Passing on the Many Facets of Culture
While he lists the names of people he’s known, the feelings are just as fresh as always. Even though years apart may be long, and the exact years may not even be clearly calculated, one can still feel the warmth in Yang Weizhe’s narrative for each important person who resides in his memory.
Born in Fengyuan, Taichung in 1939, Yang Weizhe considers himself to be neither urban nor rural. In the environment he grew up in, he had no opportunity to watch glove puppetry (poo-te-hi) shows or play outdoors. “Before I was nine, the largest theater in Fengyuan, the Fengyuan Theater, was located about 50 meters away from our house. You had to buy a ticket for the show, but they would open the doors in the last 10 minutes and let in people without charging. Many children would then rush to watch the last part of the play for free; this was known as ‘catching the tail-end of the show’. Among all the different plays performed at the theater, I remember that there was a play about the vigilante Liao Tianding. I saw the tail end of that one. While he’s taking a nap, Liao Tianding is killed by his mistress’ brother with a hoe. However, I don’t remember anything about the glove puppetry.”
When asked about his connection to glove puppetry, Yang laughs and says that it was only after he became director of Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation that he discovered his deep connection, through his father Yang Qidong. “I told my father that I became the director of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation; he was overjoyed, and said, ‘Oh, that's great! This is also part of your inheritance!’ I wondered, what’s that got to do with inheritance?”
In fact, Yang Qidong was a well-known painter in Taiwan, and was mentored by Japanese painter Ishikawa Kinichirō when he was a student at Taipei Teachers College during the period of Japanese occupation. Yang Weizhe mentions that his grandfather (Yang Qidong’s father) was born in Wuqi, and spoke the Taiwanese Hoklo language with a Haikou (Quanzhou) accent. Yang Weizhe’s mother spoke in a Quanzhou accent, but after marrying Yang Qidong who was born in Fengyuan, she switched to Zhangzhou accent (the prevalent accent in Fengyuan, which Yang Qidong’s family adopted). This was the background in which Yang Weizhe’s maternal language took root. When he became director of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation, his father, Yang Qidong, was elated and replied, “I can perform glove puppetry too! When we were busy with farming and during New Year’s eve, Grandpa would put on a glove puppetry performance for people in the village and entertain everyone.” Who would have guessed? Yang Qidong’s grandfather was a glove puppetry master.
Yang Weizhe mentions that he was lucky to have become lifelong friends with Professor Chen Jinci, a person with remarkable talents and virtue. At that time, the young professor Chen was pained to see the decline and demise of glove puppetry culture, but felt powerless to do much to stop the decline himself. As a result, he invited Yang Weizhe to found the Glove Puppetry Foundation. “I was touched to see how serious he was about founding the foundation. The situation in general was terrible, and he thought there was no way that glove puppetry could earn someone a living; but if this whole aspect of culture was destroyed, well, he didn’t want to see that happen. That’s why he wanted to establish this foundation.” Yang Weizhe adds, “I told him that I couldn’t give him artistic advice or help, but if he needed support, I’d be the first to back him up.”
“When Chen Jinci proposed founding the Foundation, his attitude was very touching. He insisted that puppetry masters are all remarkable, and that in any country that respects culture, they would undoubtedly be human treasures.” For Yang Weizhe, even though he did not have many chances to come into contact with glove puppetry as a child, he had read a lot of stories about the most impressive artisans from his childhood. “I enthusiastically supported Chen Jinci’s establishment of the Foundation for the purpose of cultural preservation, and I believed that we would resonate fully because we shared the same vision.”
The other founder of the Foundation, Professor Li Hongxi, met Yang Weizhe around 1976 and 1977, through the introduction of a student, Lin Xizhang. “Lin Xizhang, a first-year medical student, learned Japanese with Prof. Li Hongxi. How do you teach Japanese? Well, he picked up a Japanese book on constitutional law and taught from that… Chen Yuehua, Lin’s mentor in the third year of his studies, was the wife of my student, Cai Congming, so Lin called me ‘Grand Master’. My life has been blessed to have made friends with Cai Congming and his wife, Lin Xizhang and his wife Lin Shuxuan, and then with Li Hongxi and his wife Li Fengyi.” Yang’s remarks clearly express how special these friends are in his eyes.
All Those Experiences in the Seden Foundation
When asked about the affairs that Yang Weizhe handled in the Seden Foundation, he always smiles heartily and says modestly that he made no contributions. Yet then he can tell stories from the Foundation in detail.
“I served as chairman of the Seden Foundation for three terms, about eleven years in total. I am probably the longest-serving chairman, with the least contribution made.” The first three chairmen of the board were, in order, Chen Jinci, Yang Weizhe, and Li Hongxi. The chairman’s term of office is explicitly stipulated by the regulations as a three-year term. Nevertheless, the Ministry of the Interior at the time was relatively lax in managing these cultural and educational foundations, so directors often extended their terms of office for a few months, or even a year or two. After the three of them each took a turn and no one wanted to take over for the next term, that last person often had to take another turn. “When I served as the chairman of the board for the second term, my term was actually extended four to five years, and I said, ‘Li Hongxi, it’s your turn!’. Li was serving as the principal of the Ketagalan Institute at the time, so he responded, ‘All right! Then you’re going to take over as Institute president!’ With a single word from him, I had to surrender! So, I was re-elected as chairman for the sixth term. The seventh chairman, who over from me, was Ye Rongjia. Since then, the Foundation chairmen’s terms of office have been square and regular.”
