President Chen Shui-bian (
Huang's second son, Huang Chun-hsiung (
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) also attended the funeral to pay tribute to the folk arts master who was praised as a "treasure of the nation."
PHOTO: LIAO YAO-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
During the ceremony, head of the Government Information Office Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦), Minister of Cultural Affairs Chiu Kun-liang (邱坤良), Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) and Yunlin County Council Speaker Su Chin-huang (蘇金煌) jointly draped Huang's coffin with the national flag.
Huang Hai-tai passed away at his home in Yunlin on Feb. 11 as a result of pulmonary edema caused by the flu. He celebrated his 107th birthday on Jan. 2. The Yunlin County Council passed a resolution designating the date as "Yunlin Hand Puppet Show Day" in recognition of his contribution to the development of hand puppet theater and related traditional folk arts in Taiwan.
Huang Hai-tai was born in 1901 in Hsiluo Township (
Huang Hai-tai, the father of eight sons and two daughters, was the creator of a popular hand puppet drama, Yunchou Hero, which was later transformed into a successful TV series by Huang Chun-hsiung.
Through the Huang family's efforts, classic hand puppet theater was last year officially declared part of Taiwan's national image.
In 1998, Huang Hai-tai was awarded by the Ministry of Education with the honorary title of folk arts master. In the following year, he won the Global Chinese Culture and Arts Award and a lifetime achievement award. He received the National Literary Award in 2000.
Huang Hai-tai's hand puppetry has helped to preserve several aspects of traditional Taiwanese culture, including theater, carving and embroidery.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,