Puppet Carving and Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Museum

Puppetry is one of my favorite folk arts which reflect not only the artistic side of the puppets, but also the culture and story behind. We decided to visit “Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum” (林柳新紀念偶戲博物館) in Taipei which is located in the Dadaocheng area. By the end of the visit, I not only saw a variety of puppets from different countries, but also met with and learned from the Puppet Carver with the museum which highlighted my entire trip.

Once we got in the lobby, we were warmly welcomed by Mr. Lai Shi-An who is the Puppet Carver and a glove puppeteer in the museum. He was a student of Master Chen, Xihuang who is the son of the most famous puppeteer in Taiwan, Mr. Li Tianlu. Hundreds of Puppet Head carvings created by him were placing in his table drawer. He had no hesitation showing us all his beautiful art work.

He does not need any sketching ahead of time before his carvings; Mr. Lai said that all designs were planned in his head. A friend of his gave him a famous comic character figure and this is what his carving looks like.

He was so patiently showing us the different head carvings. Some of them are the solid heads which would not make any facial movement. Some of them are hollow inside so that the finger can stick in. If you look at these 2 photos closely, you would see the mouth of this head widely open. It takes him 1-2 days to complete a hollow carving.

Part of the carvings can be done by the machine, but he needs to refine it afterwards. Here is the hand carving refined after the machine carving.

After the head is done, color paints are applied, and then the design clothing would be put on. He demonstrated how this puppet walks. Watch it closely. See that this puppet is also opening his mouth and how beautiful the puppets arms are moving during his demonstration.

Please watch a short video clip on the bottom of this post for his demonstration.

The major difference of the current puppet with the traditional puppet is the design of the legs. The legs are placed inside the front clothes instead of the back so the legs can easily move and perform. The legs are also filled with fabrics which make both legs a bit heavier than the old designed puppet, a great help for the leg movement.

The museum is in a small building with 4 floors which showcase that Puppetry is an important fixture of the traditional Taiwanese culture. The museum has good collections of the Taiwan’s Puppetry and also puppetry from different Asia countries as well as some western countries.

Besides the glove puppet, it also has great collections of the traditional Marionettes (String Puppets). String Puppet has been the local folk art since Song Dynasty. The string puppet stage performance has been connected to the local belief, religion, and ward off evils ceremony. Because of this, String Puppet performance has not been as popular as Glove Puppets’.

More strings on the puppets reflect higher skills are required during the performance!

The Indian Marionettes, Burma Marionettes, Vietnam’s water puppet, and other western countries are also displayed in the museum. It highlights a rich puppetry and diverse art form in Asia and other cultures.

On the second floor of the museum, don’t forget to experience the puppet stage performance yourself before you leave.

The Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum has attracted many foreigners to visit and learn the Taiwanese folk art and culture. All collections are well presented in both Chinese and English languages.

I would also like to thank Mr. Lai for his warm hospitality during our visit, which gave me a rich and fun experience!

Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum website

Below are the 2 short video clips that I recorded for his carving and puppet demonstration.

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