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Puppetry

Ⅳ-92Traditional OperaZhanjiangshichikan, GuangdongBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Zhanjiang puppetry was introduced from Zhejiang, Fujian and other places during the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty. Since the Qing dynasty it has circulated among the cities and counties of the Zhanjiang region, in town and country alike. In the spring of 1955, Zhanjiang set up the western Guangdong rod-puppet troupe. In 1958, the Zhanjiang administrative district formed the state-run western Guangdong puppet and Cantonese opera troupe, later renamed the Zhanjiang Puppet Troupe. In 1960, the China Puppet Theatre, built on the nucleus of the western Guangdong puppet troupe, went to Romania to take part in the second international festival of puppetry and marionette theatre. Its production of Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan won a silver prize and brought honour to the country.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhanjiang puppetry is a traditional dramatic performance form that uses rod puppets as its medium and takes as its language medium the Cantonese, Hakka, Southern Min and Mandarin dialects current in the Zhanjiang area. It circulates mainly in the districts and counties of Zhanjiang City and the surrounding region. Zhanjiang City lies at the southernmost point of the mainland of China, facing the South China Sea to the east, separated from Hainan Island by the Qiongzhou Strait to the south, and adjoining the Beibu Gulf to the west. With the sea on three sides and Hainan Island close by, it is a place where the culture of people away from home has taken root and grown. The puppets used in Zhanjiang puppetry are rather finely made. They are made of the timber locally known as bai zhi mu; the head and neck can be extended and withdrawn, the eyes can open and shut and turn from side to side, the mouth can open and close, and the puppets can even perform such movements as spurting fire from the mouth. Before the performance a rite of worship and sacrifice is held to the gods, which is why it is locally also called god drama. Worshipping the gods by day and performing by night expresses the value belief of humans and gods enjoying entertainment together, as well as a secular view of life. The role types of Zhanjiang puppetry comprise sheng, dan, jing, chou and mo, together with special roles for particular character types. Because of differences in language, operatic genre and vocal style, a single region and a single puppet medium give rise to a performance form that carries many dialects and many operatic genres. The more representative ones are Cantonese opera puppetry, baixi puppetry, lixi puppetry, Mandarin puppetry and yaage puppetry. Representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry include Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life. Zhanjiang puppetry is performed in two forms, multi-person puppetry and single-person puppetry. It lays stress on the techniques of supporting, pointing and whole-body manipulation, and it is divided into inner bamboo control and outer bamboo control. In multi-person puppetry, gong, cymbals, drum and wooden fish and other percussion instruments are used to accompany entrances and inter passages, and the performers act according to the set conventions of the different roles. In single-person puppetry one performer presents a whole show: the manipulation, the singing and the musical accompaniment are all carried out by that one person. According to incomplete statistics, no fewer than 200 puppet troupes are now active in the towns and villages of Zhanjiang and are warmly loved by the masses. Zhanjiang puppetry is a comprehensive folk art that fuses carving, performance, literature, music and many other elements. The distinctiveness of many operatic genres and many dialects reflects the rich historical and cultural depth of the area, is a vivid witness to the exchange and fusion of different cultures, and has high historical, cultural and artistic value.

Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan

Among the representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry are Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life.

The Seven Immortals Bring a Child

Among the representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry are Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life.

The Six States Invest Their Ministers

Among the representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry are Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life.

Fairy Hibiscus

Among the representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry are Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life.

Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West

Among the representative repertoire works of Zhanjiang puppetry are Sun Wukong's Third Visit to the Banana Leaf Fan, The Seven Immortals Bring a Child, The Six States Invest Their Ministers, Fairy Hibiscus and Fan Lihua's Campaign against the West, covering folk legends, historical stories and subjects drawn from contemporary life.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Zhanjiang puppetry has a broad popular base, is an art form the ordinary people enjoy seeing and hearing, and is closely bound up with the folk life of the area.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The nianli is a folk custom transmitted for a thousand years in western Guangdong, and the puppet show is one of the required programmes and one of the highlights of the nianli. This project is transmitted mainly through family lineage and through master-and-disciple apprenticeship, and it has been carried forward continuously through the performance practice of the troupes. The transmission and development of the form have played a positive role in meeting the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people and in promoting social harmony.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Puppetry (Zhanjiangshichikan, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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