2) Appeasement of wandering spirits on the Ghost Festival, the 15th day of the Seventh Moon. (3) The opening ceremonies at the gate of a temple, newly constructed, to drive out evil spirits. (4) The clearing of lonely ghosts from a village during the Chinese New Year holidays, to avoid harm to the lives and property of the townspeople.

Puppet shows were first introduced into Ilan County, in the middle of the 19th Century. Now, three such troupes exist in the area - Fu Lung Hsuan, Hsieh Fu Hsuan, and Hsin Fu Hsuan. All claim to have existed for over 100 years and emphasize that their "trunks" were brought over by their forebears from the mainland. Moreover, each claims to have been descended from the dominant line of mainland performers.

At 65, Lin Tsan-cheng is now head of the Hsin Fu Hsuan. He recollects that, while he was very young, his father Lin Fu-lai learned to manipulate marionettes from a person called "Honesty," who died after the Japanese occupied Taiwan. Since Honesty was only an amateur, Lin Fu-lai then formally became a student of master puppeteer Shan Chu Hsien (The Boar God), who taught him how to put on a complete show.

The traditional string-puppet troupe takes the family as its basic staff, though, sometimes, hands are recruited from outside. These extra helping hands may come to work constantly for a marionette troupe, but never really belong to the organization.

The show hands are divided into those attending to the chien chang (front stage) and hou chang (back stage). Chien chang members number two or three, all of them family. Besides manipulating marionettes, the front stage hands take charge of the chu shua (exorcising evil spirits) ceremony.

While a string-puppet play itself is in progress, front stage manipulators take up the tasks of tou shou (master), erh shou (second hand), and san shou (third hand). In addition to manipulating the marionettes, master and erh shou sing the lines of their agile dolls. The san shou is responsible for forwarding puppets and accessories.

During the ritual to drive away evil spirits, the front stage members take over the roles of Taoist priests. The tou shou acts as head priest, the erh shou and san shou as his helpers. The tou shou is the one who fights with the ghosts face to face. It is said that if a tou shou loses this battle, the puppet in his hand (a depiction of Chung Kuei, a deity believed to protect people from evil spirits) will be destroyed by the ghosts. Worse still, the tou shou himself will also die eventually. Therefore, the puppeteer who also plays the role of exorcist must be confident of high attainments in that art.

Before a show, the troupe members place two trunks of marionettes on the right side of the stage. When they open these boxes they can easily hang the pup­pets, one by one, on the first bamboo pole. The marionettes for the intended show are hung on the second or third bamboo pole. Three puppets Jesters, Ta Wang Yeh, Ear Wang Yeh, and San Wang Yeh, are always hung behind an altar with offerings. They are the gods of the marionettes. Before every show, a short ceremony takes place backstage. A ritual is performed to kai kuang (open the eyes) of the puppets: to give them souls and turn them into spiritual beings. At the end of the ritual, joss sticks are inserted in a censer on the middle of the table.

Back stage - in the left corner - the remaining two trunks, containing the musical instruments are positioned. After the instruments are removed, the empty trunks become the musicians' chairs. Seated in order, from the altar, are the master drummer, gong player, string instrument player, and the sona blower.

In center stage hangs a screen on which are positioned fabric paintings in sharp perspective of such scenes as imperial courts, forests, caves, and streets. Changing a scene is like turning a paint­ing on a wall. The screen stands chest high to the puppeteers. A microphone, at the level of the puppeteers' shoulders, is hung on the upper frame of the screen. Two smaller screens, hung on each side of the front stage, serve only to block the view to back stage.

Marionette faces are specially carved and painted to depict live major roles - males, young females, mask faces, and clownish roles. The back of a puppet head is bald and empty. The eyes and mouths of most mask and clownish faces are openable and movable.

The so-called sheng (kit) of a string puppet includes body, hands, legs, cos­tumes, and shoes. Costumes are fixed to each body; therefore, when changing a role, it is necessary to change the head. People often describe a string-puppet show as a drama in which they "change the head but not the body."

String puppets, usually three-feet tall, are moved by cords running from the limbs to a control rod or crutch held by the manipulator. A simple marionette may have nine strings - one to each hand, one to each leg, one to each shoulder, one to each ear (for head move­ments), and one to the base of the spine (for bowing); but special effects require special strings that may double or treble this number. The manipulation of a many-stringed marionette is a highly skilled operation.

Although there is no certainty that these movements and gestures are the origins of traditional Chinese opera, the similarity and beauty of the movements performed in both kuei lei hsi and Peking opera, seem to indicate a very close relationship between the marionette and human theaters.

As noted earlier, the main function of a string-puppet show in northern Taiwan is to clear evil spirits. Not too long ago, Lin Tsan-cheng was invited by Keelung residents to appease the spirits of those who died in a car accident.

Of the three puppet-show troupes in Taiwan, only the Hsin Fu Shuan still possesses its own show orchestra. The other two have adapted to electronics.

The full-day program included a Taoist ritual, a separate exorcism ritual, and the puppet show.

The Taoist ritual began at 1 p.m. amidst a cacophony of gongs, drums, and other instruments. Residents, old and young, arrived at the site with rich sacrificial offerings, which were placed on a long sacrificial table. In a short while, the scene looked like a small market gathering. However, the wor­shippers, incense in hand, were solemn.

