From A Housewife to the Driving Force Behind Traditional Arts
It has been more than 30 years since the establishment of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation. The original three professors’ pure passion for glove puppetry and traditional culture has led to the establishment of a glove puppetry foundation. The process of the Seden Foundation deserves recording in the annals of time, from its initial planning, formal establishment, institutionalization, to the establishment of the troupe and doing performances. As the first non-governmental organization in Taiwan devoted to traditional Taiwanese glove puppetry (poo-te-hi), every step taken is a milestone. Executive Director Li Laifu filled in between the big events with her actions, quietly providing the Foundation’s solid foundation.
The Story Begins Here
Born in 1943, Li Laifu, who is about 80 years old, always modestly calls herself an ordinary housewife. Nevertheless, the sincerity and eagerness in her voice makes people listen with rapt attention and be moved by her words.
After graduating from the Department of Philosophy at National Taiwan University in 1966, Li initially decided to return to teach in Douliu, Yunlin County. However, she changed her mind after watching an orchestral performance by blind children at the International House of Taipei (where Da’an Forest Park now sits). In that performance, she saw the children play pieces of music without a conductor, and she was deeply moved by the way they understood each other.
As a result, Li came to teach at Hueiming School for the Blind in Daya District, Taichung City, where she lived and learned with blind children. During the two-year period, she met her husband, Mr. Cai, who was a medical professional. They got married and have two sons. For their excellent performance in mathematics, they participated in the National Gifted Student Training Program. This led to a connection between Li Laifu and Professors Yang Weizhe and Chen Jinci of National Taiwan University's Department of Mathematics.
At that time, Chen and Yang had the idea of establishing a glove puppetry foundation. In order to thank the professors for taking care of her children, Li Laifu did her best to help, even though she was not deeply involved in glove puppetry. “I knew there would be lots of chores when I heard that they were going to establish a foundation, so I ran errands and worked for them out of gratitude.”
Partly through her efforts, the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation began its preparations for establishment in 1984, and was officially founded in May 1985, making it the first non-governmental organization in Taiwan dedicated to glove puppetry. For several years, Li Laifu worked behind the scenes, even without a title or a salary, but this did not trouble her. She did it out of passion and the goodness of her heart.
In 1996, the Reading Culture Promotion Association invited Li to be the founding chairman of the association. In addition to promoting reading clubs for mothers in the community, she also integrated government and non-government resources, with the aims to encourage women to pursue both further education and parent-child shared reading. In 1998, she stepped down from the role she had as Seden Foundation’s Executive Director for more than a decade, and handed over the reins to Xie Dexi. Nevertheless, she did not stop there; she continued to be actively involved in an advisory role to the Foundation.
The Reading Culture Promotion Association ceased operating in 2021, but Li believes that it doesn’t matter if the Association is no longer in existence, as parent-child shared reading clubs have exerted considerable influence. Looking back on the days more than 30 years ago when she was busy with the affairs of the Seden Foundation, Li does not see herself as the most important person in the Association, but rather she is grateful for what she did during the period; she assembled the stage for the old glove puppetry masters, held workshops, etc. All of these have enriched her life along the way.
The impact of events and what she did may not be immediate, but their influence are seeds waiting to sprout and grow in the future. The most important elements of Li Laifu’s experience and advice to her successors are still her passion and kindness.
Each Difficulty Comes, Each Difficulty Goes!
Li Laifu’s 13 years with the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation has not always been a smooth ride. It can even be said that every time she encounters difficulties, she always manages to turn a crisis into an opportunity. Li Laifu’s passion and kindness are catalysts for the convergence of all good intentions.
A basic capital of NT$1 million was required to set up the foundation, but only half a million had been raised after six months of work. Hu Huizhao, who had also graduated from National Taiwan University and was the confidential secretary to the chairman of Cathay enterprises, heard about the Foundation’s difficulties; he doesn’t remember now if it was through newspapers or some other channel. Hu informed Cai Chennan, a passionate fan of glove puppetry and major leader of Cathay, of the Foundation’s financial difficulties. Cai then demonstrated generosity by donating NT$500,000. This met the funding shortfall, and eventually the Foundation was successfully established.
However, the NT$1 million in capital could not be touched. In other words, the Foundation didn’t have much funding to organize various activities; instead, they relied on the sincerity of the founding members, who contributed what money and energy they could. Their performances moved the hearts of glove puppetry masters, which led to the joint performance of Tianbo Tower by the two national treasures, Xu Wang of the Xiaoxiyuan troupe and Li Tianlu of I Wan Jan Puppet Theater. Even more glove puppetry troupes also attended the founding ceremony to share in the joy.
Out of love and passion for traditional culture, the Seden Foundation purchased a large number of puppets from Quanzhou, China, in the hope that they would not fall into the hands of foreign antique dealers. When the Foundation was short of funding, the chairman of the board, Chen Jinci, would pay out of his own pocket, or even take out a loan against his house. It is understood that in 1989, the Foundation had a debt of nearly NT$2 million. At that time, Chen Jinci wanted to give the puppets to his creditors, so as to repay the debt without losing these artifacts of traditional culture to foreigners.
