Legendary Taiwanese puppet master Huang Hai-tai (
Relatives said Huang died at his home in Yunlin County weeks after coming down with pneumonia.
Hand puppetry was introduced to Taiwan by immigrants from China in the 19th century. Most puppet shows recount historical stories or feature Chinese swordsmanship.
PHOTO: CHEN CHIEN-CHUNG, AFP
The creativeness and innovation of Huang, his sons and grandchildren has contributed to the continuous prosperity of the art.
In the 1990s, Huang's grandchildren founded Pili International Multimedia Corporation (霹靂國際多媒體集團, PIMC), a multimillion-dollar firm that produces hand puppetry movies and TV series.
As a boy, Huang learned hand puppetry from his father, who was leader of a local puppet troupe.
PIMC's Web site said that in addition to performance skills, Huang had a vast knowledge of Chinese classical literature and used his ability to play several different musical instruments to embellish his performances.
Huang would also choreograph, sing and narrate during shows and established his own puppet troupe at the age of 25.
He skirted a ban on traditional Taiwanese art performances by giving puppet shows in Japanese.
"Although he never learned Japanese, he memorized lines in Japanese so that the Japanese couldn't ban his performances," Huang Chun-hsiung (
Huang was forced to move his performances indoors after the post-World War II Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government temporarily banned traditional outdoor performances after the 228 Incident.
In the 1950s, Huang Chun-hsiung used TV to increase the popularity of puppetry.
"When I was in high school the only thing we cared about after school was Huang's puppet shows on TV," said Chien Ling-yuan (簡玲媛), a woman now in her fifties. "We'd skip class for that."
However, in the 1970s, Huang Chun-hsiung's puppet shows were banned from TV because they were produced with Taiwanese dialogue. This conflicted with the KMT's policy calling for the use of Mandarin.
Huang's two sons later took over their aging father's puppetry troupe. In recent years, Huang's grandchildren have further augmented the show by adding such innovations as orchestra music and special effects.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
RSS