A Faith with An Opportunity
“High quality education means to allow students to develop individually based on their potentials, and further let each student exert their own potential and realize their dreams. This is the motto of Xihu Elementary School”, said Principal Peng. Therefore, the school keeps using resource from inside and outside the school to create multiple educational activities and environments. The chief of the Ming Hwa Yuan, Mr. Chen Sheng-fu and his wife Miss Suen Tsuei-feng’s two daughters are students of our school. They are worried about the crisis in passing on Taiwanese Opera and thus they are willing to help maintain the legacy of Taiwanese Opera. Therefore, with their assistance, we have this wonderful opportunity to found the Students’ Taiwanese Opera Club in our school.
Restless Efforts Results in Bountiful Harvest
Students of Xi-Hu Elementary School are very lucky to be selected by the Ming Hwa Yuan to be the base for the Ming Hwa Yaun to pass on its heritage. Owing to instructors from the Ming Hwa Yuan and our club instructor, Mr. Lin Jen-jung’s contribution, plus full support from school administration and from the entire faculty and teachers of our school, the students of this club can learn Taiwanese Opera efficiently and wholeheartedly. For the past seven years, children’s Taiwanese Opera has become an important feature of our school and created prestigious reputation nationwide.
Pass on Taiwanese Opera to Each Teacher and Student
Although the club has received great ovation, we are still not satisfied. Now we have to figure out a way to influence more people based on our experience and resources, for example, use professional actors, trained teachers and students to promote Taiwanese Opera. Thus we will be able to enhance students and teachers’ artistic standard altogether, and forge a virtuous circle which starts from cultivating new talents, promote general participation and then cultivating more new talents in our campus.

“Wow! Here she is. Here comes the Spider Goblin!” Each time the club performs, the audiences are always very excited. Adults and children enjoy the opera very much. Students of Xi-Hu Taiwanese Opera Club put on beautiful costumes to perform aesthetic movements and stagecraft with the accompaniment. Their thrilling performance always causes great sensation despite the fact that the actors are just ten years old. Students of Xi-Hu Elementary School are very lucky to have the chance to be personally instructed by Miss Suen Tsuei-feng, the diva of Taiwanese Opera. Students of Taiwanese Opera Club begin to grow passion on dramatic performance, and naturally, Taiwanese Opera has become an indispensable part of their life.
Miss Suen Tsuei-feng and the Ming Hwa Yuan have forged a solid foundation for Students’ Taiwanese Opera Club of Xi-Hu Elementary School. Plus the students and teachers’ efforts on the development of the club, now our club has grown stronger and begun to look forward to more opportunities to learn and prosper. Besides the routine drama Xi You Ji（Journey to the West）, this year, we have asked professional playwright to write a new play Dao Hun Ling. We hope this brand-new play will arouse more sensation among our audiences. More importantly, this new play will enhance students’ performing skills and students’ passion on dramatic performance. This time, we plan to combine the music accompaniment by the Chinese Music Club of our school with our new play. We look forward to plant the seed of our traditional theatric form through our efforts.
Newton said, “If I have seen farther than Descartes, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.” Fortunately, because of this gracious opportunity to work with Miss Suen Tsuei-feng and the Ming Hwa Yuan, we are able to stand on the shoulders of giants of arts to see farther, to understand the profound knowledge of traditional dramas, and to enjoy the amazing experience of dramatic art!

If the highest state of arts and culture promotion is to integrate arts into our daily lives, we are pleased to say that the project Resident Artists in Xi-Hu has realized this dream. With the assistance from the Ming Hwa Yuan, Xi-Hu Elementary School selected Taiwanese Opera as the main focus of arts and culture education. Students learn stagecraft and music for voices under the guidance of Miss Suen Tsuei-feng. Now students can manage stagecraft like Orchid Finger, Sword Finger, forward somersault in the air, as well as backward roll. We can tell from students concentrated faces that they are absorbed in learning Taiwanese Opera. Our efforts are now ready to be harvested. Thanks to all faculty members of Xi-Hu Elementary School and our team members. Without you, we won’t be able to make such a fruitful achievement.

The instructor of Students’ Taiwanese Opera Club of Xi-Hu Elementary School, Mr. Lin, Jen-jung train his students and practice with them every morning. He plays nan hu, instructs students to stretch and practice singing tunes of Taiwanese Opera. Whenever they have an important public performance, they even have to practice and rehearsal during holidays. Although he is a very demanding instructor, students appreciate him very much. Before this club was founded, he had a discussion with Miss Suen Tsuei-feng on the trouble of passing on Taiwanese Opera. This idea of setting up a Taiwanese Opera Club in school occurred to him. Then this proposition was also approved by the chief of the Ming Hwa Yuan, Mr. Chen Sheng-fu. Therefore the Students’ Taiwanese Opera Club of Xi-Hu Elementary School was later founded with full support from the Ming Hwa Yuan. Training for Taiwanese Opera is quite painful. Mr. Lin and instructors from the Ming Hwa Yuan used to doubt if these students can tolerate such painstaking training. However, these students made it. Their first Taiwanese Opera performance in school was highly praised and finally they tasted the joyous fruit of their diligence. This honor comes from students’ passion and perseverance, as well as the ceaseless contribution from the Ming Hwa Yuan.