A Storm in a Teacup: On the Necessity/Difficulty of Establishing a National Taiwanese Opera Troupe in Taiwan

Abstract

In 1999–2000 and 2007, the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, respectively proposed to establish a national Taiwanese opera troupe in the hope of preserving this local art. A national troupe means that the government shows its will to preserve the art, and officially recognizes Taiwanese opera as a “national art.” Yet, to our greater surprise, many professionals and artists disagreed on this proposal, for they believed once a national opera troupe was established, the domestic troupes may face the crisis of survival. Competing with a national troupe with more financial and technical support from the government, local and non-governmental troupes by all means would find it hard to survive. In other words, a national Taiwanese opera troupe could be a threat to the existence of the art itself. How would a cultural policy with good intentions turn out to be a controversy and causing conflicts among all? This situation will be explored in this paper: firstly, the government’s role will be discussed when it comes to the development of Taiwanese opera. Then, the current condition of the local Taiwanese opera performing industry will be introduced and the relevant cultural policies will also be discussed. The last part will focus on the controversy over the necessity of establishing a national traditional troupe, and the significance of having a national troupe in Taiwan. The aim is to examine the role of the government and discuss the necessity of the political actions when it comes to preserving the local arts.

1 Introduction

The controversy over whether Taiwan should have a national Taiwanese opera troupe has lasted for more than two decades. In Taiwan, there are already two national opera troupes to date: GuoGuang Opera Company (國光劇團) which performs Peking opera (or Beijing opera) and Taiwan BangZi Opera Company (台灣豫劇團) which performs Bangzi opera, yet none of them performs local Taiwanese opera. GuoGuang Opera Company and Taiwan BangZi Opera Company are funded and subsidized by the government and produce fine and skillful works annually. Yet, as the only art that originated from this island, Taiwan, Taiwanese opera is not treated in the same way as Peking opera and Bangzi opera are when it comes to establishing a national troupe and receiving the annual fund and subsidy. The pros of this proposal would say this step is a must for the government to recognize Taiwanese opera as a “national opera” for it has long been underestimated officially since the Japanese Occupation Era (1895–1945) and the rule of the Nationalist Party of China (國民黨; Kuomintang). However, the cons would say a national Taiwanese opera is nothing but a way to deprive the art of its grassroots energy and life, and then a model would be set, which does not help preserve and promote the art. What’s more, many professionals and artists also worry they may not be able to compete with the national troupe, and their market share would decline.

Starting as a daily recess activity and local folk art, Taiwanese opera now is still quite active in the domestic market and could be seen in various local ceremonies and religious celebrations. There are also annual “Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music (傳藝金曲獎),” held by National Center for Traditional Arts (國立傳統藝術中心), and National Culture and Arts Foundation (國家文化藝術基金會) that encourages and subsidizes artists and professionals. Apart from these, the Ministries of Culture and Education both organize plans, projects, and events to boost the promotion of the local arts. Except for establishing a national Taiwanese opera troupe, the government, the professionals, artists, opera performers and even the audience may have done a lot to support this local art. Then, why is the necessity of having a national opera troupe so urgent that we need to pay so much social recourses and attention to discuss it, since the art itself is not even on the verge of extinction? Concerning the above-mentioned situation, this paper will discuss the issue and divide the argument into three major parts: firstly, the government’s role will be discussed when it comes to the development of Taiwanese opera, especially since 1895, the start of the Japanese Occupation Era, to the 1950s–70s, when the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang) came in power. Then, the current condition of the local Taiwanese opera performing industry will be introduced and the relevant culture policies will also be discussed to show how the idea of nationalism and local color movement in Taiwan have inspired and influenced Taiwanese people’s expectation toward a “national Taiwanese opera troupe,” especially after the martial law was lifted. The last part will focus on the controversy over the necessity and significance of establishing a national Taiwanese opera troupe. The aim is to examine the role of the government and discuss the necessity of the political actions when it comes to preserving the local arts.

