The Chinese title of Blood Brothers is 《壵》, an ancient form of the character for “strength” (壯). 
It is composed of three “士” (shì), the character for “scholar” or “man of honor,” suggesting that true strength is forged through the bond of virtuous brothers.

Inspired by a tale from Stories to Enlighten the World, a 17th-century Ming dynasty vernacular story collection by FENG Meng-long, Blood Brothers retells the legendary bond between sworn brothers Zuo and Yang. Bound by loyalty, the two set out to serve a virtuous ruler, only to be caught in a deadly snowstorm. Zuo sacrifices himself so that Yang might live. After fulfilling his duty in the world of the living, Yang later returns to the mountain to lay his brother to rest with honor. In a dream, he sees Zuo’s spirit tormented in the underworld by the ghost of Jing Ke, the infamous assassin of the King of Qin. To defend his brother’s soul, Yang takes his own life and joins him in the afterlife, where the two confront Jing Ke together. The story is also known as The Two Ghosts Battle Jing Ke.

In this contemporary reinterpretation, Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company breaks free from the traditional framed stage, uniting puppet and puppeteer as one. Company director KO Chia-Tsai appears as both narrator and guide, leading the audience into a realm of imagination that crosses the boundaries be-tween life and death. The role Earth Mother enters the story as a figure of feminine and natural force, her gentle song offering a tender embrace to the sacrifice of the two brothers.

Unlike the glorified Eastern heroes who are worshipped for their deeds in life and venerated after death, Blood Brothers turns its focus to the path of becoming a hero. Through Zuo’s selfless sacrifice, Yang’s steadfast loyalty, and Jing Ke’s doomed resistance, the piece explores how each is driven by their own unwavering sense of moral conviction.

Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company

Jin Kwei Lo is a three-generation family puppetry troupe. Its founder, CHIANG Szu-Mei, is one of Taiwan’s first female glove puppeteers and was officially recognized by the Ministry of Culture in 2022 as a Preserver of Important Traditional Performing Arts (Glove Puppetry), earning her the title of “Living National Treasure.” Now 93, she continues to perform and create. Her son, KO Chia-Tsai, the current company director, began training in glove puppetry as a child and has spent over six decades as a writer, director, and performer. As a representative of Taiwan’s Glove Puppetry Drama Association, he has been deeply committed to preserving and promoting the classical essence of traditional glove puppetry.
The third generation, KO Shih-Hung and KO Shih-Hua, carry on the family legacy while incorporat-ing interdisciplinary and cross-media performance forms that have resonated with and captivated new audiences. Together, these three generations are recognized as a remarkable force in sustaining and evolving Taiwan’s glove puppetry tradition.

In recent years, the company’s “Jin Kwei Lo Trilogy” — including The Soup of Reincarnation, Cycle of Gangho, and Harmony in a Meal, drawn from their family troupe’s history — as well as original productions such as Blood Brothers, My Puppet My Life, and Adieu, have showcased a contemporary style of glove puppetry for the theater. The company was honored with the Traditional Arts Golden Melody Award for Best Annual Production for The Soup of Reincarnation (2018) and Harmony in a Meal (2022), and represented Taiwan at the Festival Off d’Avignon and the Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes in France in 2018 and 2019.

Director and Stage Concept / KO Shih-Hung

KO Shih-Hung is the Executive Director and principal puppeteer of Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company, and the eldest grandson of master puppeteer CHIANG Szu-Mei. He holds dual master degrees in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut, USA, and in Applied Media Arts from National Taiwan University of Arts. A two-time recipient of the Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, KO pur-sued extended studies and international exchange in the United States.
KO was raised in a puppetry troupe, where the art of glove puppetry was both heritage and daily delight. In recent years, he has performed at arts festivals across Taiwan and abroad, engaging in international puppetry training and creative exchange. Balancing tradition with innovation, he continues to explore new horizons for the genre.

Director and Stage Concept / WANG Shih-Wei

WANG Shih-Wei holds a PhD and MA in Theatre Studies from Sorbonne Nouvelle University Paris 3. Well-versed in European theater culture, he regularly contributes essays to Performing Arts Redefined and has translated two books: Avec Joël Pommerat: Un monde complexe and Avec Joël Pommerat: Un monde complexe. Currently based in Paris, he works across translation, academic research, cultural exchange, and artistic creation. In 2020, he received the Taishin Arts Award for Performing Arts for his work Masses.

Playwright / LIN Nai-Wen

LIN Nai-Wen is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Theatre Arts at Taipei Na-tional University of the Arts and a resident theater critic for the National Culture and Arts Founda-tion’s Reviewing Performing Arts Taiwan. Her work focuses on playwriting, theater criticism, and dramaturgy. Recent playwriting credits include Jin Kwei Lo Puppetry Company’s Adieu, L'Enfant S. Physical Theatre’s Wonder Woman, The Party Theatre Groups’s Mystery of Financial Holdings and Agamemnon.