Puppet masters in Taiwan are household names, but none more so than Li Tien-lu (李天祿), founder of the I-Wan-Jan (亦宛然掌中劇團) puppet troupe. Since his passing, the troupe has fallen out of the spotlight, but it has continued to work following the principles he laid down. The 2008 Taipei International Puppet Festival (第一屆大台北國際偶戲節), which will be held this weekend at the Taipei MRT’s Danshui Station (捷運淡水站) plaza, along with other smaller venues, aims to commemorate its founder and tell Taiwan that it has continued to preserve his legacy.
With Li’s encouragement and blessing, I-Wan-Jan spawned many splinter groups — and not only in Taiwan. Joining the commemorative activities will be Frenchman Jean-Luc Penso, founder of Theatre du Petit Miroir (法國小宛然), and Madeleine Beresford and Margaret Moody of the Galapagos Puppet Theater (美國如宛然) from the US, all of whom studied under Li, who was known for his extraordinary generosity to his students. “Unlike many Chinese masters, he never held anything back. He would give you as much as you could take away,” said Huang Chiao-wei (黃僑偉), who served as an apprentice in the troupe from age 10 and has now risen to become its artistic director and principle performer, which is now led by Li’s son Li Chuan-tsan (李傳燦).
In addition to the many splinter troupes that have been formed by former students of Li and his sons, other local groups have been invited. “We don’t want people to think we are keeping this event all to ourselves,” Huang said, acknowledging that Li’s heritage extends far beyond the “Wan-Jan” group of troupes. Sheng-Wu-Chou Puppet Troupe (台中聲五洲掌中劇團) and Ching-Hua-Ke Puppet Troupe (清華閣掌中劇團) will both be making an appearance, as will the Taiyuan Puppet Theater Company (台原偶戲團), whose principle performer is Li’s eldest son Chen Hsi-huang (陳錫煌). “It is unfortunate that we could not get more local troupes to participate, but this is a busy season and they have many commitments,” Huang said, adding with a wry smile, “and the financial issues are easier to resolve with the ‘Wan-Jan’ troupes.” Two groups from China that had accepted invitations to perform failed to get visas for the trip.
I-Wan-Jan is the only puppet troupe in Taiwan to have broken away from a traditional family-based model. “We are trying to become more like a modern organization,” Huang said. This involves the very unartistic tasks of training people to do administrative work. “If you can produce a good proposal that the government likes, you are more likely to get grants or subsidies. It’s as simple as that,” he said, recognizing that the government is a crucial paymaster if the art is to survive.
On the artistic side, Li established a very solid foundation of skills within the troupe. “The one thing he didn’t do — carving puppet heads — he made his sons go off and learn,” Huang said. As a result of Li’s insistence on commanding all the skills necessary to his art, I-Wan-Jan has been able to produce both traditional and innovative works that retain a high level of quality. “We carve our own puppets, make the costumes ourselves and also have our own orchestra,” Huang said. “This is naturally a considerable outlay, but it means we can tailor everything exactly.”
Another aspect of Li’s heritage is his emphasis on education, which is the reason why so many “Wan-Jan” troupes have been established. In the 1970s Li pulled back from life as a full-time professional performer to focus on teaching. He took in many disciples, rejecting the exclusivity of the family. “He always saw the success of his students as something to be proud of,” Huang said.
The gathering at Danshui this weekend is a testament to his achievements, as his disciples come together to pay him respect. “When he died, many people said that I-Wan-Jan wouldn’t survive,” Huang said. “We have spent time looking inward, working on transmitting fundamentals … In a sense, the incredible achievements of Li Tien-lu have made I-Wan-Jan seem less significant.” With the hosting of the 2008 Taipei International Puppetry Festival, I-Wan-Jan may be coming out of its founder’s shadow.
From the last quarter of 2001, research shows that real housing prices nearly tripled (before a 2012 law to enforce housing price registration, researchers tracked a few large real estate firms to estimate housing price behavior). Incomes have not kept pace, though this has not yet led to defaults. Instead, an increasing chunk of household income goes to mortgage payments. This suggests that even if incomes grow, the mortgage squeeze will still make voters feel like their paychecks won’t stretch to cover expenses. The housing price rises in the last two decades are now driving higher rents. The rental market
July 21 to July 27 If the “Taiwan Independence Association” (TIA) incident had happened four years earlier, it probably wouldn’t have caused much of an uproar. But the arrest of four young suspected independence activists in the early hours of May 9, 1991, sparked outrage, with many denouncing it as a return to the White Terror — a time when anyone could be detained for suspected seditious activity. Not only had martial law been lifted in 1987, just days earlier on May 1, the government had abolished the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist
Hualien lawmaker Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) is the prime target of the recall campaigns. They want to bring him and everything he represents crashing down. This is an existential test for Fu and a critical symbolic test for the campaigners. It is also a crucial test for both the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and a personal one for party Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫). Why is Fu such a lightning rod? LOCAL LORD At the dawn of the 2020s, Fu, running as an independent candidate, beat incumbent Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and a KMT candidate to return to the legislature representing
Fifty-five years ago, a .25-caliber Beretta fired in the revolving door of New York’s Plaza Hotel set Taiwan on an unexpected path to democracy. As Chinese military incursions intensify today, a new documentary, When the Spring Rain Falls (春雨424), revisits that 1970 assassination attempt on then-vice premier Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). Director Sylvia Feng (馮賢賢) raises the question Taiwan faces under existential threat: “How do we safeguard our fragile democracy and precious freedom?” ASSASSINATION After its retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) imposed a ruthless military rule, crushing democratic aspirations and kidnapping dissidents from
RSS