2 The Development of Taiwanese Opera

Taiwanese opera or Gezaixi (歌仔戲) has been one of the most popular operatic arts in Taiwan. Ge (歌) or songs are the base of this operatic art. Performers sing songs derived from local folk songs from southern China, such as tea-picking songs, boatman’s songs, beggars’ songs, lullabies and so on, to tell a story, and then later combine these songs to present a play. Taiwanese opera is a synthetic art composed of song-singing, chanting, stylized character types and dancing. Early immigrants around the 18^th century brought local folk songs and chants from China to Taiwan, and sang them as a daily recess activity when they finished their day jobs. Later on, people added dance movements and role-playing to the simple song-singing and presented a simple skit, which paved the foundation for the essence of today’s Taiwanese opera. This simple skit could be seen in local religious festivals and public gatherings, and much appreciated and loved by the locals. During the 19^th century, a more comprehensive repertoire was established, and the form of this art was much more professionalized than before and became sophisticated in style.

Starting as a common people’s daily entertainment and pastime, “changing with time” seems to be something unchanged for Taiwanese opera. If we look back to the development of Taiwanese opera, we would find the art itself keeps accommodating and adjusting itself to various market demands and political powers. Despite the fact that Taiwanese opera’s root is quite plebeian, the art itself has been well-received by all walks of life, and the influence was so strong that even the government sought to control and monitor the performances of Taiwanese opera. During the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, people already noticed that the style of Taiwanese opera performances were very interactive and entertaining in order to attract more audiences, and many scholars and the government even advocated to ban the “vulgar” opera, for they believed that these performances might cause negative influence.¹ In order to survive, opera performers absorbed the performing style of Peking opera and later the elements of Japanese drama, and was even accompanied with modern music instruments, which added modern and exotic touches to this traditional local art.

There are two periods of time when the political forces strongly intervened the development of Taiwanese opera: one is during the Japanese Occupation Era (1895–1945), and the controlling reached its peak during the Kominka Movement (皇民化運動; 1937–1945); the other is during the time when the Nationalist Party of China (Kuomintang) came in power from the 1950s to 1970s. During these two periods of time when the political power got the upper hand, Taiwanese opera once again demonstrated its ability to adjust to the changing time and political reality.

The attitude of the colonial Japanese government towards art shifted along with the outbreak of the war. Before the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, generally speaking, the colonial government in Taiwan treated the local arts and customs as the access to understand Taiwanese culture and people’s ways of life. At this time, the aim of the government was to pacify the mistrust and anger of Taiwanese people towards the colonial power. Yet, along with the outbreak of the war, the colonial government decided to turn Taiwan into the military base, and then issued a series of political brain-washing orders and Japanizing movements in order to convert everything about Taiwanese people into the Japanese ways, and to turn Taiwanese people into Komin, the royal subjects of Japan, which is the Kominka Movement. At this time, the institute, Komin Hokokai (皇民奉公會, 1941–1945) was established to put these Kominka orders into effect, such as abandoning Taiwanese religions, speaking Japanese and wearing kimonos.

As the most influential operatic art, Taiwanese opera was forced to adopt the Japanese music, costumes, and story plots. The scripts and performers needed to apply for the permission from the police before presenting the plays. Under this strict censorship, many troupes were disbanded or forced to cooperated with other businesses, such as pharmacists or street vendors. According to Yong-yih Tseng, Taiwanese opera had to be performed in Japanese and the Taiwanese language was completely banned from stage, and the performances should be Japanized in music and style, which caused Taiwanese opera to be severely devastated due to the political control [63–64]. Some scholars also share similar opinions to Tseng. For example, Guang-hua Mo also claims that the Japanese Occupation Era has been a calamity to Taiwanese opera, for the art was distorted to serve as a political propaganda [100–101]. By all means, the political force was the main cause to steer the development of Taiwanese opera, but this is also the turning point for this local art to embrace more possibilities and grow out to be a breed totally different from its Chinese soil and root, and becomes an iconic Taiwanese art. Ho-yi Lin sees this political control as main cause to force Taiwanese opera to change, but this also proves that Taiwanese opera could always survive in all kinds of political conditions [178]. Striving under the political suppression, Taiwanese opera was forced to change and incorporate more elements from different cultures in order to survive. The colonial government may have treated this art as a way to brainwash and monitor Taiwanese people, yet at the same time, Taiwanese opera showed its life and resilience when encountering severe suppression.