The five Taoists, standing before the altar, sometimes together and sometimes in turn, recited passages from the sutras or lit sacrificial golden papers. Then, as the drums and gongs grew louder and louder, they started the serious ritual dance of exorcism. They wore bright­ colored costumes: golden crowns; red robes featuring dragon, pavilion, and lunar embroideries and shining palettes.

The exorcism ritual was scheduled to begin at 3:00. The separate puppet­ show stage had already been set up.

No sooner had the music and the chanting of the sutras stopped, than Lin Tsan-cheng's assistant (also his second son) Lin Tien-sheng, wearing a black headband, brought forth the puppet Chung Kuei to drive away the evil spirits. The elder Lin gave phylacteries to the bystanders so they could be protected.

The master puppeteer and his assis­tant then walked down stage. The neigh­borhood leader and the initiators of the event led a procession, images of gods in their hands. The Taoist priests, carrying wooden swords, followed behind. Drum and gong players and people carrying sa­crificial golden papers, firecrackers, joss sticks, straw mats, a bucket of "divine water," and tree branches joined the line.

The procession halted and its members started to light incense, do exorcism dances, and flare the straw mats heavily over the ground. The Taoist priests danced with their wooden swords, sprinkled divine water, and lit firecrack­ers. The rite lasted for more than ten mi­nutes and the procession returned to the stage.

Next came the Tiao Chung Kuei (Chung Kuei's Dance of Exorcism), to clear the evil influence from the neigh­borhood and the stage area. Eighteen sa­crificial offering items had been laid out before the stage in preparation for the dance. Among them: one live cock and one live duck, a cooked chicken, a big chunk of pork, a fish, a dozen eggs, ciga­rettes, red and white cloth, handkerchiefs, wine, a pair of socks, candles, and straw mats.

Four types of charms had already been prepared. The first type, pao sheng fu, was worn by troupe members to pro­tect them throughout the performance. The second, chu shien fu, was placed on the four sides of the Taoist ritual site to keep the spirits confined to the area. If the spirits should be so powerful as to break the spell and escape, a third charm, a strip of black paper on which characters in white ink were written, was distributed to all residents of the neigh­borhood. A final charm was pasted onto the two main columns of the stage.

The full string-puppet show started at 7:45. The evening show, "The Peach Blossom Girl Fights the Duke of Chou,” was much more entertaining, compared to the daytime performances. The elderly head of the Hsin Fu Hsuan was also master puppeteer that evening. Lin played and sang male, female, mask face, and clownish roles. He gave vivid emotion to the puppets in differing voices, and performed with incredible skill the highly difficult art of manipulating the marionettes. Whenever he played a role, he and the puppet became one being. The spectators ceased being spectators; they were part of the passion of the play.

The last previous puppet perfor­mance on a similar occasion in Keelung took place 18 years ago. Like the old legends, the marionette show itself has become dim and musty for most of the people of Taiwan.

The marionettes' beautiful colors had faded; new effort was required if the old old legends were to be widely sung again.

And in July this year, Lin Tsan­-cheng came to Taipei in response to an invitation to reinvigorate the almost lost art, by teaching several college students the lore and skills of marionettes.

In one corner of the spacious hall that served as Lin's classroom, on a hori­zontal bamboo pole filled with eight hook-shaped bars, marionettes dangled in their silken robes. All of them looked so weak. But, when their strings were lightly pulled, they began to dance with energy and grace.

At 16, after his apprenticeship in basic instruments, Lin began to manipu­late marionettes. In later years he studied the rituals for magic powers, the incantations and symbolism used to deal with spirits. Lin travelled with his father's troupe to big towns and small villages, one after another. They often performed at wedding ceremonies and birthday parties. In those days, their livelihood was assured.

Then, public interest declined and Lin could no longer rely on his skill for a living. "We abandoned the business and did what we could in Hualien to make a living," Lin mused, and went on, "Later I came back to Ilan and made clogs." His nephew, also a skilled marionettist, had to learn how to operate an excavator. The sounds of the drums and gongs of the Hsin Fu Hsuan were heard no more in the modernizing towns and villages of the Ilan Plain.

Now Lin's three sons and five daugh­ters have grown up and developed their own careers. Only his second son, Lin Tien-sheng, helps him in an occasional, rare performance. So, contrary to the tradition -that masters of Chinese folk arts pass their' skills only to family members - Lin is teaching strangers. He ac­cepted the invitation of Chiu Kun-liang, who specializes in the Chinese folk arts, and came to Taipei to assure future life for his consummate craftsmanship.

Chiu, who teaches in the drama department of Chinese Culture Universi­ty, engages actively in efforts for the preservation and propagation of Chinese folk tradition. He and his students publish articles and books. They joined the Lingan Association to study pei kuan folk opera, and have put on their own shows at temple fairs, injecting a new exuberance into the fading traditional art.

The religious functions of the string­ puppet show are not as important in modern society as they were before. Fewer and fewer such invitations are received by puppet troupes. Even some ancient superstitions have helped in the decline. For instance, since string puppets have no bones, it is considered dangerous, taboo, for a pregnant women to see them; their babies might develop rickets.

At this moment, the art is in transition, being helped by eager hands to a new life - and perhaps new forms - as Chinese culture seeks to redefine itself in an affluent technological environ­ment. -