In an effort to nurture Chinese culture and strengthen national pride, the late President Chiang Ching-kuo, then premier suggested that cultural centers be established in each county or city in Taiwan. This recommendation was included in the Twelve New Development Projects that he proposed in September 1977.
Based on that suggestion, Premier Y.S. Sun in 1978 ordered construction of the centers, and the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) promulgated its Plan to Strengthen Cultural and Educational Entertainment Activities early the next year. Because of a glaring lack of information on the status of the folk arts in Taiwan, the Ministry of Education in 1980 commissioned the then Department of Ethnology and Sociology of National Chengchi University and the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of National Taiwan University to investigate this field.
Initial findings have indicated that there are 316 established artists of Chinese theater arts with origins in mainland China. Most of the artists specialize in the opera styles originating in the following provinces and regions: Hopeh, Honan, Hunan, Fukien, Foochow (in Fukien Province), K wangtung, Chao-chou (in Kwangtung Province), Shensi, Shansi, and the Yangtze and Hwai River areas.
Another 335 artists specialize in Taiwanese theater arts, including Taiwanese opera, theater music, shadow puppetry, hand puppetry, string puppetry, and traditional operatic music from the southern school (Nan-kuan) and the northern school (Pei-kuan).
There are roughly 1,160 artists in talking and singing (shuo-chang) and folk music in Taiwan. Most of them are skilled in aboriginal, Fukien, and Hakka folk songs. The rest are specialists in storytelling (shuo-shu), comic dialogue (hsiang-sheng, also known as "crosstalk" in English), drumbeat-accompanied story-chanting (ta-ku), storytelling in various southern dialects (tan-tsu), Shan-tung music, epic songs from western Yunnan, festival and funeral music, and religious music.
Approximately 560 artists and artisans specialize in traditional arts and crafts. Most specialize in sculpture and weaving. The rest are in the fields of pottery, painting, lacquering, enameling, printing and dyeing, embroidery, paper cutting, picture mounting, metalworking, and jewel inlaying.
There are slightly more than 2,000 artists in traditional dance and acrobatics. Most of them specialize in the lion dance, drum dance, the Sung Chiang dance (named after a famous character in the Ming Dynasty novel All Men Are Brothers), and the wheel and drum dance. The rest are skilled in various mainland folk dances or mainland and Taiwanese aboriginal dances. There is also a wide range of specialty dancers in such forms as the dragon, ox-plowing, ox-fighting, cloth-horse, and stilt-walking dances, and also a number of accomplished performers of folk gymnastics (rope-skipping and shuttlecock-kicking), diabolo cone-spinning, kung fu, acrobatics, vocal mimicry, and magic. Unfortunately, most skills in the traditional dance and acrobatics category are dying out, and special attention is needed to prevent them from disappearing altogether.
The seven research teams formed to carry out the folk arts survey have thus far completed the study of roughly 100 items in the fields of traditional theater, shuo-chang, music, arts and crafts, dance, and acrobatics. They have also created a personnel data base covering more than 4,000 artists and artisans, published pamphlets introducing various traditional arts and crafts, and issued materials geared to promote the folk arts. Research results have been distributed to government agencies, libraries, civic organizations, and scholars in relevant fields. The studies have already proven helpful in the formulation of government policies to support culture and the arts.
No festival is complete without some humor— the "12 sisters" are traditional matchmakers and crowd-pleasing comic figures at temple fairs.
Government support for folk arts and culture gained considerable momentum during the last decade. For example, in order to improve the quality of teaching about China's folk arts, the Ministry of Education in 1980 commissioned several groups to organize summer sessions for the study of traditional arts by college students and school teachers. Participating institutions included National Taiwan Normal University, National Taiwan Academy of Arts, Fu Hsing Drama School, and the China Youth Corps.
The ministry has taken other steps to make the traditional arts a part of Taiwan's contemporary lifestyle. For example, it has sponsored a series of national arts performances, including the annual Taipei City Arts Festival, which have helped raise the level of public interest and understanding of traditional folk arts and culture. Provincial and municipal educational administrations and the National Taiwan Arts Educational Center have assisted in these programs.
Major boosts for helping the arts survive in Taiwan came in May 1982 when the government promulgated the Cultural Assets Preservation Act, which mandated broad support for establishing cultural programs, and in 1984 when the Ministry of Education enacted measures to "preserve and promote the national arts and crafts." These included the establishment of formal means of cooperation with provincial and municipal educational administrations, universities and colleges, and civic organizations.
Since 1985, the Ministry of Education has staged the annual Art Heritage Awards in recognition of those who have demonstrated excellence in the practice, promotion, and teaching of traditional folk arts. The awards ceremonies have been telecast by the Chinese Television System and have helped raise the consciousness and level of interest of the general public in this field. Thus far 77 individuals and 25 groups have been honored. The awards are made in five categories: traditional theater, music, dance, singing, and plastic arts.
In November 1982 the government began implementing its "Measures for Selecting Important Folk Arts Masters," and in June 1989 the Minister of Education presented the first set of Masters of Folk Arts Awards to two woodcarvers, two puppeteers, two musicians, and an opera singer.
Major responsibility for the preservation and development of arts and culture lies with the Council for Cultural Planning and Development (CCPD), which was established under the Executive Yuan to coordinate the work of planning and promoting cultural development. CCPD arranged for an annual five-day Folk Theater program, held since 1982, which includes performances and educational demonstrations of traditional music, songs, drama, acrobatics, light drama, puppet theater, and various other traditional arts and handicrafts.
CCPD has also assisted in the establishment of the following facilities:
•The Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village at Sun Moon Lake, Nantou County (managed by native people and opened in July 1987);
•The Taiwan Aboriginal Cultural Park (managed by the provincial government and opened in July 1988);
•The Folk Arts and Crafts Park (construction will begin as soon as already-completed plans receive final approval);
•Planning and development of "Yesterday's World in Taipei Children's Educational Entertainment Center," which will focus on traditional Chinese arts and crafts (planning has been completed and construction is underway); and
•The Rural Folk Cultural Village in Yunlin County (planning currently in progress).
Legendary Generals—righteous Mei Huai (left) and bad-tempered Chang Tsang have expressions that match their moods.
CCPD has also arranged for the establishment of 18 cultural centers in Taiwan's counties and cities. Except for the center in Hsinchu City, each one specializes in a particular cultural area.
Other CCPD programs include: sponsorship of the annual Folk Talent Week in Lukang, Changhua County; the Agricultural Folk Customs Exhibition in Hsuehchia, Tainan County; the annual county Aboriginal Harvest Festival held in Hualien, Taitung, and Pingtung counties; and the Chinese Carnival held in Taichung City.
To strengthen the promotion of traditional folk arts and culture, the Ministry of Education and CCPD are developing substantive contacts with college and university art schools as well as other public and private organizations. The goal is to build more sophisticated curricula and teaching skills concerning the folk arts. The ministry and CCPD also have other folk arts projects on the planning board, including an information center, a research center, an exhibition and performance center, and a cultural heritage research institute. There are plans as well to hold national arts exhibitions and performances, seminars, and competitions to generate public interest in the field. While these plans and programs are still in relatively early stages of implementation, they illustrate a willingness on the part of the government and the people to reverse the worrisome decline in the status of the folk arts in Taiwan. — Lin En-hsien is a professor in the Graduate School of China Border Area Studies at National Chengchi University in Taipei.