As one of China's performing art contributions to world heritage treasures, Chinese puppetry has a long history. It is noted for its many types of puppets and superb manipulative skill.

History

As to when puppets were first used in theatrical performances, experts agree that the art "arose in Han and became popular in the Tang Dynasty (618-907)." According to the History of the Later Han Dynasty, puppets already existed during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). During the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), a person named Ma Jun used flowing water to manipulate wooden figures to do variety acts mimicking human performance.

Puppetry enjoyed great prosperity during the Song period. Puppet troupes could be found everywhere in the empire. Chinese puppetry further developed during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, with a number of schools spreading across the country. They are Fujian glove puppets, Rod puppets Guangdong, Fujian, and Guizhou provinces, String puppets Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces, Wire puppets in eastern Guangdong and western Fujian.

Modeling

Puppet shows from various places had their own unique characteristics with strong local color in terms of figure modeling. The development of Chinese puppet modeling can be divided into three stages:

In the 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.

Mechanisms

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.

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."

The head is carved from wood. Mechanisms in the hollow head move the eyes and mouth. The main rod, made either of wood or bamboo, runs through the neck to the head, and the length varies. The hand rods are attached to the elbow and wrist, either in or outside the sleeves. Puppets with the hand rods concealed in the sleeves are used in traditional operas. The bulky costumes used for Chinese opera provide ample space for manipulating the rods, resulting in lifelike actions. Puppets with the hand rods outside the sleeves have a bent main rod. It is less tiring for the performer to raise the puppet by holding the bend at the end of the main rod and easier for him to manipulate. In addition, there is a large hollow space for additional mechanisms in the puppet's head that help the puppet enrich its facial expressions.

Instead of wood and plastic, the hands are now shaped with resin and wire has been used to replace wood or bamboo as the material for making hand rods. Rod puppets have no feet, and unattached legs are used for kicks and other leg movements. Due to constant improvements on the making and manipulation of rod puppets, this type of puppetry is still very popular in China.

About two feet in height, the string puppet consists of a head, torso, limbs and control board. The head is carved from camphor, Chinese linden or willow wood. Mechanisms contained in the head can make the five sensory organs move as the situation requires. The torso is woven with bamboo filaments. The hands of warriors have flexible fists capable of wielding weapons. The agile hands of a gentleman can hold small props such as awriting brush, a cup or a folding fan. The feet can be fitted with either boots or ladies' slippers, or, if desired, can remain bare.

The strings used to control the puppet are about 3 feet long. With the development of Chinese puppetry, large stages are now used for string puppet performances. The number and length of strings used can be increased to as many as 30 or decreased as the situation demands.

Wire Puppets

Wire Puppets that evolved from shadow plays, are very popular in eastern Guangdong and western Fujian. They are calledpapershadow plays in Chaozhou and Shantou.

They measure about 1-1.5 feet in length with painted heads made of clay, bodies carved out of tung wood, paper made hands and wooden feet. They are controlled by three metal rods: one main rod, and two side rods that are all fixed with bamboo handles.

The puppeteer either stands or sits behind the puppet when performing. In recent years the puppet has been improved by increasing its length and adjusting the placement of the control rods.

Glove Puppets

Glove Puppets, also called palm puppets, consist of a head, a body and clothing. Glove puppets, about a foot in length, are most popular in Fujian's Zhangzhou and Quanzhou.

Carved out of camphor wood, the head contains mechanisms used to control facial muscles. The hands are either open or clenched. The puppeteer inserts his forefinger into the hollow neck and his thumb and middle finger into each sleeve to control the head and hands. In order to aid the arm movements, a thin bamboo stick is placed in the sleeves and turned.

Skilled puppeteers can make their puppets do highly difficult actions such as opening a folding fan, changing clothes, brandishing a sword, fighting and jumping out of a window, all to the surprise of the audience.

Apart from the aforesaid types of puppets, water-activated and gunpowder-activated puppets can still be found in China but their influence is less significant. Besides, although the human puppets still perform, they are regarded as a rare folk art confined to certain regions such Lingao County, Hainan Provinceon China's southernmost coast. The large rod puppet in Northern Sichuan is also a rare genre of puppetry.

Puppet stars

Huang Yique

Huang Yique is a master of the Quanzhou puppet show, who enjoys worldwide fame after his performances in more than 30 countries. Huang's consummate skills allow a puppet to write, pick up small objects, and even pour wine, as if they are real.

Huang was born in a poor family in north Quanzhou, Fujian Province, in 1928. He joined a puppet show troupe at the age of 13 to earn himself a living. It was his wish all of his life to develop the art of marionette and to pass on the performance skill. A museum for puppet art was Huang's last wish; it was not fulfilled until his death on Jan. 5, 2007.

Xu Zhuchu

Xu Zhuchu, whose name was given by the famous rabbi Hongyi, is a world widely known master in puppet designing and carving. He is the general art supervisor and curator of Zhuchu Puppet Gallery of Zhanghou.

A native of Fujian province, Xu Zhuchu was born into a family with long tradition of puppet carving. All his life, Xu Zhuchu has been striving to revive the family art of puppet carving. Mr. Xu has created more than 500 new types of puppets. So far, Xu has created more than 500 puppet figures from Chinese operas and folktales, which display the best of his family's craft. His works appear in puppet films and have become a must for art collectors even though the puppet play is waning in popularity.