Li-Ching Studio, a puppetry studio not open to the public, is hidden in a small town in Chiayi, Taiwan. Rows of puppets wait at the garage entrance, ready to be retouched. This is where Master Huang (Huang, Hsien-Chang) lives.

Carving and repairs happen beside the living room. Another room holds sewing machines, cameras, and the electronics for set design. At the back, wood panels for backdrops and a small lathe for turning puppet heads.

The studio is not only his home, but also where he dedicates decades of his life preserving and innovating string puppetry in Taiwan.

Puppets are not made once. The strings weaken and break under sunlight, so they need replacing from time to time.

Carving hands is ongoing too, since every puppet needs a set. Even though Master Huang is semi-retired, he still tries to work on the hands every morning, almost like a ritual.

“The traditional design is 16 strings; some can go up to 20 or 30 depending on how fine we want the movements to be.” Master Huang grabs a traditional Chinese puppet from his shelf to demonstrate the complexity.

Then he grabs his simplified version. Rather than string every puppet for full movement, he redesigns each one around its character, placing the strings only where that role needs them. “Otherwise it’s gonna take years to learn.”

But the redesign cuts both ways: no two puppets work the same, so each one has to be planned from scratch. “More time goes into figuring out where the string goes for optimized control than making the puppet itself.”

Master Huang also makes all the clothes himself. “I usually use old clothes. You get much more diverse in fabric choice than buying a single bolt from the shop.”

“I enjoy DIY a lot. I love mechanics and filming. But sewing is purely because I need it.” He laughs.

By the garage, there’s a big room with two long tables. “I use this space when I need to make bigger props, and for workshops with students from time to time.” Master Huang also lectures at the university to pass the craft down, and oversees a senior puppet troupe.

“Video is the main source of entertainment now.” Master Huang explains the green screen setup in his garage. He films the puppet performance, then composites it with a VR environment he designs in post. He pulled out a box full of VR headsets and controllers, all excited.

He enjoys making a puppet show from start to finish, literally.