As the Nationalist Party of China retreated from China and took over Taiwan, art became one of the weapons for political warfare [Su 98–99].² The nationalist government at this time treated theatrical arts as the political propaganda, promoting the ideas of “uniting China with Three Principles of the People (三民主義統一中國),” “national anti-Russia and anti-communism movement (反共抗俄運動)” and so on. Otherwise, the acting troupes might not have the chance to perform in public if their shows did not conform with the above-mentioned ideas. Moreover, it was the Ministry of Education, not Ministry of Culture³, which took charge of theatrical and artistic activities, which reflects that the government saw the theatrical arts as with educational and political purposes. Only those with nationalist aesthetics and moral teaching could be esteemed as the works worth preserving and promoting.

In 1946, the Nationalist government issued “the Taiwan Provincial Regulations to Manage Acting Troupes” (台灣省劇團管理規則)⁴ to monitor all the troupes. The purpose of these regulations was to abort all the Japanized conventions and practices in theatre, and Sinicized Taiwanese local practices. Thus, all the troupes had to register and applied for a license, and before acting, the troupes had to apply for a permit and submitted the script, the title of the play, the playwright and the list of performers to the authorities. By doing so, the government could control the content of the performances to see if the performances were in concord with the goal that the government set for them, which only reflects the government’s denial of freedom of speech. Meanwhile, since they were mostly from China who barely spoke and understood Taiwanese, the officials hardly recognized Taiwanese culture and decided to wipe out the colonial influence of Japan. Taiwanese opera was by all means regarded as the venue to spread the ideas of Japanese colonization, so this “colonized” art needed to be reformed to demonstrate the orthodox Chinese aesthetics. Therefore, many Taiwanese opera performers would blend Peking opera performing techniques and music to show how “Chinese” they were, which once again steered Taiwanese opera to change and adjust itself to the political conditions.

Apart from controlling the content of the performances, dramatic academies were also established in the name of preserving Chinese artistic heritages. However, local Taiwanese opera hardly received equal chance as Peking opera or other operas from China. During the 1950s to 1970s, many Taiwanese opera troupe leaders were aware of the necessity of preserving and refining this local art, and appealed to the authorities for establish the professional school for Taiwanese opera. However, only relevant workshops or lectures were allowed to be held, which could not help much when it comes to preserving and cultivating new blood for this art [Su 117–120]. On the contrary, after 1949, many famous Peking opera performers retreated to Taiwan along with the military and governmental officials, and these performers were highly respected by the authorities and started to teach pupils in public. Peking opera started to be taught in school since 1955, and then National Fu Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy (國立復興劇校), the first public school teaching Peking opera, was founded in 1968 [Lin 233–234]. It was until 1994 when Taiwanese opera was taught as a special field in the public education system in National Fu Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy, which is 26 years apart since the academy was founded. In other words, before 1994, Taiwanese opera remained in the field of civilian and private institute and could be learned through apprenticeship.

Looking back to the history of the development of Taiwanese opera, we could find that the politics actually played a key role in directing the style and contents of Taiwanese opera. When in Japanese Occupation Era, foreign elements, such as Japanese folktales and folk songs or western music, were added to the show in order to evade strict censorship, so the opera might not be recognized as “Taiwanese.” Then when the Nationalist Party of China came to power, the contents of Taiwanese opera should be politically correct and see China as the cultural root for this local art. It is until the late 20^th century that the government started to realize and preserve the essence of this operatic art and see it as an iconic culture of Taiwan. The political ideology wields such a strong influence on the development of arts in Taiwan. First the colonial government turned the grassroots opera into a hybrid and mixed form; then the Nationalist government upheld Peking opera as the model of authentic Chinese theatrical art and underestimated the value of Taiwanese opera, which forced Taiwanese opera to survive on its own before the martial law was lifted.

