Rod Puppet Item Number: 3347/11 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Rod puppet (zhàng tóu mù ǒu) representing the character Wu Sheng (martial male). Head, torso and hands are carved from wood. Components painted pink beige. Character has a small nose, moveable eyes, large ears and rosy cheeks. The mouth is painted bright red and frowning, eyebrows are painted black and have sharp spikes in the middle. Back of head and area around ears are painted light grey, imitating hair. He is wearing a black cap with metal buttons along the bottom edge. Long, dark brown strands of hair are attached to the top of the cap. The character is wearing a yellow robe with one large panel in the front, three back panels and two side panels. The front panel has ties on the left side, above the waist. A stuffed pink pouch is stitched to the chest of the puppet, with fringe along its bottom edge, and a plain fabric patch is stitched in the same spot on the back of the puppet. Robe is covered in red and silver sequins, with floral and geometric motifs embroidered throughout. Motifs done in pink, dark brown and green. A moth(?) is embroidered on the bottom of the front panel of the robe, with a matching moth(?) on the back, underneath the plain patch. Moths(?) are done in pink, dark brown and blue. 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. Back of puppet’s head was 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.
The style of robe is considered "battle dress."