Puppetry
01 · Historical Records
Drawing on materials on Hunan puppetry, Hunan rod puppetry is traditionally held to have arisen in the Ming, brought into central and northern Hunan with Central Plains rod puppets by migrants and combined with the vocal styles and repertory of such local grand operas as Xiang opera and Changde Han opera, gradually forming a pattern of “low-stage troupes” in every county of the province.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hunan rod puppetry is in some areas also called “wooden-skull opera”, “stick opera”, “low stage opera” and “Guanyin opera”, and the troupes that perform it are called “low-stage troupes”. It divides into Hengshan rod puppetry, Changde rod puppetry and Changsha rod puppetry: Hengshan rod puppetry is popular in Hengshan and Hengyang, Xupu rod puppetry in Xupu and Chenxi, Changde rod puppetry in Changde, Taoyuan and Huarong, and Changsha rod puppetry in Changsha, Xiangtan and Xiangxiang. It is noted for its traditional repertory, the older artists excelling in short, taut zhezi excerpts, among which Lan Ma, Hongmen Yan, Luhua Dang and Dao Xiancao are highly distinctive. The inheritors of Hunan puppetry have carried on the tradition and drawn on and reformed other arts, further developing the genre; such newly created plays as Jinlin Ji, The White Snake, Eight Hundred Li of Dongting, Malan Flower, Fire Cloud Bird, Hunter Hailibu, The Frog Prince and Shi Sanyazi are much loved by audiences, some repeatedly winning awards at puppet festivals at home and abroad.
Lan Ma (Blocking the Horse)
A distinctive short zhezi excerpt of Hunan rod puppetry, of the kind the older artists excelled in.
The Banquet at Hongmen
A distinctive short zhezi excerpt of Hunan rod puppetry.
Luhua Dang (The Reed Marshes)
A distinctive short zhezi excerpt of Hunan rod puppetry.
Dao Xiancao (Stealing the Immortal Herb)
A distinctive short zhezi excerpt of Hunan rod puppetry.
Jinlin Ji (The Golden Scale)
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
The White Snake
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
Eight Hundred Li of Dongting
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
Malan Flower
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
Fire Cloud Bird
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
Hunter Hailibu
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
The Frog Prince
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
Shi Sanyazi
A newly created Hunan rod-puppet play much loved by audiences.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The distribution of Hunan rod puppetry accords with that of local opera: where there is a major local genre there is generally puppetry too.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry · Puppetry.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The inheritors have long been engaged in puppet performance, shaping the leading sheng, dan, jing and chou roles in more than forty plays such as Journey to the West and The Yang Family Generals, attending to the portrayal of character and the expression of inner feeling, and stressing steady, accurate and spirited manipulation, having trained such manipulative skills as “wing-work”, “beard-tossing” and “sleeve-work” and excelling in the “inner-rod” puppet performance.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Chen Yinghong 02-0687
- Chen Zhijie 02-0688
- Li Bofen 02-0689
- Zhuang Chenhua 02-0690
- Chen Jintang 02-0691
- Wang Na 02-0692
- Liu Yongan 02-0693
- Liu Yongzhang 02-0694
- He Wenfu 02-0695
- Cao Zhangling 02-0696
- Ding Qingbo 02-0697
- Chen Peisen 02-0698
- Chen Shaojin 02-0699
- Wang Chunrong 02-0700
- Li Siyuan 02-0701
- Rao Shiguang 02-0702
- Fuzhenghua 02-0703
- Wang Hongmin 02-0704
- Xiao Pengfang 02-0705
- Zhou Erlu 02-0706
- Lin Congpeng 03-1084
- Wang Jiansheng 03-1085
- Yan Sarong 03-1086
- Chen Yansen 03-1087
- Wu Xing 03-1088
- Yin Daning 03-1089
- Hua Meixia 03-1090
- Zhuo Naijin 03-1091
- Wu Mingyue 03-1092
- Zheng Guofang 04-1671
- Ji Guifang 04-1672
- Xu Hong 05-2415
- Zhang Lianghua 05-2416
- Jin Zonghuai 05-2417
- Li Shengyi 05-2418
- Tan Qishu 05-2419
- Liang Dongxing 05-2420
- Li Xinxian 05-2421
- Cui Keqin 05-2422
- Hu Hai 05-2423
- Hong Huijun
- Xiong Guoan
- Lin Youdun
- Chen Weiqun
- Li Mingqing
- Ying Aifang
- Huang Xiaohua
- Chen Junlong
- Cai Xiaohua
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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