Rod Puppet Item Number: 3347/20 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Rod puppet (zhàng tóu mù ǒu), representing the character Xiao Chou (clown). Head and hands are carved from wood. Components painted pink beige. The puppet’s body is formed by a reed cage. Character has a wide nose, large ears and moveable eyes and mouth. The mouth is painted bright red, eyebrows are painted black and curved. Eyes are black-rimmed and area around ears and back of head is painted black, imitating hair. Red line painted across face, from left cheek to above right eye. He has short, spiked black hair on top of his head. The character is wearing a plain dark blue robe, with two small side slits. The robe has a small back opening, stitched closed, below the neck. Puppet is operated by three bamboo rods- one large rod attached to reed cage, and two more attached to each hand. Back of 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.
Puppet represents a young clown.