Puppet theater is China's earliest form of performance using effigies. Some people maintain that puppets were originally tomb figurines but there are also early records of them being used for performances. The Lieh-tzu, for example, records how a puppet master used wooden idols to ogle the concubine of King Mu of Chou, for which he narrowly avoided death, a tale from which it can also be gathered just how lifelike puppet theater can be.

There is also the story that when Liu Pang, Emperor Kao-tsu of the Han dynasty, was trapped in the city of Pingcheng by the Hsiung-nu barbarians, he made wooden effigies of beautiful women and danced them on the walls. The Hsiungnu queen, afraid that when the city fell her king would take a Han concubine, devised a strategy to have him withdraw his army.

The opinion of most scholars is that puppet theater began with funeral rites held in the homes of the Eastern Han dynasty, and only later came to be used for celebrations. A fully articulated string puppet was recovered from the Han dynasty tomb excavations in Laihsi County, Shantung, mainland China in 1968; by the Sung dynasty records appear showing how different types of stick- and string-controlled puppets had been developed.

Ka-le ang-a: In the mainland Chinese province of Fukien puppet theater is called "ka-le ang-a," a name from which many everyday expressions are derived. For example, one way to criticize those who do things in a slovenly way is to say they are "just like ka-le ang-a--beat them and they move"; those who are ill-fated are called "puppet hands," while those who are controlled by others are "pup pet emperors."

The puppet theater of Taiwan originated in Fukien and can be divided into northern Changchow and southern Chuanchow systems, both of which use string-operated puppets. As early as 1835 there can be found a record of "three performances of puppet theater" in the accounts of Tainan's Wu Temple, early puppet theater being no different from other types of performing arts in its being performed for temple ceremonies.

In the period of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and immediately after the island's retrocession to China there was a craze for native performing arts in general which enabled puppet theater to break free from the bounds of religious ritual. With tours of puppet performances in theaters, at the height of its popularity there were more than 20 pup pet theater troupes.

The main place for northern puppet theater is Ilan, northeastern Taiwan, and it is popular in the belt from Taipei to Hualien. When there is a series of deaths or misfortunes, the local people will invite a puppet theater to come and expel evil spirits, or sha, and chase out whatever might be bringing bad luck.

Fire must be "suppressed," roads "swept" after accidents and corpses "suppressed" after drownings. When the ground is broken for building, "the chi of the land and the harmful sha of the mountain are disturbed," explains the leader of the Hsin Fu Hsuan troupe, Lin Tsan-cheng. Moreover, when a new temple is established it must "open the temple door," in the same way that new housing must "thank the land." It was thus that, because the erection of National Tsing Hua University's new building for its School of Social Sciences happened to disturb some graves, under pressure from the local people, a puppet theater was asked to give a performance.

Fifteen sheets of talismanic characters: Northern puppet performances include the two elements of expelling sha and formal dramas. Before the sha is expelled, a table for offerings is placed in the performance marquee on which are hung the puppets of three gods who can ward off evils, the "virtuous water god" who can suppress fires, and perhaps the demon-catching Chung Kuei. On the table are placed offerings, such as fruit, wines, money and a kind of symbolic rice paddle represen ting all the gods. Most noteworthy are some fifteen slips of paper with talismanic Taoist writing thought to be potent in a number of different ways.

During the show, one person performs while two or three control the puppets as Peikuan folk music is performed on a variety of folk instruments. A performance requires four or five large trunks of equipment, and with more than ten people involved, a large truck or a small truck and two cars are needed before they become mobile. If economies are made behind stage by using only recorded music, then a small truck will do.

Southern stage--northern funerals: How did Ilan become today's northern center for puppet theater? According to Sung Chin-hsiou, an assistant researcher at Academia Sinica, apart from there being a large number of lonely ghosts resulting from horrible deaths in the period of the opening up of Taiwan, the high concentration of people who came from Changchow led people to choose the customary ways of their native village to expel sha. In addition, Ilan's rich heritage in the performing arts, such as its high number of Peikuan folk music orchestras, supplied and enriched the musical element of its puppet theater.

Southern puppet theater takes areas such as the towns of Matou, Hunei, Kuanmiao, and Chiating around the cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan as its main centres. It came to Taiwan from Fukien's Chuanchow, but its scope is not very large. With each troupe numbering no more than about ten pup pets, it is not possible to perform the complete dramas as played in Chuanchow, but just auspicious short works to thank heaven for its benevolence on important life occasions.

Southern puppet theater performances are simple and use music from the dramas of the Hakka people. One person performs to the accompaniment of a simple orchestra of two to four people behind the stage. When taking to the road, a large bamboo basket can be put on the back seat of a motorbike, and with the musicians in a small car, off they go.

Such different styles of performance between north and south lead to a large disparity in prices. A southern puppet theater performance in its own territory will cost around NT$4,500; a performance by the northern Fu Lung Hsuan troupe in its own area will be NT$20,000 if a sound system is used. If you only want a performance to expel sha and not a full drama, then you will pay around NT$ 10,000 to which NT$15,000 must be added for a live accompantment. As for having the Hsin Fu Hsuan troupe, with prize-winning Cheng Jung-hsin and the Pa Yin orchestra behind stage and Lin Tsan cheng up front, you will be set back more than NT$ 100,000 for a performance.

[Picture Caption]

Look at the demon-catching Chung Kuei with his legs pulled forward and holding a chicken. Northern puppet theater performances are full of mystery and solemnity for the expulsion of evil spirits.

A puppet couple bow to thank Heaven. In southern puppet theater two or three puppets and five or six songs make up a complete performance.

A puppet couple bow to thank Heaven. In southern puppet theater two or three puppets and five or six songs make up a complete performance.