Puppet Masters Lead the Way as the Seden Foundation Carries On Glove Puppetry Culture
The master-apprentice system is very important for passing down traditional culture. Incoming glove puppetry (poo-te-hi) performers can learn many things from the masters: the expressive dialogue techniques and how to operate puppets, yes, but they can also observe from the master’s actions how to interact with people and the strictures of how to manage a puppet troupe. In this way, good traditions are passed down through the master’s influence. The Seden Foundation has a saying about master-apprentice relationships: “The troupe leader chooses the troupe leader’s apprentice”. The same words could be said about Xu Wang and Huang Minglong.
Master and Apprentice Perform Basic Gestures of Puppetry Together
In August 2022, the Seden Traditional Theater’s The Tiger-Hero of Ponkan had its first performance at Dadaocheng Theater. On that day, founders of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation Professor Yang Weizhe and President Chen Rongxiang attended the show. Before the performance, Huang Minglong, the main performer, introduced his mentor, Xu Wang, to the audience. Huang Minglong said that when master Xu was performing at the Bao’an Temple in Taipei in 2004, he suddenly collapsed due to a stroke. Huang will never forget that when master Xu got into the ambulance, he slowly raised his hand, retracting his middle, ring and small fingers, and pointing his index finger up, using the “inviting the puppets to perform” gesture to express his concern for glove puppetry. Thinking about that moment, Huang Minglong cannot help but get choked with emotion. He invited master Xu to sit before the stage and give the opening performance for the new puppet show. When Xu Wang slowly performed his “inviting the puppets to perform” gesture, the audience was moved and gave him a standing ovation.
After the end of that day’s Tiger-Hero of Ponkan performance, Xu Wang also nodded his head frequently to praise the performance. He also introduced Huang Minglong’s son to everyone, praising the son’s mastery in Beiguan instruments. Xu hoped that the younger generation would receive good guidance. It was a joyful gathering, a gathering of three generations of traditional puppetry in one place.
It Starts with the Seden Foundation: Founded by Masters, Continued by Disciples
The mentoring friendship between Xu Wang and Huang Minglong is deeply connected to the Seden Foundation. The matter requires starting with the details of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation’s establishment.
By the 1980s, the culture of puppetry had gradually declined, and traditional puppet performers’ social status was at a low point. To preserve and promote traditional culture, Chen Jinci, Li Hongxi, and Yang Weizhe, three National Taiwan University professors, came up with the idea of establishing a puppet show foundation. This foundation would preserve important cultural objects of traditional puppetry, and establish historical narratives focused on Taiwan. Yang Weizhe happened to have an opportunity to watch a performance by the Xiaoxiyuan puppetry troupe, and was amazed at how well the troupe had preserved the essence of puppetry. Another of the founders, Chen Jinci, had been a fan of Xu Wang since his childhood. The three professors thus went to the Xiaoxiyuan together and invited Xu Wang to serve as a consultant of the Seden Foundation. Xu Wang agreed to participate in the joint planning. From these humble beginnings, the three professors and one expert consultant formed the Seden Foundation.
As Huang Minglong recalls it, Xu Wang put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into founding the Seden Foundation. The first thing to do was fundraising for the planning stages. The foundation needed a million NTD in funding to be established. For this reason, Xu Wang and his wife took the initiative to raise funds; they personally paid a visit to Cai Chennan, president of Cathay Trust Investment Corporation. Xu also performed Ma’anshan and many other benefit shows to help bring the Foundation smoothly into existence. Xu was also invited by the Foundation to give several lectures in the Department of Chinese Literature at National Taiwan University, in which he personally demonstrated the techniques of glove puppetry. As for the carvings for the Seden Foundation’s performance stage, Xu was also busy running around trying to raise funds. In 1985, at the ceremony for the inauguration of the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation, the performing stage that had required a year and nearly NT $1 million was used for the first time. At the opening ceremony, Xu Wang from Xiaoxiyuan and Li Tianlu from I Wan Jan were invited to perform Tianbo Tower. For the first time in decades, the two masters performed together on a single stage, which made the Seden Foundation quite the sensation for a while. Later, due to his busy troupe work schedule, Xu was less involved in the affairs of the Seden Foundation, but he continued to care about the Foundation.
In the 30+ years since its establishment, the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation has gone to many communities and schools to organize puppet show workshops. The Foundation encourages young people everywhere who are interested in puppetry to join, even if they have no relevant experience. In 1990, the Seden Glove Puppetry Experimental Theater was established to provide students an opportunity to perform on the stage. The Experimental Theater also created opportunities for Huang Minglong to get involved in puppetry.
In 1997, Huang Minglong was working in the banking industry; that year, he happened to be transferred to Taipei. Fascinated with puppetry since his childhood, Huang says, “Puppetry was my only motivation to survive in Taipei!” He signed up for a Seden Society workshop with enthusiasm. At the time, Zhong Renbi, Huang Haidai, and Li Tianlu were his teachers. They were people he had admired since he was a child, and now he could learn directly from them. “The Seden Foundation welcomes new people to join; those who have an interest can gradually transform from amateurs to experts, can learn the skills of puppetry.” He says that the Seden Foundation is a big, open family. For an inexperienced outsider who was already getting on in years, the Seden Foundation was still willing to offer training sources.
