These face-painters, who work behind the scenes, are the soul of the Generals troupes. Chen Chin-hsin is the current "face-painting master" of Chiayi's Chenyutang. His father, Chen Yuan-cheng, taught Generals' steps and was known as a "master of moves." Chen started learning from his father the troupes' steps and how to apply face paint when he was just 15. Then he studied face painting with the master Yeh Hai. Marvelously inventive, he has become one of the modern masters of the art in the Chiayi area.

When drawing the lines on a face, a face-painting master needs to remain very steady. And because their subjects are all different heights, their own legs must adapt. The photo shows Chen Wei-lung painting the face of a martial mandarin.

Three generations

Chen Chin-hsin explains that in his father's era the face-painting master of a temple enjoyed a high status, and if outsiders desired his services, they would have to personally bring an invitation along with gifts to his house. If the master accepted the invitation, those who offered it would purchase his train ticket, send a tricycle rickshaw to the train station for him, and arrange for his meals and lodging. Incense would have to be burned when he worked. There was nothing casual about it whatsoever.

And as Chen applies a white base to the faces of the generals, a young face-painting master in his early thirties stands at his side artfully drawing the flame lines for General Fan. This is none other than Chen Chin-hsin's son Chen Wei-lung.

Growing up around the art, Chen Wei-lung has always loved to paint, and as a child showed great interest both in performing as one of the generals and in painting their faces. At first he started secretly studying the basics from his father. Then, on his own, he would practice with small plaster-of-Paris masks and study photographs. In vocational high school, he would often be at his father's side helping, even when school was in session. When he graduated at 18, he began to throw all his energies into to the art of face painting-over his mother's objections.

"The truth is, my wife had good reasons for objecting," says Chen Chin-hsin. "Apart from having to work nights, it's hard to make ends meet as a face painter." He says that face painting can't be considered a profession, but rather only a special artistic skill.

A Generals troupe usually sets off between six and eight in the morning. Once the time is set, a face-painting master has to figure out how long it will take to paint each of the generals in the troupe. Typically, it takes about half an hour a face. If you're painting an Eight Generals troupe, it's going to take four or five hours. Usually a master will arrive at a temple some time between midnight and 3 a.m. "When I was in high school, my father would often wake me from my dreams to go help him," Chen Wei-lung recalls with a smile. "We'd paint from 3 a.m. until dawn, and I would often nod off at school during the day."

General Xie has the Chinese character zhong on his forehead. Some interpret it as a two-headed spear meant to convey his fierce nature.

Behind the brilliance, hard work

Chen Chin-hsin explains that in the 1970s, there were only about ten Generals troupes in the Chiayi area. At the time there were strict rules about applying the paint. Each temple's face-painting master could only paint for the troupe of his own temple or its associated temples. Most of these masters were volunteers, and the temples would from time to time give them presents and reimburse them for the cost of their materials. Because there weren't many temple festivities, one couldn't even have considered making a living from it.

Then, when the economy took off, people showed renewed interest in religion, and the number of temples increased. There are now numerous festivals honoring gods, so that Chiayi has more than 30 Generals troupes. Restrictions have relaxed too, so that face-painting masters can now paint for other temples. But major temple fairs such as the City God Festival bring an overwhelming amount of work, so that both Chens work through the night with several assistants to paint five different troupes.

"Since we're always painting in the middle of the night, we have to pay a lot of attention to the lighting. Still, it takes a lot out of you and your eyes get tired." Now 57, Chen Chin-hsin's eyes are growing weaker, and in recent years he has been drawing the lines on fewer and fewer faces. After he puts on the foundation for a face, he turns it over to Chen Wei-lung to draw in the details.

"When you are applying the lines to the face, you have to keep your body and arms very steady, and since those playing the generals are all different heights, the painter has to adjust his own height using his legs," Chen Wei-lung explains. "To add stability, you prop up your painting hand with your free hand. After a long time in an awkward position, your legs and back get very sore."

