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Description

Rod puppet (zhàng tóu mù ǒu), representing the character Xu Wen (bearded male), with separate beard. Head and hands of puppet (part a) are carved from wood. Components painted beige. Character has a sharp nose, moveable eyes and large ears. Mouth is dark red, eyebrows are painted black with sharp spikes in the middle. Eyes have a thick black lining, cheeks are rosy. Back of head and area around ears painted black, imitating hair. He is wearing a plaid cap with metal buttons along the bottom edge. Short strands of dark brown-black hair attached to the top of the cap. The character is wearing a red robe, with extended gauze-like sleeves that drape down. The robe has a left side opening, secured with ties and metal buttons, and a small right side slit. The sides of the robe have pink panels. Cuffs bordered with a wavy blue ribbon. Curvilinear and linear motifs across robe, done in silver and dark green sequins. Dragon(?) design, done in dark green, silver and gold sequins, on centre front and back of robe. Dragon is hovering over a cloud(?), done in dark green sequins. Character has a matching collar, that secures at the front, with white animal hair(?) along bottom edge. Collar trimmed with wavy blue and yellow ribbons. There are curvilinear and linear motifs across it done in dark green and silver sequins. Plaid undergarment beneath robe. Puppet is operated by three bamboo rods- one large rod attached to his head, and two more are attached to each hand. Eyes are operated by a wooden rod inside of the central bamboo rod. Back of puppet’s head has been cut out and re-attached. Beard (part b) consists of long black fibre attached to a wire covered with string. Shaped to fit over ears and below mouth of puppet.

History Of Use

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.

Iconographic Meaning

Puppet represents a court official.