High-Technology NFTs Support Traditional Taiwanese Art Form

Taiwanese puppeteers² are bringing their traditional art form into modern times by using non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

An NFT can be attached to a piece of digital artwork. The NFT can be used to provide proof that the pieces are real.

The prices of some NFTs rose so fast last year that buyers around the world sometimes re-sold them within days of purchase for a profit.

Pili International Multimedia³ makes Taiwan's longest-running television show featuring the puppets. The company says it wants to use NFTs as another way to make money.

Seika Huang is Pili's brand director.

"The sort of imagination everyone nowadays has for the online world is developing so fast that we are almost unable to grasp it," Huang said.

"Instead of sitting on the sidelines, the best approach is to go ahead and understand fully⁴ what's going on. This is the fastest way to catch up."

Sitting on the sidelines is an expression that means to be inactive and watch as something happens.

Pili has thousands of puppet characters, a traditional part of Taiwanese street entertainment culture.

The puppets are carefully created, and expertly moved around during the filming of shows. The puppets wear colorful clothes. They are used to tell stories of courage and romance. Many of these stories involve the martial⁵ arts.

Pili said four of their puppet characters were made into digital copies and 30,000 sets have been sold as NFTs.

The company said prices for each set started at $40, creating at least $1.2 million in earnings⁶ since their listing in early February. The company did not say how much of that money was shared with the marketing⁷ company that supervises the selling of the NFTs.

VeVe, the marketing company that sells the NFTs, said the stories of the puppet heroes are popular with young people. The company added that the NFTs could draw in foreign fans of superhero films, such as those based on characters from Marvel⁸ Comics.

"Westerners actually really like our martial arts heroes and kung-fu," said VeVe's brand manager Raymond Chou.

Kung-fu is a traditional Chinese form of self-defense, a marital⁹ art.

Huang said their first listings had sold out seconds after launching on VeVe. The company is now working on turning up to 50 other puppet characters into NFTs, possibly providing millions of dollars for the studio.

Words in This Story

puppeteer¹ – n. : one who manipulates puppets – a small-scale figure (as of a person or animal) usually with a cloth body and hollow head that fits over and is moved by the hand or strings¹⁰

grasp –v. to understand (something that is complicated or difficult)

approach – n. : a particular manner of taking such steps

character – n. one of the persons of a book, play, or movie

courage –n. the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous

1 puppeteer   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡

参考例句：

• Mr. Sullivan is a professional puppeteer.沙利文先生是一位专业的木偶戏表演者。
• One puppeteer controls the doll's head,face,and right hand.一个表演者控制木偶的头部，面部和右手。

2 puppeteers   

n.操纵木偶的人，操纵傀儡( puppeteer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

3 multimedia   

adj.多种手段的，多媒体的；n.多媒体

参考例句：

• Multimedia is the combination of computer and video technology.多媒体是计算机和视频技术的结合。
• Adam raised the issue of multimedia applications and much useful discussion ensued.亚当提出了多媒体应用的问题，从而引发了许多有益的讨论。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 martial   

adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的

参考例句：

• The sound of martial music is always inspiring.军乐声总是鼓舞人心的。
• The officer was convicted of desertion at a court martial.这名军官在军事法庭上被判犯了擅离职守罪。

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 marvel   

vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事

参考例句：

• The robot is a marvel of modern engineering.机器人是现代工程技术的奇迹。
• The operation was a marvel of medical skill.这次手术是医术上的一个奇迹。

9 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

10 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。