Heritage
Puppet shows
Updated: 2006-11-21 14:21
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Year：2006
Sort：Traditional Opera
Area：Liaoning, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Guangdong, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Shaanxi
Serial No.：Ⅳ-92
Chinese puppetry has a long history. It is noted for its many types of puppets and superb manipulative skill.
I. Origin
No truly definitive conclusions have yet been reached on the origin and evolution of Chinese puppetry. However, pottery figurines used in place of slaves as burial objects have been discovered at theYin Ruinsthat date from theShang Dynasty(c.16th-11th century BC) inAnyang,Henan Province. Wooden figurines used as burial objects appeared during the Spring and Autumn and theWarring States Periods (770-221BC). In a Western Han (206BC-AD24) tomb atMawangduiinChangsha,Hunan Province, a number of wooden figurines of singers, dancers and musicians have been unearthed. These were a great improvements on those from previous dynasties in terms of craftsmanship, variety and modeling. These figurines perhaps represent the earliest Chinese puppets. Over time, figurines as burial objects evolved into puppets for entertainment on festive occasions.
In 1979, a large wooden figure was discovered at Daishu Village, Yuanli Township, Laixi County,Shandong Province. The figure, 193 centimeters long and fashioned from 13 pieces of wood, has movable joints enabling it to assume a sitting, standing or kneeling position. Its discovery shows that there was indeed a transitional period between figurines made to pacify the dead and their evolvement into puppets used for amusing people. It also shows that figurines with movable joints like human beings began to appear, laying a substantial foundation for the birth of Chinese puppetry. Therefore, most experts believe Chinese puppetry originated from "burial objects."
As to when puppets were first used in theatrical performances, experts agree that the art arose in the Han and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties. According to the History of the LaterHan Dynasty, puppets already existed during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220). During theThree Kingdoms Period, a person named Ma Jun used flowing water to manipulate wooden figures to do a variety acts mimicking humans. According to historical texts, puppets manipulated by men were used in China to portray simple stories no later than the Qi period between 550-577.
The content and form of presentations of Chinese puppetry improved greatly along with the development of other performing arts in the following dynasties.
Puppetry became sophisticated in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and there is rich recorded information about it. Generally, Song puppetry was characterized by the following:(1) it widened its scope of subject matter by adapting theatrical plays and stories passed down by story-tellers;(2) it had many types of puppets including string, road, water-activated,gunpowder-activated and human puppets;(3) The manipulative skill was superb and the performance was lifelike;(4) A number of master manipulators of string and rod puppets such as Zhang Jinxian and Ren Xiaosan appeared. In rural areas inGuangdong Province, glove and wire puppets were popular and puppetry enjoyed great prosperity during the Song period.
Chinese puppetry further developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties (l368-1911), with a number of schools spreading across the country.
Ⅱ. Artistic Characteristics
1．The Modeling of Chinese Puppetry
Puppet shows from various places had their own unique characteristics with strong local color in terms of figure modeling. String puppets fromQuanzhouand Heyang, glove puppets fromZhangzhou, rod puppets from Guangdong, wire puppets fromChaozhou, shoulder-pole puppets fromWuqiaoand large rod puppets from Sichuan were all finely and vividly crafted. They had all types of roles -- Sheng dan, jing and chou -- as in Chinese opera. Especially in the last few decades, Chinese puppets have been modeled using modern techniques. Generally speaking, the puppet design and modeling have reached a considerably high level. The development of Chinese puppet modeling can be divided into three stages:
First stage puppets are comprised of 70 percent painted decoration and 30 percent carved. . Puppet heads were carved in a simple fashion and their faces were painted in accordance with the characters they represented.
The second stage stressed both carving and painting. Puppet makers began to attach great importance to creativity and carving techniques and professional puppet makers and puppet-making workshops appeared. The first and second stages covered the time before the Ming-Qing period.
The third stage witnessed the development of plastic arts and freedom in creation. Modern puppet makers make full use of new materials according to the needs of plays and the requirements of modern aesthetics. Their puppets, characteristic of artistic exaggeration, fully exhibit the unique quality of puppetry and have broken free from the conventions of Chinese opera in terms of the delineation of characters. This stage marks a prosperous era unknown in the history of Chinese puppet modeling.
2. The Mechanisms of Chinese Puppetry
Puppet art has two major aspects: modeling and performing arts. Mechanisms and modeling are a unified whole and a means to suit the performance. The mechanisms of Chinese puppets are becoming increasingly complicated. Following are the most important types of puppets in China:
① Rod Puppets
They are wide spread in China. They range in length from inches to that of an average adult, and vary from place to place.
Rod puppets are manipulated by a main rod that is inserted through the neck and attached to the head, and two rods that control the hands. Hence, in some areas the rod puppet is called "Three Rods."
