The Palace of Life

The Artistic Life of Chuang Chin-Tsai ——Interpreting Beiguan Opera in Resonance with the Spirit of Yilan’s Land and Waters

Every land holds within it a memory of culture—

a legacy nurtured in the daily lives of its people,

resounding through generations in sound, movement, color, and instrument.

When we speak of music in Taiwan, beyond the profound heritage of Indigenous melodies,

the oldest musical forms in the Han-rooted society are known as Nanguan and Beiguan.

Beiguan refers broadly to Han Chinese music performed in the official court dialect (the "Zhongyuan accent" of Kunqu and Peking Opera), distinct from the Minnan or Hakka traditions.

It draws its essence from the Xipi and Bangzi tonal systems, while also integrating elements of Kunqu and regional folk opera forms.

Brought to Taiwan by Han immigrants during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Beiguan, alongside Nanguan, formed the dual foundation of Taiwan’s traditional musical landscape, influencing virtually all Taiwanese music and opera for the past 200 to 300 years.

Its repertoire spans a wide range:

Luandan, Zhengyin, Fulu, Xipi, Zidi, Waijiang, Old Style Opera, Siping Opera, gong-and-drum ensembles, and the traditional Eight Sounds.

Moreover, Beiguan has left a profound imprint on Taiwan’s native Gezaixi and puppet theatre—

echoing still through the soul of island performance arts.

A Life Upon the Stage: Sitting Through All Eight Chairs

When music and art travel across lands and mingle with local cultures, they often blossom into new forms, like flowers unique to each soil.

Such is the story of Chuang Chin-Tsai, the Beiguan master from Yilan, whose artistic life has embodied a style of Beiguan steeped in the essence of Yilan’s rivers, rain, and rice fields.

His journey began in 1935 (Showa 10), in Zhugao Village, Dongshan Township, Yilan County. Born into a performing family—his father an actor with the troupes Donggua Mountain and Pujiao River Bottom—he grew up during Taiwan’s Japanese occupation. The colonial regime’s imperial assimilation campaign reached even the stage, where troupes wielded swords and sang imperial dramas in faltering Japanese.

It was only after World War II ended in 1945 that Chuang was finally able to begin studying traditional Beiguan opera. One of his proudest inheritances remains “Qin Qiong Overturns the Bronze Banner”, a piece his father taught him to sing.

In 1946, at the age of eleven, Chuang began learning the drum—marking the start of his lifelong journey of “sitting through all eight chairs” on the operatic stage. His first training was in Gezaixi percussion, and among his troupe members at the time was none other than a young Yang Li-Hua, later to become a legend of Taiwanese opera.

By age fourteen, Chuang had mastered front-stage performance, percussion, string, and wind instruments. He joined Fulan Society, one of Yilan’s most esteemed Beiguan ensembles, with a history spanning over 150 years. There, he became the apprentice of the famed luantan performer Huang Wang-Tu, also known by his nickname Ke-Hua Tu-Ah (“Little Flower-Carver”).

This mentor became the most influential Beiguan teacher in Chuang’s life, their bond deep as father and son.

Chuang recalls: “Ke-Hua Tu-Ah taught me the most scores. He gave me countless techniques—some strange and wondrous. His calligraphy was beautiful, and he was a master at woodcarving too.”

Forever Bound to Beiguan and Luantan

How did Beiguan performers train more than half a century ago?

“We practiced on six-sided drums with tiny centers—we had to strike with such precision that we joked a fly could be killed mid-flight if it passed above the drumhead. That’s how hard we trained. Whether striking, blowing, or bowing, every technique had to be practiced to the point of beauty. I even recited musical scores while walking—my footsteps followed the rhythm: beat, lift, beat, lift. That’s why my tempo is so precise.”

From 1949 to 1956, before military service, Chuang Chin-Tsai trained at Luodong Fulan Society. Those seven years, filled with camaraderie and music-making among fellow disciples, were the happiest of his life.

When he enlisted at age 22, the entire Fulan ensemble gave him a grand farewell procession—a memory of fraternal devotion he would cherish forever.

He joined a unit of the Guangdong military division, recently evacuated from Dachen Island, and there, unexpectedly, learned the subtleties of Cantonese music through the army’s classical music club—enriching his foundation in Beiguan with new tonalities.

