Glove Puppet Theater in Taiwan In 1624, the 38-year rule of Taiwan by the
At the start of the eighteenth century, large
Dutch, it is from this period that there
scale immigration of people from mainland
have written records in Taiwan. Theatrical
China began and with that came the growth
performances are mentioned as ‘wayangen
of Taiwan from an aborigianl tribal society
en toneelspelen’ and it seems that both
into a Han Chinese dominated area of the
opera and puppet theater were performed.
Chinese empire. In the nineteenth century, glove puppet companies becom active in Taipei and in the south. Most of the puppets during this period were produced in Fujian and sold in Taiwan. Some early puppeteers included Tong Quan and Chen Jinkui. Some companies must have established themselves much earlier. The family of the late puppet master Huang Haidai established itself in the middle of the nineteenth century in Yunlin county.
Musicians playing in the back of the stage in Taiwan.
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