TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — One of Japan’s most famous ghost stories, “The Peony Lantern,” will take the stage in Taichung this weekend with a fresh Taiwanese interpretation.
Renowned for its haunting portrayal of a love that transcends life and death, the tale is reimagined by Taiwan’s Unique Puppet Theater through a blend of traditional glove puppetry, Liyuan opera, Nanguan pipa music, and Japanese Noh theater.
Three performances will be held Saturday and Sunday at the National Taichung Theater’s Black Box, according to a theater press release.
Originally banned during the Ming dynasty, “The Peony Lantern” tells of a grieving husband who falls in love with a mysterious woman carrying a peony lantern. Their nightly meetings take a chilling turn when a neighbor discovers the woman is a skeleton.
The story later reached Japan, becoming one of the three major Edo-period ghost tales alongside “The Ghost Story of Yotsuya” and “Mansion of the Plates.” It is best known for the eerie image of a ghostly woman searching for her lover by lantern light.
Founded in 2012 by Kuo Chien-fu (郭建甫), Unique Puppet Theater specializes in traditional glove puppetry enhanced by modern techniques. In this production, three puppeteers wear pale, bald masks to portray ghostly figures, sharing the stage with a Liyuan opera actor playing a maid who carries the symbolic lantern.
The lantern serves multiple roles: as a prop, a miniature stage, and a shadow play screen. An atmospheric soundscape combining Nanguan and Noh music adds to the haunting yet poetic mood.
Kuo said the production is designed as more than a story — it is a dialogue between the audience, the puppets, and the performers. The narrative centers on the relationship between a paper lantern maker and a ghostly singer, emphasizing their mutual respect for each other’s artistry alongside the supernatural romance.