Practitioners of the Chen style of painting the Eight Generals practiced in Chiayi depart from tradition by first applying blocks of color using the "infill" method. This is the Chen style's signature technique.

True colors

Chiayi's oldest Generals troupe, according to the elders of the Chenyutang Association, was the Juyi Tsengshoutang, to which the face-painting master Tsai Lien belonged when he taught Yeh Hai and others in 1919. It was then that the Chiayi area first cultivated professional face painters.

The traditional style of face painting that Tsai Lien passed down at Juyi Tsengshoutang involves evenly spreading a base color across the actor's face and waiting for it to dry before getting on with the main painting work, which is highlighting the characteristics of the individual characters. This tradition of first applying a base and then applying the facial lines promotes speed and convenience. Its weak point is that the colors easily run. For instance, black lines on a white base look a bit gray. It's not as precise as the "color infill" method.

In the Chiayi area the "Chen" group of Eight Generals troupes were all directly taught by Tsai Lien. They are relatively unencumbered by traditional limitations, because according to the design of a face, they first apply blocks of white and then, going from light shades to dark, apply the other actual colors directly to the skin. An invention of these Chen Eight Generals groups, the "infill" technique has become one of their hallmarks. But because it requires a lot of time and effort, for the larger temple fairs they usually employ both the "outlining" method and the "infill" method.

Chen Chin-hsin (far right) and his son Chen Wei-lung (far left) are modern face-painting masters of Chiayi's Chenyutang. They use paints and brushes to paint generals that are both awe-inspiring and artistic.

Four generals and four seasons

Chen Chin-hsin explains that in the old days performers were expected to have shaved and cut their sideburns. If an actor hadn't shaved, the face painter would grab a razor and, without a second thought, turn into a barber. Some face painters were also members of Taiwanese Opera troupes, and were more careful, first applying a sticky-rice paste and then carefully smoothing the sideburns before starting to apply the base paint.

Before starting to paint, face painters first take a red cloth to hold down the actor's hair while exposing the face. Then they dab their fingers with red or black pigment and outline the shape of the character's eyes. Next, they begin to paint the base. For instance, the civil and martial mandarins and Generals Liu and Xie have white pigment applied first, whereas the two sides of General Gan's face are painted separately red and black, and General Fan's face is painted inky black.

Once the base paint dries, they begin to paint the features that distinguish character from character. In the Chen style, the Chinese character zhong, meaning central, is painted on General Xie's forehead to demonstrate his central position-though some people see it as symbolizing a weapon, like a two-pronged spear. General Liu has slanted eyes and a crooked mouth. General Gan has red and black halves of his face, the colors both contrasting and complementing each other. It is said that General Fan was originally a black monkey, and his disposition is very fiery, so his base color is largely black. His forehead, eyebrows and cheeks are painted like flames. Then there are the characters with designs that are emphasized on their foreheads: the lotus blossoms of the God of Spring, the gourds of the God of Summer, the tiger face of the God of Autumn, and the eagle of the God of Winter.

Mixing the paint for the white base is one of face painting's highest skills. During temple fairs, Generals troupes get up in the middle of the night to have their faces painted, and then start off on parade at 6 or 7 a.m. Out in the sun they perspire profusely. A good white base must last for a long time, and the painted lines cannot smudge because of sweat.

The formulas for these white bases are closely guarded secrets. Chen Wei-lung reveals that the main ingredient of the white base is potassium oxide, to which various special ingredients are added. By steaming these, they can break down the toxic ingredients so that they will be less damaging to a person's skin.

General Gan's face is half red, half black.

Taboos galore

After painting the face, finally they use black and red pigment to draw the sideburns; only then is the job done. Chen Chin-shin stresses: "When the members of a Generals troupe have their faces painted, they look awe-inspiring. After cleaning up and changing clothes, and then having the civil and martial mandarins receive orders from the gods, there is a ceremony that puts the spirit of the generals into those playing their parts-so the generals themselves will pay attention to their own movements and to maintaining their own magnificence."

