Rod Puppet Item Number: 3347/8 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Rod puppet (zhàng tóu mù ǒu), representing the character Xiao Sheng (young male). Head, hands and torso are carved from wood. Components painted beige. Character has a small nose, large ears and moveable eyes. His mouth is painted dark red and his cheeks are rosy. Eyes are black-rimmed, eyebrows are painted black and have spikes in the middle. Area around ears and back of head are painted black, imitating hair. He is wearing a dark grey-brown cap, nailed into place. Long, black strands of hair are attached to the top of the cap. The character is wearing a green robe, with extended sleeves that drape down. The robe has a left side opening, secured with metal buttons and ties, and a small right side slit. Opening is bordered with a wide white band. Cuffs have red ribbon trim with gold and green floral motifs embroidered on them. Robe decorated with curvilinear motifs along the arms and a large linear design on the front centre. All motifs done in silver, pink, purple, blue and red sequins. Character is wearing a plaid undergarment beneath the robe. Puppet is operated by three bamboo rods- one large rod attached to his torso, and two more are attached to each hand. Eyes are operated by a wooden rod, with a metal attachment, inside of the central bamboo rod. The back of the puppet’s head has been cut out and re-attached.
The celebrated rod puppets of the Guangdong Province on the south coast of China have a long history. They became popular during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Generally referred to as ‘ghost opera’ (qui-a-xi), this form of rod puppetry shares many characteristics with Cantonese Opera. There are the four standard categories of performer: male (sang/sheng), female (daan/dan), clown (cau/chou) and painted faces (zing/jing), often reserved for martial or fighting characters. They wear elaborately embroidered costumes and perform classical Chinese legends and histories, with dramatic and stylized acrobatics, movements, voices and gestures. The likeness of the rod puppets to their human counterparts is enhanced further by the clever mechanisms that move the eyes and mouth. Like all forms of Asian theatre and puppetry, music is also an essential part of the performance: the accompanying orchestra generally consists of gongs, drums, violins and reed instruments. Almost every performance of puppet theatre in Guangdong is part of religious festivities. The stage is built opposite a temple or shrine. A performance usually starts with ritual blessings to bring peace and prosperity to the local community.