Lin Fuquan, a musician in the Seden Foundation, is nearly 80 years old but still unremittingly goes out to perform and promote traditional glove-puppet (poo-te-hi) show culture. When he was little, he was a huge fan of glove puppetry. Even as an adult, his passion for puppetry has never subsided. By chance, he learned that the Seden Foundation was recruiting students, so he joined the Foundation; there, he worked with Li Tianlu, Zhong Renbi, Li Shunfa, and others. He is confident that, so long as the next generation likes puppetry, traditional culture will last.

How the Seden Foundation and the Siwanran Puppetry Troupe Met If one mentions Lin Jinlian, most people in Taiwan will think of “the master of exorcism” and "master of the Zhong Kui Dance". The Zhong Kui Dance was originally a ceremony to exorcise evil spirits and pray for good fortune. Lin Jinlian is the first national treasure-level puppet master to perform this ceremony through puppetry. He uses hanging wires to manipulate the Zhong Kui puppet and perform the "drawing of talismans". Lin has developed a robust performance art. He is highly reputed in the international puppetry world, in the world of Daoist rituals, and in academia. In the early times, a saying was popular in the world of traditional puppetry

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Lin Jinlian Head of the Jingchuntang Puppetry Troupe Lin Jinlian is currently the leader of the Jingchuntang Puppetry Troupe. He was born in Hsinchu into a glove-puppet (poo-te-hi) show family in 1937. His father, Lin Xiang, was the head of Hsinchu's Jingchunyuan puppetry troupe. At the age of 14, he started his puppetry career and worked as a second (assistant) to a puppet master. At the age of 18, he travelled further north and became an apprentice in Li Tianlu’s I Wan Jan Puppet Theater. In 1969, he became the lead puppet performer in the Siwanran Puppetry Troupe. Afterwards, Lin Jinlian and his junior colleagues started performing puppet shows independently. After the 1990s, he devoted himself to the study of

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The Fate of The Dragon Goddess of the Sea of Plays Girl in the boudoir does not go out the door She works with needle and thread forevermore Worried whether she will ever find a mate Sighing that the matchmaker god is so late At the age of 88, with a voice that speaks of a life of ups and downs, Jiang Cimei sings the heart-song of the girl in the boudoir. Jiang laughs, saying that in so many years, “this is my first time singing this song. It’s really fun.” She made her debut on stage with this song at the age of 16. More than 70 years have passed. Jiang is not only from the first generation of

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Jiang Cimei—Founder of Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company Jiang Cimei is the founder of the Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company. She was born in Nantou in 1933. Jiang was influenced by her father, who was a musician in a performing troupe. From the age of sixteen, she became first a puppet master, and then a substitute singer. Since then, Jiang has been performing for her entire life. She co-founded the Simeilou glove-puppetry (poo-te-hi) troupe with her father and brothers, and became the leading puppet master. In the 1970s, she established first the Jin Kwei Lo and then the Xinkuaile puppet troupe. From 2007 to 2011, she led the Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company to tour the United States and France.

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A Vow to Pass On Traditions, Even in Old Age: A Nationally Double-Awarded Living Treasure Performing Artist Today, Chen Xihuang is a 91-year-old nationally-acclaimed performing artist. His father, Li Tianlu, was a renowned master of Taipei's I Wan Jan Puppet(poo-te-hi) Theater. Chen Xihuang’s grandfather was Chen A-Lai, leader of the Lehuayuan ("Garden of Happiness") puppetry troupe. Being born into a family of glove-puppetry performers thus shaped Chen Xihuang's performing career. Chen Xihuang was born in 1931. Because his father Li Tianlu married into the Chen family, according to the agreement, the eldest son must adopt his mother's surname. This is why, unlike most sons in Taiwan who carry their father's surname, Chen has a different surname from his father. It

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Chen Xihuang is the only traditional glove puppetry (poo-te-hi) performer in Taiwan who has been awarded with two national titles by the Ministry of Culture, “Preserver of Important Traditional Puppetry” and “Preserver of Prop Production Technologies for Classic Puppetry Clothes, Helmets, and Hats”. Chen is now the head of Chen Xihuang Traditional Puppetry Troupe. He was born in 1931. Chen’s father, Li Tianlu, was a renowned puppet master, and his grandfather was Chen A-lai, the head of the Lehuayuan puppetry troupe. In 1953, Chen Xihuang started his own puppetry troupe and established Xinwanran. In 1975, Xinwanran was disbanded. In 2009, Chen Xihuang Traditional Puppetry Troupe was formed again, and the troupe has continued to perform since then.

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

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Huang Minglong, born in Pingtung, works in the finance and banking industry. During a work transfer to Taipei, he joined a workshop organized by the Seden Glove Puppetry Foundation and became a member of the traditional puppetry theater. He had an opportunity to join the Xiaoxiyuan puppetry troupe, and became Xu Wang’s twelfth disciple. Huang currently lives in Hualien and works in E. Sun Commercial Bank. He performs in the Seden Traditional Theater in his spare time. Huang’s performances feature local stories, hoping to help younger generations learn the culture of this land through glove-puppet shows. Xu Wang’s life is a living history of Taiwan’s glove-puppetry (poo-te-hi). Xu’s apprentice Huang Minglong carries on his master’s wishes, devoting himself to the

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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

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