The Eight Women Generals
Back in 2009 there were numerous news reports about members of Eight Generals troupes taking drugs or getting into brawls, so that many parents opposed having their children join yizhen.
In order to reverse the negative public perception of the Eight Generals as the “Eight Drunkards,” Fang Tsung-yin created the Eight Women Generals.
The troupe members who play the Eight Women Generals are all university-trained dancers. Their performance preserves the traditional role of the Eight Generals and their Five Elements and Eight Trigrams path-clearing formations, while incorporating dance and martial arts movements to give a sense of gentleness combined with strength. Eight Generals processions are traditionally accompanied by the sounds of wooden clappers, gongs, and drums. However, the Eight Women Generals use a rock-and-roll-style soundtrack from Huang Chun-hsiung’s puppet theater TV shows to add impact to their performances.
Traditionally there were more taboos and restrictions associated with the Eight Generals than with any other religious yizhen. For example, women were not allowed to take part and performers were forbidden from speaking, eating, or drinking once their face makeup was applied. Lin Mao-hsien suggests that the reason for excluding women from the Eight Generals was not gender discrimination, but was based on the notion of differences between the male force (yang) and the female force (yin). However, as society has evolved, many taboos have been overturned, and not only are there Eight Women Generals, but now women even act as baomazai (the scout or crier who walks ahead of pilgrimage processions) and perform the Dance of Zhong Kui to help guide ghosts back to the underworld at Ghost Festival.
However, to avoid trampling on traditional taboos, Zhen Zong’s Eight Women Generals apply makeup to only half of their faces. Fang emphasizes: “One half gives the appearance of a general, while the other half is the face of a woman. Moreover, they do not take part in temple processions, but only do ‘artistic’ yizhen performances.”
When the Eight Women Generals made their first appearance, at the Wannian Folklore Festival in Zuoying, they attracted a great deal of attention from the public and media for their gorgeous attire and beautiful accessories, and for their performance, which combined strength and beauty. But they were still criticized by traditionalist temple elders and netizens for violating the taboos against women’s participation.
Fang faced such criticism with aplomb. In 2010 he took the Eight Women Generals to Japan to perform on the streets of Yokohama’s Chinatown. While there they were invited by the NHK TV network to perform in the studio and became an overnight sensation. Next, the troupe took first prize in an yizhen competition in Neimen in 2011, which resulted in them receiving invitations to perform at many temples, making the leap from the streets to temple plazas. They also took their show overseas again, visiting Sydney, Brisbane, and Hawaii. This year their story has been turned into a television series by Taiwan’s CTS TV network.
General Zeng of the Lead Generals is always on the lookout for good and evil, rewarding the good with longer lives.