Ye Rongjia, who took over as the seventh chairman, has great taste in painting, calligraphy, and sculpture, and has integrated this taste into glove puppetry. As a result, he has been an enthusiastic supporter and sponsor of the Seden Foundation since its inception. The main credit for funding the Seden Foundation’s stage – the Foundation’s great treasure – goes to Ye Rongjia. During his tenure as chairman, the Seden Foundation would often submit projects to government agencies for different levels for funding; Chairman Ye would always say, “This is something worth doing, so I request that the executive director try writing up a plan and applying for it. I’m sure we’ll get some amount of funding, and if it’s not enough, I’ll figure out what to do.”
The successor to Ye Rongjia was Chen Rongxiang, who adapted to the trends of the times and led the Seden Foundation’s transformation toward digitization. As a result, there is no longer any worry that the Foundation’s cultural assets will damp due to moisture or rot due to heat. Instead, they can be used in many ways by academics and artistic communities, both in Taiwan and abroad.
Speaking of his initial contributions to the Seden Foundation, Yang Weizhe says, “We dare not say we ‘made contribution’ to the foundation. The two backbones, Li Laifu and Yang Xingzhi, were the first and second chiefs of staff. Yang Xingzhi was very capable and assertive in applying for and executing projects for us. Li Laifu was the soul of the Seden Foundation in the early days, expanding our contacts in all walks of life, especially in the medical field.”
“Among the many benefactors of the Seden Foundation, the one I recall particularly with deep emotion is Qiu Zaixing.” Since the Seden Foundation did not own a fixed place for its activities, the storage of the puppets and the collection had always been a problem. They were stored initially at Professor Chen Jinci’s home, followed by the Wenzhou Street office, then moved to Hong-gah Museum. Yang Weizhe mentions that Qiu Zaixing was very interested in arts and music; for a while, he served as the director of the Seden Foundation and provided a safe place for these treasures by housing the Foundation’s collection in the Hong-gah Museum. Later, with the assistance of director Wen Qiuju, the puppets were temporarily housed in a campus space at Taipei National University of the Arts. “The Seden Foundation is lucky to have always met with benefactors.” There are too many benefactors to list all of them, but the love and support given by all of them are carefully cherished.
Cultural Heritage Embodied in a Family
Language, literature, arts, and music are all parts of culture. Even though Yang Weizhe wasn’t very involved in glove puppetry as a child, he was influenced by his father, Yang Qidong, and developed a degree of interest in writing poetry and articles.
“Perhaps I was also influenced by my great personal friend, Lin Zhenghong, who is highly proficient in Chinese poetry and writings. The Annals of the Warring States, The Water Margin, and The Scholars are all the books that he recommended I read. Of course, I have read “Yu Boya Smashes His Zither in Gratitude to an Appreciative Friend” in the Spectacle of Ancient and Modern Times. Xu Wang chose this play because he was moved by the Seden Foundation. The first time I saw the show, I swore to be part of the Seden Foundation with all my heart.”
Yang Weizhe talks about his two children’s family education. “Before the Taiwanese language was banned, my wife and I used to invite our children to watch traditional Taiwanese opera (kua-a-hi) with us. Yang Boyin didn’t always watch, but Yang Hanru was good at art, so she would draw pictures of the sheng and dan characters from the opera,” he said. When Yang Hanru was a student at Tamkang University, she joined the NTU Taiwanese Opera Club, even though she wasn’t an NTU student. After graduation, she went to learn Taiwanese opera in Lanyang, and subsequently went on to study Kunqu, which has had a lifelong impact on her. Yang Boyin, on the other hand, discovered the differences between Taiwanese (Hoklo) and Mandarin at an early age. Yang Weizhe believes that if parents require their children to speak Taiwanese at home from a very young age, they will be able to grasp the subtle differences in vocabulary between different languages.
While serving as a teacher in Mathematics Department at National Taiwan University, Yang Weizhe was best known for teaching in Taiwanese. He recalled that the Dean of Academic Affairs added a note stating “It is inappropriate to teach in a dialect”. Additionally, a member of the Legislative Yuan questioned the Ministry of Education, who considered it unconstitutional to teach in a dialect. “In the course description, I simply stated: ‘The course only requires a good level of Taiwanese listening; students do not need to be proficient in speaking the language to register. If you want to ask questions and discuss with the professor, you are free to communicate in Mandarin or English.’ This is an elective course, and such a course requirement does not in any way harm the rights and interests of any student. Which article of the Constitution says that Taiwanese is a ‘dialect’? Which article of the Constitution says that teaching in dialects is unconstitutional? Later, I served as a member of the Ministry of Education’s National Languages Committee, and the committee discussed and agreed on a definition of national languages that included Taiwanese, Hakka, Indigenous languages, and Mandarin.” When Yang Weizhe talks about this past, he shows his insistence and love for Taiwanese-language education.
In hindsight, a family may include any number of professions within it. Each member has a different perspective on concern for “culture”; and this is a reflection of cultural diversity. “What matters is our attitude. Since the Chiang family came to Taiwan, the culture of Taiwanese language has been facing a gradual extinction crisis. In contrast, the New Zealand government later reflected that it was an inhumane policy to force that country’s Indigenous cultures to adopt Anglo-Saxon culture.” Yang Weizhe firmly believes that cultural diversity is the only way to make progress. The founding of the Seden Foundation is proof that “We’re not alone on our path” and “we’re certainly optimistic about the future of glove puppetry”, Yang says.