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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaWenchang, HainanBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Drawing on surveys of Hainan opera, hand-held wooden puppet troupes popularly called “gongzai xi” already appeared in Hainan in the Yuan, and flourished in the Ming and Qing as the operatic vocal styles brought by Minnan and Chaoshan migrants came in; because Wenchang had developed education and many temple fairs and junpo festivals, it became one of the areas where Hainan gongzai xi is most concentrated, transmitted to the present for four or five hundred years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The puppet (gongzai) has a head about forty centimetres long carved from wood, the upper body's shoulders woven of rattan and bamboo, the two hands carved in wood, the lower body covered by a robe skirt with boots or shoes for feet; for ease of manipulation a wooden stick or rattan is inserted into the body. The performing stage is about one zhang wide, screened with cloth, the performer singing behind the curtain while manipulating the puppet in front of it. The figures include sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou and more than twenty images such as the Buddha, Nüwa, the Dragon King of the Sea, the Holy Mother, the Thunder God, the Thunder Goddess, the tiger and fairies; their performance has more than ten conventions—hand gestures, bowing with clasped hands, stamping, sleeve-brushing, kneeling astride, rolling, eye-rolling, mouth-opening and grasping with both hands—used flexibly according to the plot. The singing comes from sister genres and local Hainan folk tunes, commonly using more than thirty tunes such as zhongban, gaoqiang, chengtu and xiaoqu, and the repertory has more than five hundred plays such as The Battle of Wucheng and Luobo Picks the Scriptures.

The Battle of Wucheng

One of the more than five hundred plays of Hainan gongzai xi, whose singing draws on sister genres and Hainan folk melodies.

Luobo Picks the Scriptures

One of the more than five hundred plays of Hainan gongzai xi, a Buddhist-themed story akin to the Mulian tradition.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Wenchang gongzai xi centres on Wenchang city, Hainan, and circulates in the Wenchang-dialect area of northern Hainan; because its performances are mostly attached to temple fairs, junpo festivals and New Year festivals, the troupes move between villages and market towns, transmitted through family troupes and master-disciple teaching.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Wenchang gongzai xi is an immortal treasure of folk art, fusing literature, fine art, music and drama, flourishing in Hainan for four or five hundred years without decline, and of research value in art, folklore and other respects; the locality sustains it through recording and transmitting the puppet-making craft and the performing repertory.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Wenchang, Hainan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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