Cultivating the Eight Generals – Wu Rong-Neng giving his all

It was not until after the true-to-life movie ‘Leader of the Parade’ (陣頭), that many people got to know what the culture of parade leading was all about. Shuishang Township in Chiayi County has found its very own ‘Leader of the Parade’ in Wu Rong-Neng (吳榮能), a man who has silently worked his heart out with the aim of improving the ‘Eight Generals’ (八家將) culture in a fast-developing Taiwan. Wu Rong-Neng inherited the family plumbing and electrical business, and from day one has toiled to ensure business success. However, when the weekend arrives Wu Rong-Neng hangs up his working attire and undergoes a complete change, where he becomes a teacher who leads an ‘Eight Generals’ parade troupe. No matter whether he is exhausted and drenched from head to toe in sweat, Wu Rong-Neng always completes the strenuous ‘Eight Generals’ movements.

As far as Wu Rong-Neng is concerned, equal importance should be given to both the family business and the ‘Eight Generals’ parade.  Wu Rong-Neng said that his love of ‘Eight Generals’ has a very clear goal, in short, to respect one’s teachers, uphold morality, respect the elderly, and respect the sages of yesteryear. As a demonstration of Wu Rong-Neng’s love for the ‘Eight Generals’, he established his very own ‘Eight Generals’ troupe. This allowed him to clearly see the reality that not all the members are really interested in the ‘Eight Generals’. Somewhat disheartened, in order to find students that were sincerely interested in learning he decided to change the existing practices in favor of offering classes. Walls inside the practice area are covered with thank-you letters from students. It turns out that in addition to his commitment to promoting the ‘Eight Generals’, Wu Rong-Neng has also invested a great deal of time in caring for disadvantaged children. It seems that Wu Rong-Neng has single-handedly managed to dispel any misgivings people may have had regarding the ‘Eight Generals’. In the final analysis, it is clear that something so full of history and artistic culture is worthy of preservation and being handed down to future generations.

PeoPo 公民新聞

Cultivating the Eight Generals – Wu Rong-Neng giving his all
URL: http://www.peopo.org/news/101314

(以下是中文對照)

八家將耕耘者 吳榮能全心投入 ( 中正E報 )

由真人真事改編的電影陣頭，讓許多人認識了真正的陣頭文化。在嘉義縣水上鄉也有一個為陣頭文化默默付出的人，他是吳榮能，為了改善八家將在台灣的發 展環境，而不斷努力著。繼承家傳水電事業的吳榮能，在工作上總是卯足了全力。換下平日工作制服後，搖身一變，成了帶領家將團的駕前導師。即使滿身大汗，吳 榮能還是專注地跳著八家將的動作，除了經營水電事業之外，在家將的傳承，他也投注了大量心力。

吳榮能表示，他對家將的熱 愛，就是祂來自於一個宗旨，就是幾句話可以整個詮釋，尊師、重道、敬老、尊賢。對八家將的熱愛促使吳榮能成立了屬於自己的家將團，然而這卻讓他看清了現 實，並不是所有團員都真的對八家將感興趣。在心灰意冷之際，他決定改變現有作法，改用開班授課的方式，找到真正想要學習的學生。室內牆上隨處可見學童寫的 感謝信，原來除了致力於八家將的推廣之外，吳榮能也投注了不少心思在關懷弱勢學童上。這位在員工口中海派的駕前老師，致力於化解一般大眾對八家將的誤解。 畢竟這個充滿了人文歷史與藝術氣息的傳統，應該值得被更慎重的看待與傳承。

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