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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaTaishun, ZhejiangBatch 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. Chinese puppetry “arose in the Han and flourished in the Tang”, with five main kinds—marionette, rod, water, fireworks and flesh puppetry—among which water and fireworks puppetry were once thought long lost in China. According to investigation, Taishun fireworks puppetry has existed in Taishun for more than three hundred years, though the relevant Taishun authorities, after study, hold that the “qionghua puppet” long present among the Taishun people is in fact fireworks puppetry.

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. Taishun lies on the southern edge of Zhejiang and is praised as a “home of puppetry”. Fireworks puppetry is a unique traditional form whose performance is driven by gunpowder, unequalled among other puppet performances, and in combining puppet performance with fireworks it is unparalleled among firework displays too. The “Taishun fireworks puppet” combines fireworks and puppets, called in Taishun the qionghua puppet: the artist mixes puppet figures of operatic and mythological characters into the fireworks and sets them off, and driven by the fireworks the puppets dance in mid-air amid the flames, brilliantly colourful and lifelike. It is usually performed at temple fairs, sacrificial rites and folk festivals. Yet because many customs have faded, forms of entertainment changed and public safety considerations arisen, the space on which fireworks puppetry depends has steadily shrunk; with its craft complex and fine, few newcomers now take it up, and its makers are all advanced in years, so this precious traditional operatic form has reached the verge of extinction and urgently needs protection.

Selecting Hide and Making the Puppet Body

One stage of the craft: selecting material, carving and colouring the figures of operatic and mythological characters so that they are clearly visible in the flames.

Charging Powder and Binding the Fireworks

The second stage: mixing the puppets into the fireworks and binding the apparatus according to the order of combustion, controlling the rhythm of the figures' rise, spin and tumble.

Raising the Pole and Setting Off the Display

The third stage: raising the pole at temple fairs, sacrificial rites and festivals, the flames and puppets dancing together to form the scene of “a play within the fireworks”.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Fireworks puppetry centres on Taishun county, Zhejiang, locally called the “qionghua puppet”, and circulates in the mountains of southern Zhejiang and into northern Fujian; because it is set off by gunpowder it is mostly performed at temple fairs, sacrificial rites and New Year lantern festivals, forming the distinctive spectacle of “a play within the fireworks and fireworks within the play”.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The discovery in Taishun of fireworks puppetry, transmitted without break for several hundred years, provides precious evidence for the study of Chinese puppetry. Fireworks puppetry is the product of combining fireworks and puppets, the artist joining the ornamental functions both possess in performance so that when the fireworks are set off puppet figures appear and show such effects as spinning and tumbling.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Taishun, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Zhou Erlu · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Ji Guifang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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