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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaMeizhou, GuangdongBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

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 · Core Techniques & Process

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.

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 · Regional Records & Related Items

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.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The inheritor began as a principal actor of the Wuhua county puppet troupe in 1977 and studied at the Quanzhou puppet art school in Fujian in 1978-79, receiving the true transmission of the contemporary marionette masters Xie Zhenxiang, Wu Sungun and Wei Qirui and fully mastering traditional marionette performance, boldly creating puppet calligraphy on the basis of tradition and repeatedly winning awards at art festivals and national showcases, devoting himself to the transmission and development of Wuhua marionette puppetry and having taught more than a hundred disciples, most of whom have become the backbone of its safeguarding and transmission.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Meizhou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Li Xinxian · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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