Donghua Shadow Puppet Theatre Introduction
The Donghua Shadow Puppet Troupe has a history of two hundred years, originally named "De Xing Ban." It is the most famous local cultural asset of the former Dasa Township. The fifth-generation heir, Zhang Decheng (deceased), was honored as the first National Ethnic Arts Master alongside Li Tianlu in 1989, receiving national treasure-level accolades. The local elders around Sanmin Road are quite familiar with "Puppet Zhang" of the Zhang family. Descending from "Puppet Chuanzi" Zhang Chuan, the art talent of the Zhang family, including Zhang Jiao and Zhang Decheng, has been highly regarded. In an era without television, shadow puppetry was the most popular folk entertainment, where both adults and children gathered to watch performances and listen to folk legends during farming breaks, enjoying the unique light and sound effects of shadow puppetry. The Donghua Shadow Puppet Troupe was propelled to prominence by Zhang Decheng, performing tours across Taiwan in the 1950s, causing a sensation, and even traveling to the United States, the Philippines, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan to perform, promoting national diplomacy and contributing greatly. Zhang Decheng passed away in 1995, and his third son, Zhang Keguok, continued his father's mission of "passing down history through art," collaborating with local cultural centers in recent years to strive for the cultural heritage of shadow puppetry. Shadow puppetry and its transmission: Over two thousand years ago, Emperor Wu of Han was saddened by the death of his beloved consort, prompting a Taoist priest to invoke spirits through sorcery. The priest set up a large curtain in the palace, using smoke and dim light to cast shadows on the curtain, claiming it to be the appearance of the spirit, which comforted Emperor Wu. Accompanied by this beautiful legend, shadow puppetry has since continued to spread in China. Chinese shadow puppetry is one of the earliest performing arts to utilize "light" and "shadow" effects, possessing rich dreamlike charm combined with painting, sculpture, music, and drama. According to existing information, its performance style was already established by the Northern Song Dynasty. From the Song Dynasty through the Ming and Qing Dynasties, shadow puppetry remained popular and widely loved by the public. Shadow puppetry is a flat art form, and each puppet's shape often presents many combined perspectives inspired by sculpting techniques. With the puppeteer's manipulation, combined with songs, dialogues, and accompaniment from gongs and drums, the performance cleverly transitions within the two-dimensional space, creating a puppet world that feels both real and illusory. The Donghua Shadow Puppet Troupe is the oldest shadow puppet troupe in Taiwan, passed down through generations within a family. Its unique feature is adapting to the times, not only limited to performing ancient traditional skills but also making various improvements, such as enlarging the shadow windows, increasing puppet sizes, using brighter colors, ensuring flexible joint manipulation, and executing difficult techniques and special lighting effects to create varying visual experiences. Apart from being renowned in the southern region, from the 1950s to the early 1960s, it was the only troupe in the shadow puppet industry that could perform in theaters all over the province. It has been invited to perform in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and the United States. Due to the significant contributions of the fifth-generation leader, Mr. Zhang Decheng, to shadow puppetry, he received the first National Ethnic Arts Transmission Award in 1985 and became the first nominated important ethnic arts master in Taiwan in 1989. Currently, the sixth-generation leaders, Mr. Zhang Keguok and Mr. Zhang Yiguok, have taken over the leading role since 1987 and have spared no effort in preserving and promoting Taiwanese shadow puppetry. While maintaining tradition, they also incorporate creativity, receiving wide acclaim from audiences for their flexible and rhythmic performances. They have won the Outstanding Artistic Transmission Golden Lion Award, the National Top Ten Outstanding Youth Transmission Award, and the Ministry of Education’s first graduate in important ethnic arts shadow puppetry.
