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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaChaozhou, GuangdongBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

Chinese puppetry arose in the Han dynasty; by the Tang it had made new progress and could perform song-and-dance drama with puppets. With social and economic development, by the Ming puppetry was already popular across the country, flourishing especially in the economically developed southern provinces, hence the saying “the south is good at puppetry”. After the Qing it entered its heyday, not only spreading widely but with ever more vocal styles, producing such branches as Liaoxi puppetry, Zhangzhou bag puppetry, Quanzhou marionette puppetry, Jinjiang bag puppetry, Shaoyang bag puppetry, Gaozhou puppetry, Chaozhou iron-rod puppetry, northern Sichuan grandes marionnettes, Shiqian puppetry, Yang marionette puppetry, Taishun fireworks puppetry and Lin'gao human-puppet opera. It derives from the Qin and Han and passed uninterrupted through the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republican period. Chaozhou iron-rod puppetry, popularly called “paper-shadow opera”, is a rare variety of Chinese puppet art, evolved from the shadow puppetry brought in with Central Plains migrants during the Southern Song. After the Qing, to meet audiences' visual expectations, artists gradually removed the white paper covering the stage and changed the flat figures into round-bodied ones, “straw for the body, paper for the hands, wood for the feet, clay for the head”, then called “round-bodied paper shadow”.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Puppetry was anciently called “kuilei opera” and “kuileizi” and is an operatic form in which artists manipulate puppets to tell stories. The Song was an important period in its development, its puppet-making craft and manipulation technique maturing further. In terms of performance form it may be summarised as five kinds: marionette (string), rod, bag, iron-rod and fireworks puppetry. Puppet art is exquisite and breathtaking; besides the artists' fine performance, the perfect modelling art of the puppets and the operating equipment are also an important attraction for audiences. The modelling art lies in the carving and design of the puppets: generally marionettes are taller, mostly about 2.2 chi, with strings attached to key parts, at most more than thirty and at least a dozen, extra auxiliary strings being added as needed for special feats. The level of the puppets' dance poses and martial feats depends entirely on the artist's operating skill, which is the key to the standard of marionette performance. Rod puppets are taller than marionettes, generally about 3 chi tall, fitted with three operating rods, two working the hands and one controlling the head and body. Bag puppets are the smallest, only about seven inches, held up by the artist's two hands, their manipulation special and unlike marionettes and rod puppets. After the founding of the People's Republic of China puppetry performance became ever richer, staging not only traditional operatic items but also spoken drama, song-and-dance drama, serial plays and even advertisements. At the same time puppetry also faces fierce competition from other art forms. Through continual experiment the artists gradually formed a stage performance for the figures. Chaozhou iron-rod puppets are manipulated by three iron rods attached behind them, preserving the shadow-puppet manner; the repertory, acting movements and vocal music are the same as Chaozhou opera. In performance three or four men sit cross-legged behind the stage, each manipulating one or two figures, with nine to twelve singers and musicians behind them; the basic manipulative techniques are pushing, pulling, lifting, plucking and shaking, and according to role and plot the performance includes flying to heaven, sinking into earth, lighting fire, shooting arrows, riding horses, opening fans, rowing boats and martial combat, presenting a distinctive manipulative art.

Tripitaka Takes Three Disciples

One of the representative plays, recorded and transmitted by an inheritor.

The Eight Immortals Congratulate on Longevity

A festive piece commonly staged at temple fairs and birthday celebrations.

The Five Blessings Suite

The Chaoshan opening ritual suite “Five Blessings” as performed in iron-rod puppetry.

Balancing the Pot, Drawing the Paper Dragon, Spinning the Plate, Lifting the Vase

Traditional feat turns of Chaozhou iron-rod puppetry, several of which the inheritor restored and improved together with their apparatus.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Chaozhou iron-rod puppetry circulates in Chaozhou city and the Chaoshan area of Chaozhou and Shantou in Guangdong, and spread with Chaozhou emigrants to southern Fujian, Hainan and South-East Asian Chaozhou communities; the troupes mostly attach themselves to Chaozhou operatic vocal styles and, with Jieyang iron-rod puppetry, belong to the Chaoshan iron-rod puppet system, each with its own character.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Yet as people's artistic tastes change the performance market shrinks ever further; most puppet troupes are semi-farming and semi-artistic, loose amateur bodies, making research and transmission difficult, and especially some highly difficult feats face loss, so effective measures must be taken to protect and transmit them.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Chaozhou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Ding Qingbo · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Chen Peisen · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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