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Puppetry

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

01 · Historical Records

Drawing on surveys of Hainan opera, Sanjiang lies in the east of Haikou city; after gongzai xi appeared in Hainan in the Yuan, it flourished in the Ming and Qing as Minnan and Chaoshan operatic vocal styles combined with local Hainan folk tunes; relying on the junpo festival and temple fairs, the Sanjiang area formed a network of troupes transmitted from master to disciple, lasting more than five hundred years to the present.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Sanjiang gongzai xi in Sanjiang town, Haikou, Hainan, has a long history and distinctive features. Its performing ground is very simple, a stage about one zhang built of planks or tables screened with cloth and hung with a front curtain, the performer singing behind the curtain while manipulating the puppets in front. The figures (gongzai) include the sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou roles and various animals, their heads carved from wood and lifelike. Its singing draws on sister genres and local Hainan folk melodies, mainly in the banqiang system with a few qupai, accompanied on performance by eight-tone instruments, with a strong local flavour. Its performance conventions are flexible and varied, its repertory embracing historical, costume and modern plays. Sanjiang gongzai xi is easy to understand, lively and amusing, teaching through entertainment, much loved by audiences; light and portable, it suits performances up and down the countryside, greatly enriching popular cultural life and playing a special role in cultural-ethical progress.

The Banqiang Singing of Sanjiang Gongzai Xi

The singing draws on sister genres and local Hainan folk melodies, mainly in the banqiang system with a few qupai, accompanied by eight-tone instruments.

The Gongzai (Puppet-Head) Carving Convention

The heads are carved from wood, covering the sheng, dan, jing, mo and chou roles and various animals, complete in brow, eye, nose and mouth and lifelike.

Junpo Festival and Temple-Fair Performing Custom

The troupes mostly perform at village temple fairs and junpo festivals, the stage about one zhang built of planks or tables and screened with cloth.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Sanjiang gongzai xi centres on Sanjiang town, Haikou, Hainan, and circulates in the northern Hainan townships of Haikou, Wenchang and Ding'an; the troupes mostly perform at village temple fairs and junpo festivals and are organised and transmitted through family troupes or master-disciple teaching.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Sanjiang gongzai xi fuses puppet carving, singing and acting behind the curtain and eight-tone accompaniment; its mainly banqiang singing and its flexible performance conventions make it an important example for studying Hainan folk operatic music and northern Hainan folk belief, and the locality sustains this ancient art through puppet-making, repertory recording and in-school transmission.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

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

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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