If a member of the troupe is anxious to take a pee, he says laughing, then the whole troupe will have to undergo a ceremony to ask the god to "dismount." Only by temporarily getting a respite from their godly duties, can the actors go to the bathroom, eat and sleep. As a result, Generals troupes are the folk art performance groups with the most taboos.

Back in the old days, they would typically go vegetarian for three days to a week before performing, so as to cleanse themselves of desire and to follow the prohibitions to the letter. But nowadays few are willing to abstain from meat, and the requirement has become just a single day-or even just a meal or two.

When these Generals troupes go out, there are also several taboos: no talking (when they are doing something important, they put their pony tail or some money between their teeth to ensure that they won't speak); when they go to the restroom, they have to take off their generals' charms; bystanders are strictly forbidden from passing through their ranks when they are on parade (great misfortune would arise otherwise); if they pass a funeral procession, they must hold up their fans to cover their faces, lest they frighten the dead; and their messengers must clear the way for them as they come to pay respects to temple deities.

Whenever they go out to march, their aim is to drive out ghosts, dispel evil, and keep the peace, but their face paint will change based on their differing duties. For instance, for opening ceremonies at newly constructed temples or for ceremonies to purge roads of ghosts that cause automobile accidents, the generals must appear even more evil- and fierce-looking than the ghosts they are likely to encounter. Take, for instance, the slanty-eyed and crooked-lipped General Liu, whose misshapen mouth exposes many of his grotesque teeth. The idea is to frighten the ghosts.

Generally speaking, Eight Generals troupes comprise the four generals Gan, Liu, Xie, and Fan, and the four season gods of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. But for the large temple fairs, you can also see troupes of eight generals, with four new generals-Chen, Shen, Jia and Suo-replacing the four seasons. Chen Chin-hsin explains that this is because the costumes and props of the four seasons are more unusual and very expensive to make, so that many of these companies borrow them from one another. When it comes to a major temple fair, there are often shortages.

Feather fans are among the Generals' important magical tools. They are used to ward off evil and to cover their faces when meeting funeral processions or passing other deities on procession.

Marvelous feather fans

Apart from having artistically painted faces, Generals troupes also have unusual clothing, helmets and religious objects. Chen Chin-shin, who is himself a member of an Eight Generals troupe, is well versed in their formations and appearances, and also has nimble hands that seem predisposed to profit from religion. He has been very successful in making these religious objects.

For instance, "feather fans" are one of the generals' main such items. Not only do the generals shield themselves from funerals by grasping these fans, but they also cover their faces with them when they approach another folk art performance troupe. When they perform the Chinese figure-eight steps (or tiger steps), the Eight Generals also must rotate positions by pairs, and when they change their positions they constantly "face off" with each other, covering and uncovering their faces with the fans as if playing peek-a-boo. There used to be a craftswoman in Chiayi who specialized in making these fans. When she died about 20 years ago the craft was lost, but demand for the fans has grown along with the numbers of the troupes performing. Hence, Chen studied how to make them, and after 20 years of intense research has become the undisputed leading maker of these fans.

Because they are long and they have clearly delineated darker and lighter sections, turkey wing feathers are the material of choice to make them. Chen regularly goes to turkey slaughterhouses to collect these feathers. He first washes them with water and then soaks them in preservatives for five or six hours. Then he rinses them again and then soaks them in preservatives again, performing the cycle three times altogether. Finally, they need to be dried in the sun for at least a day before they are ready.

When making the fans, he first selects the length of feathers, arranging them in a difficult arc. He uses a set of 20 feathers for each fan. Only by dividing them into groups of ten on the left and ten on the right can they form a beautiful curled-over crescent. The different shapes of each of these flight feathers' and they way they have worn down as the turkeys have flapped their wings or the males have spread their wings to attract females all create slight differences in their angles and curve. Chen approaches this task with the benefit of many years of experience. After finding feathers with the perfect shape, Chen drills holes into the feather shafts, connects them with wire, and then fixes them onto a piece of wood to finish them.