In an article published in Wenhsun magazine about the Seden Foundation in 1991, Li Laifu said, “Many creditors donated or loaned money to us due to our friendship, as well as out of affirmation of the Seden Foundation’s spirit. We couldn’t just close up shop without ever having done anything.” For that reason, the financial resources of the Seden Foundation were then on her shoulders as executive director.
Chen Jinci handed over the reins to Yang Weizhe, because he was going abroad to further his studies. The Foundation became better organized with the help of Li Laifu. In addition, the Seden Foundation announced its financial difficulties through the newspapers, which attracted the attention of Gao Zhiming, the director of I-Mei Foods. Gao took the initiative to contact Li Laifu, whom he had never met before.
“Gao Zhiming of I-Mei Foods was very touching. When I first met with him, he prepared a large red envelope containing NT$100,000 in red notes and wrote ‘A long and prosperous future’ in Chinese characters on the envelope.” Now, thirty years later, Li still remembers and appreciates this. Subsequently, Gao was invited to serve as a director of the Seden Foundation, and the two are still in touch today.
As a result of Li Laifu’s active efforts and extensive travel, sponsorships came in to support the foundation. At the end of 1989, Cai Chennan donated another NT$1 million, which not only helped the Seden Foundation pay off the debts and meet a basic capital shortfall, but also be able to continuously pay recruitment fees. This was a major turnaround for the foundation. Prior to that, in 1987, the Foundation moved from Chen Jinci’s home to the rented space on Wenzhou Street.
“The chairman of the Hsin-yi Foundation, Zhang Xingru, and the president of FYF Inc., He Shouchuan, and Mr. He’s wife, also helped the Seden Foundation through the difficult times. Zhang Xingru donated NT$600,000 in her name, and He Shouchuan even offered to donate a large amount for the operation of the Seden Foundation. However, Li Laifu declined their donations, due to her limited ability to meet the demands of the Foundation and not being able to live up to this goodwill.
Dr. Chen, a friend of Li’s husband, also granted financial support by providing a blank check for the Seden Foundation to fill out freely. “I will never forget the trust and support given to the Seden Foundation by these friends,” Li said emotionally.
This was shortly after the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party; local cultural awareness in Taiwan began to grow. At that time, the existence of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation was like a way for young Taiwanese people to find comfort in Taiwanese culture and communicate with each other at the Wenzhou Street office. To have such a warm-hearted and ordinary daily life became precious, after overcoming all the hurdles for the Foundation’s operation. In a way, it is similar to the inheritance of the traditional culture of glove puppetry.
Going into the Schools and Flourishing
In the 1980s, the social tendency was to call glove puppetry masters mere “entertainers”. This shows the disdain with which traditional Taiwanese operas were treated. When Li Laifu was in elementary school, as the class monitor, she had to be part of implementing the “Mandarin-only” policy. Sadly, mother tongues and traditional cultures are quietly lost in such an environment. When asked about her hopes for the culture of glove puppetry, Li answers, “We have to preserve it first; only when we have roots can we have a chance to make the local culture bloom again. These are the roots of Taiwan; we can’t let them disappear”.
After more than 30 years of being with the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation, it is clear that Li has seen and reflected very realistically on things. The promotion of glove puppetry culture as a performing art seems to have reversed its image of being “unpopular”. After all, many Taiwanese people grew up with glove puppetry as part of their childhoods; and the existence of the Seden Foundation has somewhat influenced the public’s identification with glove puppetry and even local Taiwanese culture. For Li Laifu, this is an invisible sense of mission.
Activities such as assembling a stage for old glove puppetry masters and holding workshops for NTU students were born out of a sense of identification, and a mission for local culture. Under the guidance and support of the Seden Foundation, three local opera societies have been established at NTU: the NTU Glove Puppetry Theater, the NTU Taiwanese Opera Club, and the NTU Beiguan Club.
Wu Zhengde of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who founded the NTU Glove Puppetry Troupe; Liu Xiuting, who founded the NTU Taiwanese Opera Club, and Cai Zhenjia, who founded the NTU Beiguan Club, were all trained in Seden Foundation workshops. Later on, the workshops were opened not only to NTU students, but to anyone interested in traditional culture.
The workshops not only provide an arena for professional glove puppetry masters to employ their skills and techniques, but also to build a connection with younger generations of university students. For example, the NTU Glove Puppetry Troupe invited performers from the famous glove puppet troupes I Wan Jan and Hsin Hsing Ku, such as Li Tianlu and Zhong Renbi, to instruct the members. The NTU Taiwanese Opera Club also invited folk artists, such as Liao Qiongzhi and Xu Yafen, as instructors; and the NTU Beiguan Club invited Beiguan musicians Qiu Huorong and his disciple, Zheng Rongxing, as teachers.
All of them are still active in their respective fields, either set up an off-campus troupe, or have entered academia to promote traditional arts. As Li Laifu recounts the names, it seems like it all just happened yesterday. “Where would a housewife like me meet so many people? You may think I’ve done a lot, but in fact, I’ve gained so much from this place,” Li says with a grin. There are many more anecdotes that Li cannot remember in detail, but any time someone asks, she continues to tell the stories.