One situation caused by the forceful political ideology is that the government used to pay too much attention on the operatic form and politically correct content, and deliberately neglected the social and historical background of Taiwanese opera, which is also a denial of Taiwanese local culture. Taiwanese opera has long been closely connected to Taiwanese religious festivals and ceremonies. Presenting an opera to the deities is one way for people to show their respect and thanks. Apart from that, many classic operas end up with moral teaching and happy endings, which has been considered not only entertaining but educational. We can say that distorting the form and content Taiwanese opera is also devastating what makes a Taiwanese: the belief, system of values and ways of life. However, in the past, no long-term plans were made to promote and preserve Taiwanese opera but the political measures, the government’s deliberate neglect of the local culture only made this art decline [Su 144–145]. Thus, the necessity of having a national Taiwanese opera troupe is not just the matter of preserving a local culture, but a gesture to show the political justice of the authorities telling people that they care, and distribute the resources to the long-forgotten Taiwanese opera.

3 The Current Condition of Taiwanese Opera in Taiwan

From the previous discussion, we know that since the beginning of the 20^th century, the politics played the key role to direct and steer the development of Taiwanese opera, and the Taiwanese theatre had carried the mission to propagandize the politically correct ideas during the colonial and the Nationalist administrations. Cultural affairs were subordinate to the Ministry of Education and national Peking troupes were even under the Ministry of Defense, which only demonstrates that culture had to serve for the politics. To sum up, the basic principle for cultural affairs during the Japanese Occupation Era and the early rule of the Nationalist Party of China was the “nationalist” approach: the cultural affairs were all “politicized.” Different political powers had different say in the definition of politically correct culture; what’s acceptable in the Japanese Occupation Era might be aborted under the rule the Nationalist Party of China. Cultural affairs were all controlled by the ruling class. The fluctuating cultural policies and aesthetic standard might make the professionals and staff not know what to follow and feel confused and lost.

For long, culture has been second to the development of the politics and economy. The government did not have a comprehensive plan for protecting and preserving the local arts, not to mention taking care of the life of the professionals and performers. The standard approach that the government would take was to monitor the forms and contents of arts, and to give fund and subsidy, so the troupes were controlled financially and ideologically. In the spectrum of the politics, the private troupes had to take either the nationalist standpoint or the populist approach in order to survive or benefit. Taiwanese opera either reflected the taste of the authorities or entertained the general audience. Thus, we may boldly assume that since the principle of making cultural policies in Taiwan had long been “politicized,” the politics has taken the core of the art.

However, during the 80s, the government started to build cultural centers in every city in the name of promoting cultural affairs,⁵ which is a sign to show the shift of power control was moving from the central government to the local and the regional. It would be easier for people to get in touch with art and cultural activities, and every city government has been encouraged to demonstrate its local colors via the exploitation of its own cultural center. This is the transitional period for the Nationalist government to move to the civic government when culture has become a civic right no longer in the hand of the central and Nationalist government. Citizens could participate actively in various kinds of art and cultural events, and be encouraged to display the distinctive traits and opinions.

After the 90s when the martial law was lifted, Taiwan was released from the authoritarian rule and embraced full democracy, including the freedom of speech. Now arts no longer serve for the politics and could finally reflect the diversity of Taiwanese culture. One thing worth noting is the lifting of the language ban. In 1976, the passing of Radio and Television Act strictly limited the usage of Taiwanese language in radio and TV shows, which severely suppressed the language and caused the young generation to lose touch of the local language and culture. Students might even be punished for speaking Taiwanese in school or public. Presumably, many performances in Taiwanese found it hard to reach for more young audience, and gradually faded away from the stage of history. Eventually in 1993, the Ministry of Education listed Taiwanese and Hakka languages in the selective curriculum of the elementary school to fix the situation, reviving the language through education. As the language ban was finally lifted, Taiwanese opera by all means has found more ground to grow without the political control. Taiwanese opera clubs in schools or private tutoring classes begin to bloom, which is a counter-reacting movement to the authoritarian suppression on local Taiwanese culture. In 1991, the Taiwanese opera, Lu Bu and Diao Chan (呂布與貂蟬)⁶, finally made its way to and premiered in National Theatre Hall, a significant milestone for the Taiwanese opera to move away from the street art to the high art.

