“1, 4, 7—and you can make a puppet come alive!” the puppeteer called out, deftly making the figures nod, wave and even draw a sword.
Wide-eyed children followed along as laughter filled the room.
Taiwan’s renowned Kuang Hsing Ko Puppet Theater recently brought two performances to the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center, drawing hundreds of Irvine Chinese School students and parents.
For many children, it was their first close-up encounter with Taiwanese glove puppetry. For their parents, the familiar gongs, puppets and Taiwanese dialogue brought childhood memories rushing back.
Flying Fingers, Rising Laughter
Irvine Chinese School Principal Jinffer Su welcomed Taiwan’s Kuang Hsing Ko Puppet Theater, giving students a rare chance to experience Taiwanese tradition without leaving California.
She told students that glove puppetry is far more than a simple puppet show. Every nod, turn and wave comes alive through the puppeteer’s fingers.
Switching effortlessly between Mandarin, Taiwanese and bits of English, the performers kept children laughing with quick wit and lively rhythms.
Then came a hands-on “Puppetry 101” lesson. “How many puppets can one person perform at once?” “Two!” the children shouted.
The puppeteer challenged them to draw a square with one hand and a circle with the other.
Within seconds, hands tangled and laughter erupted—proving that puppetry is much harder than it looks.
Magic Numbers, Puppet Evolution
Then came the puppetry shortcut: “1, 4, 7.”
With a few simple hand positions, the puppet nodded, waved and greeted the crowd, suddenly bursting with personality.
The children watched wide-eyed, copying every move and quickly memorizing the magic numbers.
The troupe then showed how Taiwanese glove puppetry evolved—from small, nimble traditional puppets, to larger Golden Light puppets, and finally to TV puppets with built-in mechanisms.
“Puppets evolve too—just like Pikachu!” the puppeteer joked, sending the room into laughter.
Journey Begins, Drums Resound
After the warm-up came the main event: “Zhu Bajie Seeks a Bride,” from Journey to the West.
Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie and Gao Yuanwai took turns onstage as the puppeteer switched voices and characters with ease, giving each puppet its own personality.
When Sun Wukong appeared, the puppeteer joked about the “white-haired old monkey” and turned familiar tales of havoc in heaven and stolen magic pills into kid-friendly punch lines.
Zhu Bajie’s comic moves and banter pushed the laughter even higher.
The puppets ran, spun, waved weapons and traded jokes, seeming to spring to life in the puppeteer’s hands as applause filled the room.
The magic also came from the music. After the show, the troupe introduced the pipa, suona, yehu, gongs and cymbals, giving children a lively taste of traditional accompaniment.
But the moment they had been waiting for came next—the chance to try the puppets themselves.
Hands On, Hearts Full
The troupe handed the puppets to the children and let them put “1, 4, 7” into action. One by one, they slipped their hands inside, making the puppets nod, wave and turn.
Some even staged impromptu mini duels with friends.
For the children, it was a fun first taste of traditional culture.
For their parents, the gongs and puppets brought childhood memories rushing back.
On the same stage, one generation discovered something new while another rediscovered something deeply familiar.
Troupe director Hung-Hsien Lin presented certificates of appreciation to South Coast Chinese Cultural Center CEO Yulan Chung and Irvine Chinese School Principal Jeniffer Su for their support in promoting Taiwanese traditional theater.
Also attending were Orange County Overseas Community Affairs Center Director Betty Hsiao, Irvine City Councilmember Melinda Liu, Overseas Community Affairs Council member Willson Wang, and former South Coast Chinese Cultural Association board chair Mike Chen.
As the event drew to a close, the children still had trouble putting the puppets down.
What once lived in their parents’ childhood memories had crossed an ocean and a generation—and was now dancing to life again in the hands of Southern California’s next generation.
