Chinese Puppet

Wood is carved into puppets, which are used to practice puppetry, known as wooden puppet show”or “puppet show. Puppet show is a form of theatre manipulated by puppeteers to act out a story. a puppet is both a character carved and painted by man and a prop manipulated by man. Puppets came into being as a substitute for real persons buried alive with the dead in the tomb in ancient times. a huge amount of figurines with many varieties were made in ancient china paving the way for the emerging of puppets. Based on the immobilized figurines, people tried to make movable figures, i.e., puppets

In early Han Dynasty, movable puppets were already put into use for the music and dance performance, and puppet show was often practiced on gathering occasions suggesting the transition of puppetry from funeral performance to amusement. The real puppet of early Han Dynasty was excavated in a han dynasty bomb in Laixi city, Shandong in 1979, which was composed of 13 battens, and was 193 centimeters high It was able to sit stand and kneel down

Puppet show became more popular in Wei and Jin dynasties when it not only was warmly accepted by the nobilities in the court, but also favored by folks. themes of puppet show during the Northern and Southern Dynasties were dominated by making people laugh, and the funny and humorous comedy features got handed down to Tang Dynasty. In Sui Dynasty, the technology of making puppet was already verydeveloped, and the rudiment of puppet show was formed from acrobatics to songs and dance and to story segment. In early Tang Dynasty, there emerged the serious puppet show with complete plot and of strong theatricality. the wall paintings and poems in the No 31 cave of Mo Kao Grotto at Dunhuang have proved that there were stringed, rod, and glove puppets in Tang dynasty

Puppetry saw its heyday in the Song Dynasty when there were many forms and varieties of puppets. In addition to the common stringed and rod puppets, there were also the water puppets for perform on the water man puppet acted by a man and the gunpowder puppet approximating the fireworks. this show, boasting multiple themes, clear divisions and being exclusive, was very popular among the citizens. Plus, the large number of theatrical troupes provided it with opportunities to be popularized. There were highly skilled performers like Zhang Jinxian and Ren Xiaosan Another branch of puppets of Song Dynasty was the puppet toys for children, such as rod, stringed, glove puppets and puppet resembling the doll today

Thanks to the flourishing dramas, puppet show skill was also improved substantially in the Yuan Dynasty. With the mature manipulating skills, performers were able to act out the movements including talking singing and emotions like happy, angry, sad and joyful with the puppet. This show was played all over China in Ming and qing dynasties and developed into many schools fujian was famous for producing puppets, which were of local characteristics. For example, the stringed puppet show in Quanzhou City was famous for its vivacious sound and abundant music, and skillful workmanship and complex operation. In Qing Dynasty, the mostpopular puppet show was rod puppet show, which generated lots of businesses. The puppets were mostly enshrined in the court, and the show was called the big-stage palace play, “a special kind of Beijing opera, as a matter of fact

Traditionally, puppet head, hand, and foot were made of camphorwood Camphorwood, commonly known as the spicy camphor for it gives off fragrance, was suitable for making fine and precise sculpture for it could be grinded to be glossy, and could be kept for a long time for it would not deform and was anti-moth More than ten procedures have to go through to make a head of puppet, namely, selecting materials, making rough blank(depicting the five sense organs), refined carving mounting paper, polishing, filling up the crack, brushing clay, powdering, drawing face lacquering, etc. Helmets and costume of puppets largely identical with those of opera characters but with minor differences like fat body short but big sleeve of the rod and glove puppets, remolded accorded to the operation need Patterns on puppet costume are of more folk elements they have simple colors exaggerated lines and are of plain style suitable for making fine and precise sculpture for it could be grinded to be glossy, and could be kept for a long time for it would not deform and was anti-moth More than ten procedures have to go through to make a head of puppet, namely, selecting materials, making rough blank(depicting the five sense organs), refined carving mounting paper, polishing, filling up the crack, brushing clay, powdering, drawing face lacquering, etc. Helmets and costume of puppets largely identical with those of opera characters but with minor differences like fat body short but big sleeve of the rod and glove puppets, remolded accorded to the operation need Patterns on puppet costume are of more folk elements they have simple colors exaggerated lines and are of plain style