Despite the government finally recognizes and restores the iconic position of Taiwanese opera, the opera itself still faces the crisis of continuation. Today, although the Ministry of Culture is taking charge of cultural affairs, trying to uphold the importance of culture to the equal position of the politics and economy, yet the government still encourages Taiwanese opera by giving funds and subsidies, and it is more like a political gesture and election concern to distribute resources to the potential electorate. In addition, the language ban has caused the loss of young audience who barely understand the language performed onstage, and the emergence of new media, such as the Internet, also makes the performing industry even more competitive. Today’s audience probably would like to stay in front of the screen or monitor, instead of going to the theatre. The taste and viewing habits of the audience have changed so greatly that the government seems to fail to notice today’s art industry as well as the market demand. Giving financial support is one thing; the authorities also need to take what Taiwanese opera troupes really need into concerns.

Compared to other operas, Taiwanese opera so far is still the most dynamic and representative local operatic form in Taiwan. After the War, there were about 300 professional Taiwanese opera troupes in Taiwan [Lin 214].⁷ Now there are about 107 troupes still active in 2017, and among them, there are about 20 troupes which constantly receive grants, subsidy, fund or support from the local government or the Ministry of Culture.⁸ As for the profiting and nonprofit public productions (which is also called “wen-hua-chang”/文化場), there are about 430 other than countless productions in the religious festivals or ceremonies (which is called “min-xi”/民戲) in 2016.⁹ In other words, we could see Taiwanese opera being performed everyday throughout the year. The Ministry of Culture awarded and granted more than 30 million NT dollars (about 1 million US dollars) annually (2013–2017) to excellent troupes, and the local government, about 3 million NT dollars (2013–2016).¹⁰ There are also conferences, journal papers, critiques, research papers and books relating to Taiwanese opera being published every year as well social media, social networks and clubs. Yet despite the fact that Taiwanese opera is active and still popular, and the government keeps funding numerous troupes, there are two major problems endangering the continuation of Taiwanese opera. One is that the vicious price war and competition among the troupes; the other is many troupes are short of professional and long-term human resources.

According to the report of The 2017 Observation and Analysis Project on Traditional Performing Art Industries in Taiwan, in 2015, of all the productions of Taiwanese opera, 82.42% were “min-xi,” and the number went even higher in 2016 to 89.87% [142], which means most of the opera troupes greatly rely on participating religious activities, instead of the funding from the government. Therefore, in order to compete for more chances to perform and to win publicity, many troupes might cut down their budget, and then a vicious price war starts. The cost-down strategy may result in the poor quality and loss of the audience. What’s more, since the troupes could not earn much through producing a min-xi, human capital is also cut down, and the average monthly wage of the staff and performers of private troupes in 2017 is below 25,000 NT dollars (38.2% earn NT$ 20,009 to NT$ 25,000; 30.77% earn less than NT$ 20,008).¹¹ Many professional performers are part-timers working for different troupes in order to earn enough for keeping the basic quality of life. Thus, this kind of career environment and conditions might not interest new blood to join in, and even if new members would like to work in this field, many of them may not stay long.

Apart from the price war competition and low monthly wage of the staff, many troupes also face the difficulty of finding long-term and professional human resources. The reasons behind this difficulty might be the unstable and poor quality of life resulted from the low wage. Thus, it is understandable that except the public troupes, 85.78% of members in the private troupes are part-timers, according to the report of The 2017 Observation and Analysis Project on Traditional Performing Art Industries in Taiwan [64]. Even though every year, there are about 18 students or more who are well-trained graduating from the Department of Taiwanese Folk Opera, National Taiwanese College of Performing Arts, ready to participate in the profession, yet not all of them would devote themselves into the profession and keep working for Taiwanese opera. In addition to school education, there are also some projects supported by the government or personal clubs to train new blood. However, after those projects are over or the training classes are finished, still not all of the trainees or apprentices would take Taiwanese opera performing as their choice of profession.

Apart from the low wage, the challenge that young performers also need to face is the impromptu style of acting. Taiwanese opera began as a street art and many early performers just learned the tunes and lyrics by heart through apprenticeship. For these performers, experience is everything. They had to observe and follow what their masters had taught them, and acted out their own style. One’s capability of improvisation demonstrates one’s ability of performing. Yet today’s school education trains students through pedagogical approaches: musicians perform by reading scores, actors and actresses play by memorizing the scripts, the stage is modern and well-equipped, and no audience shouting and chanting with street vendors, which is completely different from the upbringing of the opera performers in the past. This generation gap also causes the difficulty for the young trainees to fit in the demand of the profession in the eye of the senior performers.

