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Puppet master maintains centuries-old artistic craft

Puppet master Hsu Wang demonstrates one of his puppets in Taipei. PHOTO: AP

Hsu Wang (許王) recalls the days when children tried to recreate his puppet shows by wrapping scrap paper around their fingers or handkerchiefs around chopsticks.

Now, the 65-year-old puppet master fears children's hands are too busy playing video games or scanning television channels for cartoons.

But the revered puppeteer still believes that in some ways, these may be the best days for Taiwanese folk artists because for the first time in a century, they no longer must bow to political pressures.

Puppetry is serious business in Taiwan, and Hsu has watched his hand-size princes, kings and clowns serve different propaganda masters: the Japanese who colonized Taiwan until the end of World War II and the KMT government whose anti-communist campaigns tolerated no dissent until martial law ended in 1987.

Although the audiences at his performances are smaller now that the nation has become democratic, Hsu feels puppetry is still genuinely appreciated.

Hsu is being honored in a special campaign to promote and preserve one of Taiwan's most distinct cultural traditions.

"Democracy is a nice thing," Hsu said in his studio, crowded with glove puppets in finely embroidered costumes and wood-carved faces.

He began his career when he was 5, standing on a stool to assist his father's performance. Ten years later, he became the chief puppeteer in his family's troupe.

"There were no written scripts," he said. "My dad taught me the lines orally, and I still remember them clearly to this day."

At the height of puppetry's popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, Hsu performed and also choreographed many of the shows that were presented daily to packed theaters and parks all year round.

With its large repertoire, Hsu's Hsiao Hsi Yuan (小西園) Troupe remains Taiwan's most active puppet group, but has had to reduce the number of its performances. When he is not performing, Hsu is busy lecturing at schools and training young puppeteers.

Yu Kan-ping (虞戡平), a director who recently produced a documentary about Taiwan's puppeteers, praises Hsu for the nimble movements of the puppets and a vivid narration rich in literary symbols.

"He deftly switches from a clown to a woman or a warrior, both in voice and in movements," Yu said.

On a small glittering stage set up in a suburban Taipei marketplace, Hsu recently performed a 90-minute show about the legendary Sun Pin protecting his small kingdom from the wicked fairy Hai Chao.

Assisted by a few aides, he used some 20 puppets, making the small figures walk, roll and summersault. He also sang and narrated monologues in a crisp voice accompanied by the gongs and strings of his troupe.

His feet stamped on the wooden back stage to create the sound of striking weapons or figures hitting each other head-on.

His audience, many in T-shirts and shorts, laughed and wowed. An afternoon downpour failed to disrupt the show, only compelling some to seek shelter and watch from an alley amid food stalls selling squid soup, noodles and stinky tofu.

Glove puppets have a long tradition in China, and immigrants brought the art to Taiwan in the 19th century, with shows featuring mainly swordsmanship or historical dramas.

Worried about declining interest in puppetry, Hsu sent five of his six children to college so they could find other careers. But a few years ago, his eldest son, Kuo-liang (許國良), quit his job as a legal consultant to manage the family troupe.

The son also compiled scripts as his father recited the dialogues from memory. Another son and a daughter also work in the troupe.

"Puppet shows will not die," Hsu says.
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