There are a wide variety of puppets By shape and manipulating way, they can be grouped into rod, glove, stringed and iron-wire puppets. rod puppets are the mostprosperous By shape, structure and performance style, rod puppets fall into large puppets, middle-sized puppets and small puppets (elaborate puppets). Elaborate puppets are roughly 40 centimeters high, small and exquisite, precise in movement and capable of both military plays and singing plays. Middle-sized puppets are the most popular. Being 78-90 centimeters high they have short rod convenient for operation. Large puppets, 140 centimeters high and weighing 5 kilograms, can perform dressing, igniting, drinking tea, kowtowing and playing sword. They are nearly as high as a real person, and when they are performing along with dolls acting by children, it is hard to tell who is who. In the rod puppet show, the performeroperates the order rod (connecting the head) by one hand, and manipulates the two hand rods(connecting hands of puppet) by the other hand. the head is made of wood or clay, with gears inside for moving the mouth and eyes. the order rods are made of wood or bamboo connecting the neck and are of different lengths based ondifferent schools. This puppet has no arm, but two hands and elbows connected to the hand rods. This show is widely played in China, and has different names, like the shuaganzi”(playing the rod) in Xi’ an, munaokexi”(wooden head show) in Sichuan and tuoxi”in guangdong besides after taking in the elements from different local operas there are also differences in the shapes facial masks engraving arts costume and performing styles

Glove puppet, also called the “handy puppet”and”finger puppet, “is named so for its shape resembling a glove. It, approximately a foot high, comprises head, limbs and costume. The head is a camphorwood carving, with gears installed inside to control facial expression and muscular movement. The puppeteers put their index finger into the head and the neck of the puppet, and the middle finger and thumb into the hand o control them. This puppet is characterized with agility and accuracy of movements The highly skilled puppeteers can perform the difficult movements with the puppet This show is popular in many places in China. Glove puppets in Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi and Sichuan are rough in image. They have arms but no hands or feet, their eyes and mouth can’t move, and their equipment is simple. One person perform while accompanying musical instruments by himself, so the show is also called shoulder pole play or one-man show, and always has two characters playing together, both humorous and funny. Glove puppets in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou cities of Fujian are exquisite in fabrication and vivid in head carving. Eyes and mouth are movable, hands and feet can take objects, and the costume resembles that of opera. In the performance, the puppeteer operate the puppet by one hand, of which the little finger controls the mouth, eyes and hands, and operate the legs by the other hand. a troupe consisting seven or eight puppeteers could give a multi-character large show

Marionette, also called the “stringed puppet, “or”marionetka”in ancient time consists of head, body, limbs, strings and a controlling board. Eyes and mouth are movable and they are 66 centimeters tall, roughly. The head is a camphorwood, basswood or willow carving with gears inside and can do many expressions hands fal into civil hands and military hands. Civil hands are for playing civil show like holding cups and waving fans while military hands are for military show like playing spears or swords. Feet cover bare feet feet in boots and”dan”feet in the show the puppeteer holds the controlling board by one hand and fiddles with the strings to make the puppet do different movements by the other hand Marionettes are popular in Fujian, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Hunan, etc

The iron-wire puppet popular in the east of guangdong west and south of fujianis originated from the shadow play. It is also known as”paper shadow play”and Zhaiying. “It took shape in Chaozhou of guangdong by the end of the Qing Dynasty and enjoyed popularity for a time It is 20-40 centimeters tall, with body made of paulownia or straw, hands paper and feet wood the head made of red clay will go through procedures of drying, baking for falling into the pattern, water-repellent coating, mask drawing according to the character and identity, and being equipped with headdress. The original control methods of shadow play are applied to this showThe puppeteer put the puppet in a transparent box and operates it by controlling the iron wires attached to it. Puppeteers may sit or stand behind the puppet, and the key puppeteer is on the right side of the stage