To sum up, we find that statism determined the principle of cultural policies, which means the benefits of the country is above citizens’ welfare. After the martial law was lifted, Taiwanese opera comes back to people’s life as an iconic cultural sign, showing the government finally recognizes the significance of this local art. However, without a sound and comprehensive plan to promote and preserve the art, the staff and performers of Taiwanese opera could only strive on their own. Living on the limited wage, the troupe members also face the challenge of recruiting new blood. Many young trainees and graduates are reluctant to take Taiwanese opera as their profession choice due to the low wage; the troupes might also find these young students are not well-equipped with the impromptu acting techniques and are also reluctant to hire them. The crisis of the shortage of long-term professionals endangers strongly the continuation of Taiwanese opera.

4 Why a National Taiwanese Opera Troupe?

From the previous discussion, we know since the martial law was lifted, Taiwanese nationalism ideology rose to overtake the Greater China perspective—Taiwan and China are an inseparable entity, which sees Taiwan as an ethnically, politically and legally independent country, as a counter-reaction to the authoritarian suppression on the Taiwanese local culture. Under these circumstances, reviving Taiwanese opera would be one of the options for the authorities to respond to the popular demand of Taiwanese nationalism ideology, and then the issue of having a national Taiwanese opera troupe has been brought up. For the politicians, having a national opera troupe is a political measure to show the government’s will to preserve the art, set the artistic standard and basic wage line for the domestic troupes, and also even find more job vacancies for students graduating from schools, public projects or private tutoring classes. However, a doubt simultaneously emerges: is the purpose of the national opera troupe for preserving the art or receiving unemployed graduates? Should a national Taiwanese opera troupe be commercialized or educational?

In 1999–2000 and 2007, the Ministry of Education respectively proposed to establish a national Taiwanese opera troupe and held public hearings for professionals, scholars, artists, and opera lovers. Yet, to many people’s surprise, this proposal failed twice. Then in 2018, the budget and subsidy for the only public Taiwanese opera troupe, Lan-Yang Taiwanese Opera Company, affiliated to Cultural Affairs Bureau, Yilan County, were deleted and the company might be forced to be disbanded.¹² Once again, the crisis of Lan-Yang triggered the issue for establishing a national Taiwanese opera troupe, and the debate still goes on.

The first debate about having a national Taiwanese opera troupe was during 1999 to 2001. At that time, both National Fu Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy and National Kuo Kuang Academy of Arts had their own opera troupes. These two school were merged into National Taiwan Junior College of Performing Arts in 1999, so the opera troupes also were merged. Then, in 2000, the government proposed to establish “National Dramatic Arts Center” (國立戲劇藝術中心) to manage the existing Peking opera troupe and further to build up a national Taiwanese opera troupe.¹³ The proposal was soon rejected by many professionals, claiming that a national opera troupe may prevail in many ways than the private ones, such as having more resources, attracting more professionals, and having more funds. There will be no way for the private troupes to compete with the national one, which may result in the loss of private troupes, and eventually, the loss of dynamics and life of Taiwanese opera. Take Peking opera troupe as an example. Once the only national Peking opera troupe was established, the private troupes failed to compete with it, and they were either disbanded or merged with other troupes. Gradually, only GuoGuang Opera Company survives and gives Peking opera performances regularly. Without the government’s protection, Peking opera may not survive in Taiwan’s theatre market, for it has lost the competitiveness and ability to live on its own.

In 2007, the issue was brought up again that the Ministry of Education would like to establish a national Taiwanese opera troupe affiliated to National Taiwan Junior College of Performing Arts. The Legislative Yuan held the public hearing with a subtitle: “is the national Taiwanese opera troupe a remedy? Or a sugarcoated drug?”¹⁴ This subtitle has already suggested the conflicting nature of this issue: the government would like to prescribe “a national opera troupe” as a cure to ease politically the dispute over the distribution of public resources to Taiwanese opera and “non-Taiwanese operas.” Once a national opera troupe was established, Taiwanese opera and its performers could be more revered and have even fairer treatment both financially and socially. The artistic quality of the opera might also be enhanced. However, the doubt still lingers: would a national opera troupe, with the example of the national Peking opera troupe in view, truly protect the grassroots art? Or the life and energy of the art would be smothered, for all the troupes might find it hard to survive except the national one? What’s more, if the troupe would be affiliated to the college, what would be the goal of the troupe? To benefit? Or to educate and preserve the art? Why does a school need to support a Taiwanese opera troupe? If so, should the school also establish different troupes for different operatic forms respectively? Then who would be qualified enough to join the troupe? The graduates? The teachers? Or even the professionals? All participants in that hearing were opera lovers and supporters, but had such a huge disagreement on this issue. The reason behind this controversy is still, I think, the standpoint of the government. If the government still sees Taiwanese opera as a political capital to flatter certain ethnic and political groups without having a thorough plan and knowledge of the performing industry, Taiwanese opera would always be second to the politics and economy.

