.:. 陣頭 .:.
传统是人做的.
Just finished watching the movie (Din Tao: Leader of the Parade). How I actually came about this movie initially was because 小鬼(Alien Huang) is one of the leads. So I started to take notice of the film, and when it became top-grossing in Taiwan I knew I wanted to watch it.
Idol aside, the story is based on real-life experiences of Jyou-Tian Folk Drum And Arts Group. They do modern interpretations of Traditional Taiwanese drumming culture, hence the base of the story. Summary. Tai (Alan Ko), after giving up his music studies in Taichung, returns home to his father from whom he has never felt his love before. Through some incidents, Tai took the callenge of being the Din Tao, with 6 months to lead the parade, or ship off. Of course being the modern younger generation, he want's to do things his way, which is faced with strong opposition from his very traditional father. Hsien (played by Alien Huang) plays the role of Tai's rival, who eventually joins Tai, and together to perform some grandeur event.
On to the interesting topic intertwined within the story that prompted me to want to blog about it.
Modern vs Tradition: This is perhaps the most telling point the movie is trying to bring across. The tradition of being a Din Tao, as well as drumming, is very much connected with the religious believes of the people. And as such the Art has a certain amount of respect to it, or rather a huge amount. For example, Tai's father treats the puppet costumes that personify the gods with great respect, objecting to Tai practicing in the rain in fear of getting the puppet wet. Tai, on the otherhand, wants to extend his own style of performance from the tradition, so that the performers no longer has to pose as gods to earn respect. It's not that Tai dosen't respect the Art, he actually does, just that he wants to do things his way. Like he wanted to decorate the puppet with modern LED lightings, which obviously angered his dad. In the end, he continued, but compromised by only placing the LED on the clothes and not on the puppet's face.
I guess this is a topic which has already been brought up numerous times. We see it all the time, in essays, newspaper articles, even the various programmes implemented to conserve heritages in countries, like Singapore's heritage conversation policies.And there really isn't any avoiding it, seeing that as we progress through the generations, new things/ideas are bound to pop up, and the confict between the old and new just as much.
So let's start with the definition of Tradition from wiki "A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. The concept includes a number of interrelated ideas; the unifying one is that tradition refers to beliefs, objects or customs performed or believed in in the past, originating in it, transmitted through time by being taught by one generation to the next, and are performed or believed in the present."
Meaning? Tradition is simply the passing of ideas/believes down to the next generation, emphasizing on it having originated from the distant past. Traditions like Chinese New Year, originated many years ago from china, has pretty much kept it's basic structure and sense till now. I wouldn't say nothing has changed at all, some things has, but the original idea is still largely there. And needless to say the respect for that tradition has not really diminished in the sense either, retaining the fact that youngsters still adhere to most of the rules (albeit for hongbao money).
So Tradition itself isn't the point of the argument. What is. Well it's the change. Or what we perceive to be the change in tradition. As a fore note, I'm going to be using the loose term Adults and Teens here for the sake of ease of typing, with the Adults being those who witnessed and are carrying on the tradition, and Teens being the the latter generation who's task is to carry it on (no offence to either terms being coined).
For Change in tradition to happen, there must be the latter being substantiated first, which already has. So the Change comes now when the Teens are to carry it on. Issue being? That Teens believe in doing things their own way. I would say the reason for this is because of their upbringing. Living in the fast-paced society we are, they've been brought up to seek efficiency in everything they do. And being sort of at the cross-roads where this is happening, its hard not to say new methods of instructions are being produced daily. For example, did anybody ever thought their handphones would become touch-screen, or even have internet on the go. All these new things happening now, just serves to further reinforce the Change that is taking place throughout.
But has anybody ever complained about it. Well not much. So much so that everytime you take the MRT, every 1 in 2 is holding an iphone? And those without iphone is using Galaxy. What's the problem here then. Why do people complain about the Change in tradition, but not the change in their everyday lives. Both are changes arising with time, but people complain about tradition only, why?
I feel that the movie in the end reveals a much important truth to this question. Perception. Pride. Personal achievement. These are associated with the Adults along with the tradition they so dearly hold on to (and there's perfectly nothing wrong with the latter). But it is because of there "P"s that they resist the Change of tradition. To them, if there is a Change that is not made/suggested by them, it sort of dimishes their value in the tradition. They will lose pride, lose face, with the perception that they are no longer as important. In a sense, they feel attached to the tradition almost to a literal sense, that if there is a change and the "old" tradition is forgotten, they would too (which is why I feel the phrase, 传统是人做的,very well states this point).
Hence the resistance to such Changes. But there's nothing wrong with Change either, nor is there in promoting the conservation of tradition. Given the original meaning/definition of tradition, isn't it fine as long as the ideas/believes are being passed down, and most importantly the Teens do not forget the origins of it (Yes I know there are Teens who don't bother about the origins, but for the sake of me being able to finish this already long-drawn post, let's not dwell there). There's nothing wrong in coming up with new ideas/ways of doings things, as long as the meaning's there. As depicted in the movie, where Tai did his own style of drumming cum dance with the puppets, but did he in any part of the movie says that he will not still follow the original processions. No. What he simply want's to do is to extend the culture in his own way, so that the performers can be proud of themselves, so that people can recognise them. He respects the culture so much he actually kept a smaller version of the puppet with him at all times. He didn't diss the culture at all.
Therefore, it is this Change that prompted his dad's reaction. It is this Change that so many Adults tend to resist.
So after explaining all this, the conclusion is? Well no side is wrong. In fact both are right. It's a matter of accepting one another's views. The Adults aren't wrong in wanting to keep their tradition original. Understandably it holds a huge significance as well as sentimental value to them. The Teens aren't wrong either, in wanting to do things their way. It's how they've been taught to survive, it's who they are. Only by understanding, Adults understanding that Teens mean no disrespect to the traditions, and Teens know that Adults simply wants to respected and the tradition carried on, will this Change be gradually accepted in society.
In the end, we just have to all humbly keep in mind that Tradition is, and always will be, the important link that connects the past, the now, the future. That's what really matters.
Revealed on [6:11 AM]
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