Legend tells that General Fan was once a black monkey with a fierce character. Thus his face is mostly black with flames on the forehead, eyebrows and cheeks.

Helmets worthy of gods

Paper helmets are another craft at which Chen Chin-hsin excels, and at which his son Chen Wei-lung has increased the family's glory. Although the helmets worn by the generals and other Taoist deities look like jewel-studded gold crowns, they are actually made from paper. Chen explains that in the earlier times most of these were made from bamboo pulp and sheets of strawboard, but those weren't water repellent and were easily damaged when it rained. Today they use cardboard or thick construction paper. The white paper surface makes it easy to apply colors and the pleats are more obvious and beautiful.

Chen Wei-lung first cuts the shape of his designs into the thick paper, and then takes wire to make a stable frame for carving the designs. After the designs are cut, they apply a layer of hide glue to add hardness. Today many manufacturers find it more convenient to replace this with commercial-grade glue, because hide glue doesn't stick that well, but Chen Wei-lung insists on using hide glue that he boils himself.

Then they apply a primer to the helmets, evenly spraying it on. Apart from adding stiffness, this step is largely taken to seal the pores of the paper to make it easier to proceed with the next step of "lining," which makes the object come alive.

"Lining" involves first mixing a "lining compound" from spackling powder, a hardening agent, and pigment. They then squeeze this through a nozzle so as to create raised, floating lines that have all the beauty of relief carving. Because this goop is extremely soft, it requires experienced and talented craftsmen to control where the lines flow.

After these decorative lines are dry, they spray on a layer of yellow paint, and then add gold leaf. Before applying the gold leaf, they've got to first apply some glue designed for that purpose: "You've got to precisely control the time that the gold leaf glue dries, because that will affect on the quality of the gold leaf. If it's too wet, it's difficult to spread evenly; if it's too dry, it won't stick."

Finally, after they've made both the basic helmet and its ornaments and are putting them together to make a magnificent finished helmet, they then have to consider relative weight, properly lining things up, and practicality. The helmets used by the generals are representative works that affect the artist's reputation, so creators pull out all the stops to make ones that reflect their unique style.

Chiayi's City God festival has long been an event where the various Generals troupes in the area observe and learn from each other, as well as compete. And the event also represents a great opportunity for ethnologists studying culture. In front of the gate to the Chenyutang Temple, the Chens-father and son-work together painting generals' faces. And when the generals start marching, they follow behind, carrying their face painting tools and working up a sweat. When the generals rest, they touch up the face lines. The Chens are determined to perform the duties of face painters; they only hope their painting can make the generals even more magnificent and allow the culture of these generals troupes, which have existed for a century, to become even more rich and exquisite.

Wen Chai Ye: The civil mandarin has a distinctly martial appearance. His face paint is much like General Xie's, but without the character zhong on the forehead.

Before the Generals go out on parade, their civil mandarin must first go in front of the temple's main deity to "receive orders."

Chiayi's City God Festival attracts performance troupes and pilgrims from all around Taiwan. Chiayi is one of the most thriving areas for Generals troupes in Taiwan.

In the Chen style, the face of the martial mandarin is much like General Gan's, except for the blue lines on his cheeks.

The God of Summer sports a red gourd on his forehead.

To show his trademark slanted eyes and crooked mouth, General Liu is painted with a large eye and a small eye, and a twisted mouth.

Those playing the Generals must wear straw shoes, for legend has it that they dispel evil.

The God of Spring has a lotus blossom pattern on his forehead, which can be portrayed realistically or abstractly as the artist sees fit.

The face of the God of Winter has an eagle pattern, with an eagle's tailfeathers on his forehead.

The God of Autumn has a tiger face pattern, and a tiger's tail on his forehead.

Li Nezha.