TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – It is hard to imagine a group of people from various backgrounds who had gathered together in Chiayi City out of enthusiasm for Taiwanese glove puppetry would shoot this traditional art form to fame within just few years, but SamadhiTang Creative Puppet Troupe, with their devotion to puppet making and manipulation, has already amassed a huge fan base around the world.

Walking around the exhibition room currently held in an old house in Twatutia (or Dadaocheng，大稻埕), visitors are welcomed to touch the exquisitely handmade puppets gently and even hold them if they have enough strength.

A puppet usually weighs more than 10 kilometers, and puppeteers have to hold it over their shoulder in order to let it appear on stage.

“We usually take turns to manipulate puppets for a 90-minute show, as their weight is a great burden for puppeteers,” Yen Jen-hung (仁), executive director of SamadhiTang, told Taiwan News.

The reason for the puppet’s heavyweight lies in the head, torso, and in particular, costume of the puppet. The heads are made of wood and the torso molded acrylic. Each puppet wears layers of fabrics with satin lining and stitched patterns, and their accessories are no less abundant.

A character may wear a head pin made as if a beaming halo or be shouldered with pads made of carved wood inserted with tiny rubies. There are also characters holding chains of colorful beads or a scroll made of patterned fabrics and rolled by two golden metal bars with a dragon decoration on each end.

All the customs are designed in accordance with the characters and stories, which are created by Yen. He took inspiration from various classic stories, such as martial arts novels and religious stories.

With the stories the costume designer Chen Yu-feng  (有) would then discuss with puppet designer Liu Kuo-an (安) to come up with suitable customs for each character with elements ranging from the Japanese kimono belt to Buddhist totems.

As a result, the puppets are so beautiful with details extremely delicate that it is safe to say they are not only puppet props, but also works of art.

When the troupe goes abroad for exhibitions and performances, they have to carefully wrap the puppets with bubble wraps and put each of them in a separate box for delivery.

The troupe had created more than 140 glove puppets by 2016, and among them, the most popular one is the Peacock King of Wisdom (孔雀明王).

“The Peacock King of Wisdom is particularly popular among Japanese fans, and they would follow him on tour," said Yen, joking “His popularity is probably due to his good look and muscles.”

However, fans do not just follow the troupe on tour or join them as volunteers. In fact, some fans are so passionate about the puppet characters that they even dress up as their favorite ones.

Those cosplayers are very devoted, they produce exactly the same clothe as the characters and do the hair and make-up just like whom they cosplay, Yen said.

Yen said cosplay fans often gather at SamadhiTang's exhibitions, which has become an interesting spectacle for visitors as they can see human-sized characters standing side by side with the authentic puppet exhibits.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3279748



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不只是人偶：布袋偶成台明星

有粉因太他所崇拜的偶角色，就把自己和偶扮成和偶一模一的型和服。

者：佩儒

台北(台新): 很想像自嘉市的一群不同背景的人，因台布袋偶的情，在短短年因新形式而成名，三昧堂意木偶，藉著他布袋偶的精作和新演出的奉，已在全球累了大的粉。

走在大稻埕古色古香的展室周，他迎客地些摸精美的手工木偶，於有足的力量的民，他也他著操作偶。

一尊三昧堂的布袋偶通常重近10公斤，操偶必把偶高肩，它站在台上。

一布袋表演，操偶通常操木偶行90分的演出，有候操偶都需要流上，因些偶的重量操偶而言是很大。

偶重量的原因在於偶，身，尤其是偶的服。 部由木成，手是塑模而成。每偶穿著面布，加上和案等布重而成，其配件也毫不色。

一尊神佛系列的角色可能在上戴著一大串的品，代表神佛的法光，或者是用木雕刻且有小石的的肩膀作甲。有人物持有五六色的石的佛珠或由物成的，中有金色的金可以卷合，端都有。

所有些神佛角色和他的外表扮，都是有所本，是考原本佛的人物和故事行新的。各典故事中吸取感，如武小和宗教故事。

由安整偶造型，偶衣有作偶衣服，每神佛人物造合的造型外，包括日本的和服腰到佛教的元素。

他作出的偶是如此精，每都非常，可以是不是布袋偶，更是一件件作品。

三昧堂出加展和表演，他必品包公司的人仔地把木偶包裹起，每尊偶放在一他特的盒子才能安全送。

一直到2016年，造了140多尊偶作品，其中最受迎的是“孔雀明王”（Peacock King of Wisdom）。

「孔雀明王在三昧堂的日本粉中特受迎，不管他去哪都有他的粉追著他」，”仁玩笑：「他的高人可能是因他有俊俏的外表和的肌肉。」

但是，粉不是任志工跟三昧堂到巡展和演出，有粉於他最喜的木偶角色，喜到甚至打扮成和偶一模一，也就是COSPLAY角色扮演。

些角色扮演者非常，他要求和偶人物一模一，是穿著的衣服布料，的色，造型的品，以及等比例放大的衣服，都格的要求和本尊一。

仁，位COSPLAY表演者常在三昧堂的展活中出，已成粉和者很想看的景象，因他可以看到真人大小的布袋人物真正的木偶一起肩，面很人震撼。