With yellow turbans, light cloth kungfu shoes, amid the clanging of gongs and the pounding of drums, the heroes of the Sung Chiang troupe array themselves in an octagonal formation; commander Sung Chiang holds the lead banner; the black whirlwind Li Kuei wields his double-head axe imposingly; yakshi Sun brandishes a pair of swords like meteors, accompanied by the monk Wu Sung, the wanderer Yen Ching, and the tattooed monk Lu Chih-shen, who hits the ground resoundingly with his club. Golden clasps, double hammers, long forks, horse-decapitating knives, in all different kinds of weapons are brought together in this impressive array of well -armed warriors. Because of this, "Under the deliberate arrangements of the temples, the Sung Chiang troupe members and the shaman troupes are never written down in the contest name list; they all sign themselves in as 'guy'," pointed out Huang Wen-po, instructor at Santse Elementary School in Peimen township, Tainan county, who studies artistic troupes.

The hero-bandits of Liang Mountain, here in Taiwan: There certainly must be some story behind this. "Yes! When the Sung Chiang troupe goes into formation, village to village, no matter what, they don't want to be shown up by other troupes. They often square-off lineups and arouse conflict," said artist Hsieh Nao-chih, who received the nation's Arts Heritage Award in 1986. He faintly remembers that about thirty years ago, a fight among Sung Chiang troupes ended with loss of life.

Regarding the origins of the Sung Chiang troupe, there are several folkloric explanations. The most commonly told story is that they originated with Koxinga's Rattan Shield infantry. This is related to Koxinga leading the people in military drills during the agricultural off-season, back in the days when Taiwan was first being settled by Han immigrants. Therefore, the majority of people believe that the Sung Chiang Brigade was a kind of self-defense force trained by Koxinga. In addition, it is also said to originate from Chi Chi-kuang's Rattan Shield Dance, Shao-lin martial arts, or Changchou and Chuanchou self-defense forces.

"Governmental chain of command in the Ch'ing Dynasty was ineffective. The public order situation in Taiwan was chaotic, and there were periodic armed conflicts between the Chuanchou and Changchou peoples. In that kind of an age, every village had a Sung Chiang brigade," expressed Juan Chang-jui, director of the Anthropology Division at the Provincial Museum.

Besides strengthening the body, self-defense, and calling together large numbers of people, the Sung Chiang brigade, under the leadership of the local temple, had the function of unifying the peasantry. "Southern Tai wan is mostly concentrations of villages, combining wealth and power. In northern Taiwan, the villages were more spread out, making organization difficult. For this reason, there were many more Sung Chiang brigades in the south than the north.

Today, the Sung Chiang troupes only come together for drills before temple festivals. The religious function has overtaken the defensive function. For its religious emphasis, we must return to the origin of the Sung Chiang brigade characters, which come from the Ming dynasty novel The Water Margin (All Men Are Brothers), by shih Nai-an.

Carrying out the way of heaven, ending the sovereign's reign: The leading character, Sung Chiang, is based on a real person who lived in the Sung Dynasty. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, officialdom oppressed the populace and put the squeeze on them; the people were angry but did not dare to speak out. This state of affairs finally led to the formation of a group of 108 heroic bandits who played a role very similar to that of Robin Hood, dispensing justice for the people as if acting on heavenly command.

"This is unique in the traditionally obedient Chinese society for they were able to establish a story of a populist revolt," said Tung Fang-yuan, director of the Social Studies Department at the private Taiwan Theology Academy, who has researched folk religion in Taiwan for many years. He explained that the stories from that period found in the book The Water Margin point up the social instability of those times, which was a result of official corruption and chaos among the common folk; fault ultimately lay with the sovereign ruler. Since it was believed that the ruler was given power by heaven, how could the people violate the will of heaven? Then came the timely appearance of 108 heroic men in a band; they were the squadron sent by the gods to dispense heavenly justice.

The Ming was vanquished by the Ch'ing regime. Under the rule of an alien race, the people identified with the characters in Water Margin, and they followed its example to band together the people into military units; many hoped to thus drive out the Manchus and restore the Ming.

