In 2020, the NYCU Libraries received a donation of over 2,000 puppet theater-related objects from the Seden Society Puppet Theater Foundation. NYCU has gradually completed the restoration of these artifacts in 2021. In 2022, teacher Wu Zheng-De provided suggestions on classifying and cataloging, making it easier to preserve the collections. Except for puppet shows, the project has also dedicated to the preservation of shadow plays.They invited an expert, Chi Yi-Fengn, to help on identifying, and will first restore the 20 iconic shadow play puppets.
The project partnered with Tshu-Bi Co., Ltd. (Bank of Culture) to begin the pre-production of a book and documentary of the Seden Society Puppet Theater Foundation, completing the first drafts of interviews and clips of 11 people related to the foundation, including Chen Jin-Tze, Li Hong-Hsi, Li Lai-Fu, and Hsieh Te-Hsi, among other puppet artists.
The project hopes to preserve Taiwan’s puppetry cultural assets, and is consistent with SDG 11th: Sustainable Cities and Communities; in the future, it will endeavor to bring traditional puppet show to the community through technology and cross-domain cooperation, fulfilling university social responsibilities at the same time.
