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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaCangnan, ZhejiangBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Drawing on local cultural surveys of Cangnan and research on Zhejiang puppetry, single-operator bag puppetry came from southern Fujian to the Pingyang and Cangnan area in the mid-Qing and combined with the local “Eight Immortals” theatrical custom and with temple-fair and festival activities; because one man with one carrying-pole could make a whole show and the puppet stage was light and portable, it flourished through the mountains and islands of southern Zhejiang and has been transmitted to the present through families and master-disciple lines.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Cangnan single-operator bag puppetry is a distinctive form of puppet performance, its stage and whole set of properties carriable on one shoulder. In performance the stage is set up on the spot, like a finely carved and painted pavilion, and within it a single artist manipulates several dozen bag puppets. Brain, mouth, hands and feet all at work, he performs with the puppets in both hands, sometimes freeing the right hand to play drum, cymbals and clapper, his feet working the large and small gongs, his mouth imitating by different voice-changes the singing and speech of the sheng, dan, jing, chou and mo roles, teasing, supporting, speaking and singing through the rise and fall of the voice and the pace of the rhythm, so that the young dan's plaintiveness, the young sheng's refinement, the old sheng's world-weariness and the clown's buffoonery are all vividly rendered, full of feeling and humour. Single-operator bag puppetry stresses clever handling of objects and clever fighting with the hands, the artist showing the different individual traits of different characters and such feats as adjusting the cap, striking a pose, walking the stage, riding a horse, duelling, turning over and pouring tea through finger, palm and wrist technique. It has more than eighty kinds and more than three hundred traditional plays, among which Huang En Pei Yi and Leitai Bao are representative works.

Huang En Pei Yi

One of the representative works among the more than eighty kinds and three hundred odd traditional plays of single-operator bag puppetry.

Leitai Bao (The Duel Platform Bulletin)

One of the representative works among the more than eighty kinds and three hundred odd traditional plays of single-operator bag puppetry.

Lord Bao Judges Three Wrongs

One of the inheritor's representative works, a court-case play commonly staged in single-operator bag puppetry.

The Green Peony

One of the inheritor's representative works.

The Qilin Robe

One of the inheritor's representative works.

Wu Song Beats the Tiger

One of the plays written by the inheritor himself.

Nezha Stirs Up the Sea

One of the plays written by the inheritor himself.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Single-operator bag puppetry centres on Cangnan county, Zhejiang, and circulates in Pingyang, Cangnan and Taishun in Wenzhou and in Fuding and Xiapu in north-eastern Fujian; because the stage and whole set of properties can be carried on one shoulder, the artists are mostly part-farming and part-performing and tour village to village, closely bound up with the temple-fair and festival customs of the Min-speaking area of southern Zhejiang.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Single-operator bag puppetry has the features of beauty, cleverness, refinement and convenience and is fairly distinctive among puppet arts, an important subject for the study of operatic history and folk art. At present this excellent performance form has no successors and is in an endangered state, urgently needing protection from the relevant quarters.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Cangnan, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Wu Mingyue · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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