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Description

Rod puppet (zhàng tóu mù ǒu), representing the character Dan (lady), with separate headdress. Head and hands of puppet (part a) are carved from wood. Components painted pink. The puppet’s body is formed by a reed cage. Character has a long nose, moveable eyes and large ears. The eyebrows are painted black and the eyes are black-rimmed. She has black hair pulled back into a bun with a red string and yellow tulle-like tie. The tie has flower shaped sequins and beads along the edges. She also has a pink headband made of ribbons, fabric flowers and flower shaped buttons. The character is wearing a yellow jacket, with extended sleeves that drape down. The jacket has centre slit on the back, secured with ties, and is belted at the waist. The belt is made of paper with bands of red, silver ribbons and a white and red scalloped ribbon. Hanging from the belt are three panels. The ribbon used on the belt also borders the cuffs and panel edges. There are curvilinear motifs, done in pink and silver sequins, across the entire surface of the jacket and panels. Fringe along the bottom edges of all panels. Overtop, the character is wearing a pink collar with a back opening, secured with ties. The collar has fringe along its bottom edge and is trimmed with a blue, red and yellow ribbon. There are floral motifs, done in large gold beads and gold and silver sequins, across its surface. Puppet is operated by three bamboo rods- one large rod attached to the reed cage, and two more 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 has been cut out. Headdress (part b) made of cardboard, with a metal frame, covered in yellow and light green fabric. Headdress consists of a cap and backboard. The backboard is square-like and has a scalloped top edge. It is covered in silver sequins on the front, with wavy pink and green borders. The back is light green, with a wavy pink border, and has a crown-like protrusion in the centre. It is yellow and has gold curvilinear motifs across it. There are two pompons atop the centre of the backboard, done in orange and purple. For the cap component, there are curvilinear attachments on either side. The entire surface is covered in sequins and beads. Sequins are silver, blue, pink and red, and the beads are all silver. Numerous protruding, curled wires with large silver and white beads, across the top of the cap. Two red tassels hang down from either side of the cap. Interior of headdress is painted silver. There are two plain ties on the back of the headdress.

Iconographic Meaning

Puppet is a court lady and possibly represents the empress.

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.