Li Xinxian

01 · Lineage & Regional School

In 1972 he entered the Linhuatang folk puppet troupe of Wuhua County to study the craft. Within the regional tradition and school record of Puppetry in Meizhou, Guangdong: Wuhua marionette puppetry centres on Wuhua county in Meizhou, Guangdong, and circulates in the Hakka areas of Meixian, Xingning and Zijin and, with Hakka migration, in the Hakka Chinese communities of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; the Wuhua county puppet troupe is its professional transmission body. Marionette puppetry in Wuhua county, Meizhou, Guangdong, has a long history, having come from Fujian in the early Ming and now more than six hundred years old. In the Ming and Qing its performance was already flourishing; in the early twentieth century the county had more than twenty puppet troupes, highly skilled and very active. After 1930 Wuhua marionette troupes travelled far overseas to perform in Hakka Chinese communities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. In 1951 the Wuhua county puppet troupe was founded, and with it as the flagship a puppet distribution network formed across the county centred on the southern, central and northern districts, in which period Wuhua marionette puppetry developed further.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in March 1964 in Wuhua County, Guangdong Province. In 1977 he began performing as a principal actor with the Wuhua County Puppet Troupe, and from 1978 to 1979 he pursued further study at the Quanzhou Puppet Art School in Fujian Province. He received the true transmission of the contemporary masters of marionette art Xie Zhenxiang, Wu Sungun and Wei Qirui, and gained a comprehensive command of traditional marionette performance techniques. Building on tradition, he boldly created such innovations as puppet calligraphy, and won numerous awards at art festivals and national theatrical showcases. Within the documented technical tradition of Puppetry in Meizhou, Guangdong: Wuhua marionettes are finely modelled and tall, about ninety centimetres high, with fourteen to twenty strings. Their vocal music is mainly Han-style, interspersed with Hakka mountain songs, folk songs and tea-picking tunes, and the dialogue uses Hakka or standard Chinese. The repertory runs to one hundred and six plays with very rich content. Wuhua marionette puppetry is an important part of Hakka culture; close to life and to the people, its performances have reached the villages of Wuhua and far beyond, within and outside the province and overseas, welcomed by all sections of the people and by overseas Chinese, and serving to link and unite compatriots at home and abroad. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Traditional Repertory (One Hundred and Six Plays)": Wuhua marionette puppetry has one hundred and six plays with very rich content, covering historical and folk-legend subjects. "Vocal Music: Mainly Han-Style with Hakka Mountain Songs": The vocal music is mainly Han-style, interspersed with Hakka mountain songs, folk songs and tea-picking tunes, the dialogue in Hakka or standard Chinese. "Puppet Calligraphy": A distinctive skill boldly created by the inheritor on the basis of traditional marionette technique, repeatedly winning awards at art festivals and national showcases. "Figure and String Specification": Wuhua marionettes are finely modelled and tall, about ninety centimetres high, with fourteen to twenty operating strings.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

National representative bearer of Puppetry (Wuhua Marionette), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He has devoted himself to the transmission and development of Wuhua marionette and has accepted more than one hundred disciples, most of whom have become the backbone of its safeguarding and transmission.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Li Xinxian · National Representative Bearer Archive