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The Rise and Evolution of Taiwanese Glove Puppetry
Early glove puppetry in Taiwan was primarily performed for religious ceremonies, with entertainment being secondary. Performances were usually held in front of temples and often featured historical stories, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms. After World War II, to attract larger audiences, puppet troupes began to transform their performances. They refined stage designs and character creations, made plots more imaginative, and added eye-catching elements, eventually giving rise to the “Golden Light Puppet Theater” style.
The peak of glove puppetry in Taiwan can be divided into two golden periods: the “Indoor Golden Light Puppet Theater” of the 1950s–1960s, and the television puppet craze in the 1970s, sparked by The Great Scholar of Yunzhou. During these times, the Huang Haidai and Huang Junxiong families were major figures. Oversized puppets, audiovisual effects, and innovative stories attracted large audiences, moving performances from outdoor stages to theaters and eventually to television.
Detailed Analysis:
Indoor Golden Light Puppet Theater (1950s–1960s)
Background: After World War II, glove puppetry moved from outdoor temple stages to commercial theaters, and the number of troupes increased rapidly.
Characteristics: Known as “Golden Light Puppet Theater,” puppets were oversized, stages were dazzling, and performances incorporated Western music, lighting, and pyrotechnic effects.
Representative Troupes: Wuzhouyuan, Xinxingge, with stories centered on revenge, love, and martial arts adventures.
Television Puppet Craze (1970s)
Boom: In 1970, Huang Junxiong starred in The Great Scholar of Yunzhou on Taiwan Television, achieving extremely high ratings.
Impact: Characters like Shi Yanwen and Cang Jingren became household names, creating nationwide excitement.
Turning Point: In 1974, the government temporarily banned broadcasts for “disturbing normal work and school routines.” The show later resumed with Mandarin dubbing, and in the 1980s, it regained popularity through videotapes.
Traditional Roots and Modern Development
Early History: During the Daoguang and Xianfeng periods of the Qing Dynasty, performers from Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and Chaozhou came to Taiwan, laying the foundation for traditional glove puppetry, mostly performing classical scripts.
Modern Era: In the 1980s, Huang Wenze shifted to the videotape rental market, evolving into today’s Pili Puppet Theater, which integrates modern technology.
Despite its former popularity, glove puppetry gradually declined with changing times. Even as late as the mid-1980s, small troupes like Xiaoxiyuan could still attract hundreds of viewers for live performances. However, with the rise of films, the internet, and other new forms of entertainment from the 1990s onward, street and outdoor glove puppetry performances became increasingly rare.
Indoor Golden Light Puppet Theater (1950s–1960s)
After World War II, shortly following the February 28 Incident, the Taiwanese government became highly sensitive to public gatherings, fearing that outdoor puppet shows could lead to unrest. As a result, public assemblies were considered illegal, and street puppet performances at temple fronts were nearly banned.
In 1952, the provincial government introduced the Regulations for Improving Customs, strictly controlling religious activities. Worship ceremonies were limited to once a year, and puppet shows could only be performed on the day of the ceremony, no more than two days per year. This left outdoor puppet troupes with almost no space to perform.
In 1953, to promote anti-communist and anti-Soviet messages and government policies, some puppet troupes formed “patriotic theater groups.” They performed propaganda plays such as The Female Bandit Leader and Liberating Beijing, or government-promoting dramas like Land to the Tiller and ID Card Registration. This allowed troupes to support government campaigns while continuing their operations.
Television Puppet Craze (1970s)
Television glove puppetry emerged in Taiwan during the 1960s and 1970s, reaching its peak with Huang Junxiong’s 1970 performance in The Great Scholar of Yunzhou. This new form combined the traditional “single-voice narration” technique with oversized, finely crafted puppets, dazzling audiovisual effects from Golden Light theater, and modern popular music and television editing. Bringing glove puppetry from outdoor stages into people’s homes, it achieved a sensational 97% viewership rating.
The immense popularity of The Great Scholar of Yunzhou led the government to ban Taiwanese-language puppet shows in 1975, citing “disturbing the normal routines of farmers and workers.” This forced television glove puppetry to adapt—such as switching to Mandarin dubbing—or temporarily fade from the public eye.
Pili Puppetry Era
Pili Puppet Theater was founded by brothers Huang Qianghua (real name Huang Wenzhang) and Huang Wenze in the late 1980s, around 1988. They adopted a long-episode format and created iconic characters such as Su Huan-jen, under the banner of Pili International Multimedia.
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Founders’ Roles: Huang Qianghua handled writing and management, while Huang Wenze performed narration, earning the title “Master of Eight Tones.”
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Background: Both are third-generation members of the renowned Huang Haidai glove puppetry family and sons of Huang Junxiong, star of The Great Scholar of Yunzhou.
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Innovation: Around 1988, the brothers broke away from traditional styles, applying the philosophy “Chinese form, Western techniques” to integrate classic glove puppetry with cinematic special effects. This approach, first showcased in series like Pili Supreme, laid the foundation for the expansive Pili universe.
