Budaixi fan opens museum of unique collection, altered puppets

Budaixi fan opens museum of unique collection, altered puppets

2025-07-01

After retiring, a former typewriter salesman in Hsinchu’s Zhubei City threw himself into his childhood love of glove puppetry, collecting a wide range of puppets. As his collection grew, he turned the first floor of his home into a museum for people to appreciate budaixi as much as he does. Apart from collecting, he also alters puppets so they can change faces or play ball, each with their own special ability.

Have you ever seen a puppet that can dribble? Even juggling or changing faces are no problem. These puppets were all created by avid budaixi fan Tseng Wen-teng.

Needle and thread in hand, he attentively sews an outfit for one of his puppets, using pliers to adjust the area where the thread passed through. Apart from making them look more lifelike, he also makes them easier to manipulate.

As soon as you bring up budaixi, Tseng’s eyes light up. When he was a young man, he sold typewriters for a living. Bu after retiring, he turned back to his childhood passion and started collecting puppets. The longer it’s been, the larger his collection has grown. He also alters puppets to give them special abilities, and even turned the first floor of his home into a budaixi museum.

Tseng Wen-teng
Budaixi museum founder
I want to preserve this culture. I’m interested in preserving this culture. Otherwise it’ll die off. I’m passionate about it. Everyone is welcome to come check it out.

Whenever you get him talking about budaixi, Tseng can talk for hours telling endless stories. For him, it’s more than an interest. It’s a cultural pastime and a cherished lifelong passion.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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#budaixi #Zhubei #Hsinchu #puppetry #glovepuppetry #passion #puppetmuseum #localmuseum

布袋戲迷開文物館蒐集戲偶動手改裝"會變臉.射箭"

2025-07-01

新竹竹北一名男子，早年靠賣打字機維生，退休後想起兒時喜歡布袋戲的興趣，便開始蒐集布袋戲偶，隨著戲偶越蒐集越多，他乾脆將自家一樓，改成布袋戲文物館，供民眾欣賞。而除了單純蒐集戲偶，他還自己動手改裝，讓戲偶能變臉、能打球，每尊都有獨特風貌。

有看過會運球的布袋戲偶嗎？甚至就連雜耍，變臉都難不倒，這些戲偶，都出自布袋戲迷曾文燈之手。

只見他一針一線，仔細縫製布袋戲偶的衣服，並用老虎鉗將線穿過的地方做微調，除了讓戲偶看起來更栩栩如生，操偶也能更加順手。

一說到布袋戲偶，眼睛就徹底發亮。曾文燈年輕時，做打字機生意，退休後想起小時候的興趣，開始收集布袋戲偶，隨著收集時間越長，戲偶越來越多，他不只動手改裝布袋戲偶，讓戲偶有特技，甚至還把一樓住家改造成布袋戲文物館。

[[布袋戲文物館創立者曾文燈]]
“文化要把它留著啦，我自己興趣啦，將這文化留著，不然就斷了啦，我有心把它留下來，歡迎人家來看，人家來參觀。”

提到布袋戲偶，曾文燈總是有說不完的故事，因為對他來說，除了是興趣、是文化傳承、更是他小時候的回憶。

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