By shape, traditional puppets went through three development stages: First, thirty percent of carving and seventy percent of drawing, a result of being deeply influenced by opera facial designs; second, combination of carving and drawing. There emergedprofessional artists and workshops of puppet head making and various schools, i. e the South and north schools in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in Fujian in modern time the Jiang Jiazou in the south and Xu niansong in the North “as people called Third stage of plasticity and randomness. Based on the traditional skills, the contemporary professional puppet shape artists apply the new materials and new technologies, striving for customizing the best puppet shape. They emphasize the amplified expressiveness and agility and personality of the puppet. Since 1980s, besides the puppet shape discipline in opera schools in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian, Xi’ an and Hunan, there have been fine art majors allocated to puppet troupes for the shaping work absorbed new elements from modern setting lighting, and new forms of opera. n a In 1930s and 1940s, with regard to themes and performance space, puppetry art Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other places, new-style puppet theaters were set up in succession. The divisions of screenwriting, directing, designing, production, stage art, etc were formed contributing to the comprehensive development of traditiona puppet show in later days. But in the countryside, the traditional puppet show and opera style was retained. After 1950s, the show was richer in repertoire and had more performing forms. Apart from traditional opera show, there were folktale play fairy tale play, myth play and play presenting life of children in modern times. By performing form, there were film, drama, musical drama, TV series, advertisement, etc And there were lots of changes in puppet craftsmanship and performance technique Puppet making processes covering designing, moulding, modeling turning over, paper pasting, making up, gear installing and dressing are all linked with one another. To make the puppet easy to control for performance purpose, the artist did some reform on the craftsmanship, creating many new structures or devices, i.e. the rod puppet with external control structure and bent handlebar device and paper puppet head widely adopted later

Puppet film is a new form of puppet art. It started late but developed very fastThe northeast Film Studio made the fist puppet film the emperor’s Dream in 1947, and the fist colored puppet film Little Hero, film combining real persons and puppets Xiaomei’s dream the ethnically featured incredible ink and documentary chinese Puppet art which won many international awards by 1956. Shanghai Animation Film Studio, formerly the northeast Film Studio, established in 1957, and the largest art film studio in China presently, set up a special puppet film team(puppet film production department later) and has produced more than 100 puppet films. For example, there were Cock Crows at Midnight and Wanderings of Sanmao presenting the life, section Chief li embarrasses the cookhouse squad for three times about the military life, Conquering the Dragon on industrial production, Peacock Princess and A Shoe based on fairy tale, Shepherd body and Princess based on folktale, and Inscription of Dragons in 1950s and 1960s, and Effendi (story serial), Caochong

Weighs an Elephant, Porcelain doll, The Escapement Magic (serial), and China-Japan Co-produced To Shoot Without Shooting in 1970s and 1980s Puppet film got ride of the traditional performing forms of puppet show made a bold try in the ethnic style and inherited the traditional culture and folk art in a new way

Today in China, puppetry is operated by professional opera troupes instead of folk troupe, and staged on theatres instead of outdoor grass stages. It has become a comprehensive theatre art. Since 1955, the multiple national puppet shows and shadow plays before fellow artists for the purpose of discussion and emulation have promoted the communication and development of puppet show and shadow play. In 1980s, puppet troupes of many places did friendship performances overseas. After1990s, the “going out”and”introducing in”international exchange activities got increasingly frequent. The China Quanzhou International Puppet art Festival was held for three terms in Quanzhou of Fujian. In 2008, the Four Generals in Opera at opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games is exactly a wonderful part of the classic Quanzhou marionette show Ancient Art and New Performance Living Puppet The China Puppetry and Shadow Arts Association, set up in 1980, is the organizer of the Golden Lion: National Puppet and Shadow Competition and other contest events to promote puppet show and shadow play exchange activities, Also, it devotes itself to the inheritance and education in puppet show and shadow play arts together with the efforts of art institutes of higher learning so as to welcome a booming growth in China’s puppet show and shadow play industry. After 2009, the China Puppetry and Shadow Arts Association entrusted Shanghai Theatre Academy Chinese Opera Institute to establish the puppet(shadow figure) shaping and performance undergraduate major, to train professionals for the puppet show and shadow play force for the international communication ot puppet ar a’ olia Shanghai\ International troupes across China. And the two terms of golden magn Puppet and Festival and Invitational Tournament in Shanghai also served as a driving