Ming Hsu Shih's current head, Yueh-chang Lin, is a native of Yonghe, New Taipei City. His great-great-grandfather, and his great-grandfather Tsu-tsan Lin, were all backstage musicians, and his grandfather Pei-kui Lin once organized the Tzu Le Tien troupe. In about 1930, his father Tien-sheng Lin took over the family business and changed the troupe’s name to Ming Hsu Shih. Currently, Yueh-chang Lin (1951-), third son, succeeded to the Ming Hsu Shih troupe. In order to promote the spirit of imperial subjects, the Government-General of Taiwan in 1942 established the "Taiwan Theater Association," which allowed seven hand puppet troupes to perform in the theater. Tien-sheng Lin then joined a troupe and only after military take-over of Taiwan by the Nationalist Government was it reorganized into "Ming Xu Shi."

＊When did you like puppetry? Why did you choose to take over this troupe?
There are two traditional sources for learning puppetry: one is to learn it as an apprentice, and the other is that the family runs a troupe, which is passed down from generation to generation. When I was a child, my father often took me out on performances. Manipulation and scriptwriting were all directly learned from the show. Memorizing this script is like reading a book. You have to learn the script by heart. You have to practice puppets at home. My father would teach me how to manipulate xiaosheng’s hand gesture, how sheng or dan walks. You need to practice it again and again. Since both my grandfather and my father were doing the puppet show. I assumed my father's mantle after he retired.

My great grandfather came from Quanzhou, China. He thought that the folk custom in Taiwan was the same as that in Quanzhou, so my great grandfather stayed in Taiwan and didn't go back. Later, he passed the business on to my grandfather, my grandfather passed it on to my father, and then to me. But my son couldn't carry on because he chose to work outside. It's not easy to find an apprentice these days, and people would rather find other jobs.

Why don't young people want to engage in the puppet show now? It's very tiring to stage a puppet show. Young staff have to move the stage, puppets, musical instruments, etc. and when they are old, their bones are displaced and osteophytes occur. It's all heavy work, which makes everyone reluctant to take up this business now. Now I will continue to perform as long as I can, just hoping that before I retire there will be a younger generation willing to invest in this traditional culture and let it go on.

Source:

1.Hand puppet show theme knowledge network 《Click on me》
2.Interview with troupe director Yueh-chang Lin

Compiled by:Wang Yueh-an, Chang Yu-jui   Image source: Provided by Mr. LinYueh-chang Lin