After military service, he joined the renowned Luantan troupe Dong Fu Sheng.

He married in 1960. Two years later, Taiwan launched its first TV station, and with it, the golden age of traditional opera began to fade.

To support his family, he did whatever work he could find:

“I sold medicine on the streets, where I had to play the xianzi (fiddle) to attract attention. I even hauled hollow bricks.”

Later, he worked in a copper mine, alongside his wife and siblings. But tragedy struck—his beloved younger sister died in an accident.

“I was carrying her on my back… She passed away on my shoulders.”

After that, his mother forbade him from returning to the mines.

He turned to selling snacks and shaved ice, all while still performing opera.

He pushed his ice cart through the streets and alleys of Luodong for over a decade.

But in his heart, the melodies of Beiguan and Luantan never left.

In 1974, he co-founded the Donglong Opera Troupe.

In 1988, he founded the Hanyang Opera Troupe, later renamed the Hanyang Beiguan Troupe.

Those years saw a brief revival, but by 1991, the lights dimmed, and performances began to wane.

Unfolding the Endless Elegance of Beiguan Opera

Today, the Hanyang Beiguan Troupe stands as the most iconic traditional folk theatre company in Yilan, and is presently the only professional Beiguan opera troupe in all of Taiwan. It is also among the few remaining groups capable of performing Zidi opera—a rare and refined branch of the Beiguan tradition. In recognition of its cultural contributions, the troupe was honored with the National Folk Art Heritage Award in 1989.

Over the past two decades, as traditional operatic arts have faced gradual decline, the Hanyang Beiguan Troupe has continued to carry the sacred flame of heritage and the pulse of artistry. For general public performances, it upholds a unique rhythm: Beiguan by day, Gezaixi by night.

When invited to festivals or cultural events, the troupe stages rehearsed renditions of classic Beiguan repertoire—preserving the vitality of these ancient melodies while introducing their poignant beauty to modern audiences.

Above all, the troupe has dedicated itself to cultivating new generations of artists, ensuring the sacred transmission of Beiguan continues to blossom into the future.

Now in his eighty-third year, Master Chuang Chin-Tsai stands as a consummate artist across the realms of Beiguan and Gezaixi opera—

a life wholly dedicated to the spirit and sound of traditional Taiwanese music and theatre.

He has been honored with numerous awards: the National Arts Award, the Folk Arts Heritage Award, recognition as a Living National Treasure, the Yilan Cultural Award, and even the Model Father Award.

His personal journey with Beiguan, alongside the evolving legacy of the Hanyang Beiguan Troupe, mirrors the postwar arc of Beiguan opera’s transformation in Taiwan—a living tapestry of cultural resilience and renewal.

Through sun and storm, joy and sorrow,

the rhythms of opera have never left Master Chuang’s life—

he has walked the path of melody, unwavering, listening with every step.

Always gracious and radiant with a gentle smile,

he has offered his family, disciples, and fellow artists a warm and steady harbor—

a sanctuary like a Palace of Life, where the beating of the drum and the breath of the flute narrate the full-bodied story of his Beiguan soul.

Looking back on his life, Master Chuang reflects:

"I give thanks to the years that have passed— They nourished everything I have become. They sustained my family, raised my children, and enriched my music."

《The Palace of Life》 is a heartfelt tribute to a living national treasure.

Alongside Beiguan master Chuang Chin-Tsai, the stage gathers legendary performers:

Li A-Zhi, front-stage actor and recipient of the 1988 Best Dan Role Award in Taiwan’s Local Opera Competition;

Li Mei-Niang, Luantan actress and honoree of the 1998 Taiwan Provincial Government Special Cultural Contribution Award;

and Lin Zeng-Hua, a devoted practitioner of Beiguan Luantan, revered for his long-standing excellence in the art.

Also joining are the rising and middle generations of performers from the Hanyang Beiguan Troupe—a rare and beautiful convergence of experience and renewal.

This is not only an artistic presentation of Beiguan opera,

but a sacred act of transmission between master and disciple.

This performance is further graced by the participation of celebrated composer Chen Ming-Chang, one of Master Chuang’s earliest disciples.

Together—teacher and student, elder and youth—

they weave the boundless elegance of Beiguan into a single offering,

a hymn to legacy, love, and living tradition.