The real person Sung Chiang later went on to become a fictional character and then had a constellation named after him. The Sung Chiang brigade started out as a real village self-defense force, then went on to take on increasingly greater religious significance; he is popularly assigned the task of driving away ill-willed harpies and banshees and protecting against malevolent pixies. When Sung Chiang dance troupes train today, there are a number of practices meant to show respect to him. A worship is held before drills begin; magical inscriptions are written on all weapons; during performance, females are not allowed to come close, and nobody can pass through a row of troops in array.

The inscriptions on the weapons ask the deities not to let the weapons hurt anyone. Hsieh Nao-chih feels that "the inscriptions really do make it much safer." However, he believes this is because the inscriptions cause the young people to be more serious as they wield their weapons, naturally resulting in fewer injuries.

Cannot have 108 people? Everyone has heard of the 108 heroes of Liang Mountain. In Taiwan, there has never been a Sung Chiang troupe with 108 people; troupes are made up of either 36,50 or 72 members. "In popular myth, if you have a troupe of 108 people, then someone will certainly die. This seems to be a prohibition against completely imitating the saints," said Tung Fang-yuan. Juan Chang-jui added, "If you have 108 people, then that is a reunion, and a reunion is the end." Besides these taboos, these two scholars feel, "Looking at the scale of villages in the past, it would be almost impossible for one village to have 108 young men." Also, if the troupe has too many members, practice becomes more difficult and fights become more likely. Therefore, troupes now have either 36 or 72 members.

With the changes in the composition of village society, the increasing estrangement between people and the prevalence of guns, the Sung Chiang troupes cannot possibly perform their village defense role anymore. The troupes are becoming smaller and older. Hsieh Nao-chih, who is responsible for organizing the Sung Chiang troupe in his village, following in his father's footsteps, sighs when he notes it is getting harder and harder to form a troupe and get people to practice. The only time when everyone is free is at night, and every time at least one or two people don't show up. The performances naturally cannot measure up to those of the past. Also, when the troupes perform now they no longer wear stage makeup or costumes; visually, the performance loses some of the epic quality of the past.

"I'm all in favor of replacing the costumes of the past!" says Hsieh Nao-chih, who does not completely prefer the past to the present. He explains, "It's convenient! Think of that heavy knife; you have to swing it a round for an hour. You sweat constantly. Old costumes are nice-looking but impractical, the same for make-up."

The new heirs of Sung Chiang: The changes that have occurred in the Sung Chiang troupes do not cause sorrow for Hsieh Nao-chih for he has transferred the heart of traditional art into the bodies of boy soldiers. Twice each week, he leads children's troupes at two different schools. "At Kumin Elementary, the teachers, the parents, and the students are all very dedicated. They practice hard, make costumes and weapons, and even go abroad to perform!" Hsieh Nao-chih is satisfied with this group of juvenile soldiers. Maybe Sung Chiang himself never considered this possibility, that the Sung Chiang brigade would later be inherited by children.

[Picture Caption]

Because of safety considerations, Sung Chiang Brigades do not enter artistic competitions.

Popular legend has it that the Sung Chiang Brigades originated from Koxinga's "Rattan Shield Army."

A new generation learning about the Sung Chiang Brigade applies makeup in imitation of the characters from The Water Margin. Adult Sung Chiang Brigades no longer use elaborate costumes and makeup, performing in sportswear. (photo by Diago Chiu)

Sung Chiang Brigade performing with crane and golden lion; this is called the Sung-threesome.

Before drills begin, amulets are applied to the weapons; besides ensuring spiritual protection, this also causes younger members to wield their weapons with greater caution. (photo by Diago Chiu)

Popular legend has it that the Sung Chiang Brigades originated from Koxinga's "Rattan Shield Army.".

A new generation learning about the Sung Chiang Brigade applies makeup in imitation of the characters from The Water Margin. Adult Sung Chiang Brigades no longer use elaborate costumes and makeup, performing in sportswear. （photo by Diago Chiu）

Sung Chiang Brigade performing with crane and golden lion; this is called the Sung-threesome.

Before drills begin, amulets are applied to the weapons; besides ensuring spiritual protection, this also causes younger members to wield their weapons with greater caution. （photo by Diago Chiu）