In 2000, Huang Minglong was successful in his studies, and formally joined the Seden Traditional Theater (formerly the Seden Glove Puppetry Experimental Theater). At the encouragement of the then-head of the Theater, Zhang Juncheng, Huang took on a leading role performance. In 2002, Ximending’s Red House Theater invited Xiaoxiyuan, Hsin Hsing Ku, and the Seden Foundation to perform. Xiaoxiyuan and Hsin Hsing Ku are both time-honored puppetry troupes; this made the members of the Seden Traditional Theater a bit nervous. Huang Minglong was the head of the Theater at the time. Like a newborn calf knowing not to be afraid of tigers, Huang thoroughly prepared the script Tiger Aunt that he wrote to compete with the big-name masters. Huang’s blockbuster performance impressed Xu Wang deeply; Xu provided Huang with some performing suggestions. Tiger Aunt was adapted into Red Boy vs. Tiger Aunt, and then performed the next year. Getting to meet Xu Wang gave Huang the idea of becoming Xu Wang’s apprentice.
In March 2003, the Xiaoxiyuan puppetry troupe held a performance at the Dalongdong Bao’an Temple. On the eve of the performance, the audience and gods such as Baosheng Dadi, Xiqin Wangye, and Tiandu Yuanshuai acted as witnesses to a formal ceremony: Xu Wang, head of the troupe, accepted Huang Minglong, head of the Seden Traditional Theater, and Qiu Fengrong, the frontstage performer, as his disciples. At the time, Xu Wang was facing his sixty-eighth birthday; he told everyone that this was the best birthday present he had ever received. He expressed hopes that his disciples will make efforts to promote and preserve the culture of glove puppetry.
Teaching by Example Is More Important Than Words: The Seden Foundation’s Traditions
After Huang Minglong wish to become Xu Wang’s disciple came true, Huang hoped that his performance could become more refined. During the SARS epidemic, many troupes stopped performing, but Xu was very determined, and went to Xinzhuang to teach Huang Minglong every week. Unfortunately, the next year, Xu suffered a stroke during a performance, and was no longer able to teach his apprentices the art of puppetry. However, Xu provided Huang Minglong with the many classic audio-visual and hand-written script materials that he had created over the years; Xu held back no secrets, allowing Huang to find his way through all the tricks of the trade. Xu would then observe Huang’s performance and provide him suggestions. Xu Wang told Huang Minglong that “It’s is fine if you cannot perform long scripts; but you must still learn the basics of puppetry. These are your basic materials. I have taught you how oil, salt, and other seasonings work in a dish. Now, go find the food ingredients yourself, and create your own dishes.” In the early times, Taiwanese puppet performances were mostly based on traditional Chinese operas, but Huang Minglong has been creating new scripts for the past 20 years. New scripts still use the traditional materials – what the master called “oil, salt, and other seasonings” – and contemporary elements as well as elements of local culture. He has combined these into one good show after another. For example, The Tiger-Hero of Ponkan is based on a famous Taiwanese folk tale. Huang Minglong rewrote the story of Lord Tiger’s rescue of Prince Jiaqing to make it appropriate for parents and children to enjoy together.
Huang Minglong originally had the idea of establishing another troupe, and specifically asked master Xu for instructions. However, the master encouraged him to pass down what the Seden Foundation has been doing and said, “It would be a great pity if the Seden Foundation disappeared!” From this discussion, we can see how Xu has cherished the Seden Foundation ’s contributions. Xu’s words also strengthened Huang Minglong’s resolve to make sure the Seden Foundation continues long into the future.
With master Xu’s expectations upon him, Huang Minglong does not neglect his duties. At present, there are six or seven basic members of the Seden Traditional Theater. Everyone has a full-time job, but they take puppetry seriously and take time out of their busy schedules to get together and sharpen their puppetry skills. The Theater's endeavors have gained them opportunities to perform at the Taipei Children's Art Festival and the Traditional Art Festival. The Theater has also been awarded the Golden Palm Award for puppet performances four times.
Both Heritage and Innovation in Puppetry
Both the master and the apprentice believe that the most important thing is to pass down traditional puppetry. In 1998, the Executive Yuan’s Council for Cultural Affairs commissioned the Xiaoxiyuan puppetry troupe to organize the three-year Taiwan Classical Puppet Show Performing Talent Training Project. Xu Wang organized teaching materials and wrote textbooks for the Project. Through basic teaching materials such as Xu Wang Explains the Story: Qinglongguan, Xu Wang Explains the Story: Reunion of Husband and Wife, and Xu Wang Explains the Story: Fuchu Palace, Xu uses a step-by-step method to teach puppet plays ranging from the wu (martial) style that are difficult to learn but easy to get the gist of, to the wen (literary) style that is easy to begin with but difficult to master. His curricula begin with things that are easier and progress to things that are more difficult. Students taught by Xu are still performing and continue to cultivate new generations of performers, which is the most gratifying thing for Xu Wang. For Huang Minglong, what he admires the most is when seniors who have already accumulated such achievements at this stage of their lives still have such motivation and enthusiasm. Huang follows his teacher’s footsteps by opening new paths for passing down the traditions of glove puppetry. Huang currently lives in Hualien; he noted that there aren’t many puppet shows in Hualien, so he cooperated with the East Coast Culture and Education Foundation for the Puppet Show Bus tour program. This program is already in its sixth year. Huang and the Seden Traditional Theater’s members, with simple stages, musical instruments, and puppets, go to the elementary and middle school campuses along the east coast to perform. Huang Minglong believes that puppet shows can hold the attention of both adults and children. If younger generations get to know more about Taiwan’s culture and history through puppetry, that will be a sustainable direction for development. He hopes to continue to pass down traditional culture through public performances and touring teaching programs. He also hopes that younger generations will find their own paths.