Then, why does this issue still keep going on, since the proposal has failed twice? We can’t deny the cultural affairs are still politicized in Taiwan. In the 2010 national population and housing census, there were 81.9 persons out of 100 understanding and speaking Taiwanese, and 83.9 persons out of 100 understanding and speaking Mandarin Chinese. Yet, there are only 6.6 persons out of 100 using Hakka language and 1.4 using indigenous languages.¹⁵ Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese are two dominating languages in Taiwan, so the supporters of the national Taiwanese opera troupe would consider it as a way to balance resources to the dominating ethnic groups. In 2016, some law-makers of the Legislative Yuan proposed that the Ministry of Culture should establish a national Taiwanese opera in order to fairly balance the distribution of public resources to Peking opera, Bangzi opera, Chinese music and Taiwanese opera. The rationale of this proposal was Taiwanese opera did not receive as much support from the government as Peking opera does, despite Taiwanese opera has been the only art originating from Taiwan.¹⁶ This proposal once again demonstrates the political concern of the government. However, compared to Taiwanese opera, Hakka opera, indigenous cultural dances, and other minor operatic forms are quite underprivileged and need the government’s support more desperately. Taiwanese opera could not even be considered as “endangered,” since it is still lively and active in the domestic market. When it comes to preserving and protecting the dying arts, wouldn’t Hakka opera, indigenous cultural dances and other operatic forms be more worthy our attention and efforts?

The role of the government should not be limited to be the fund-giver or financial supporter, but should transcend the political ideology. Culture belongs to the public sphere and citizens should have equal access to cultural affairs, so the government should guarantee adequate resources would be provided for all cultural and artistic activities. Therefore, giving money to the art that is active instead of dying ones is nothing but a political measure. There are still many ways to protect Taiwanese arts other than having a national troupe. What the government should consider first is how Taiwanese opera has been passed down, and how the current social condition affects the teaching and learning system. What is the core value and essence of this art? And what is the current condition of the performing industry in Taiwan? We cannot just uphold the flag of ethnic and transformation justice and start a Taiwanese opera troupe in the name of preserving the dying art, but simultaneously devastate it by retaining it in the museum or cultural centers just for display.

5 Conclusion

In 2017, Kun-liang Ciou referred the controversy over establishing a national Taiwanese opera troupe in the news commentary as a storm in the teacup.¹⁷ He does not explain further why this metaphor is used but only mentions this “small” issue “boils” again now. Yet this metaphor is quite adequate for referring to this issue: it probably would only arouse some people’s interest within a limited circle. Although the root of Taiwanese opera is plebeian and the opera itself is strongly connected to the religious activities today, not many people, especially the young generation, would like to watch the show in the outdoor stage. Based on my limited teaching experiences, the majority of my students do not know much about the opera until they take my course. They are far more interested to modern media and fancy foreign plays. Therefore, within this small teacup of the opera market, not many people would be affected. To the public, including those who are not interested in opera, they might see having a national Taiwanese opera troupe as a part of the transformation justice that the government mends the past mistakes through political and judicial measures when Taiwanese language and culture were greatly put down by the authoritarian rule. Yet, apart from the politically correct rationale, the government still needs to pay more attention to the art industry and market conditions. Having a national Taiwanese opera troupe should not be a simple yes/no question, but worth our further understanding. Knowing the historical background and the cultural policies in the past helps us recognize the environment where Taiwanese opera lives in, so that a more comprehensive supporting plan could be designed and constructed to truly continue the art.