The Declining Culture of Dongguan Puppet Show

I remember watching puppet shows when I was a child, but I gradually lost sight of them in recent years. With the development of society, puppet shows seem to be gradually declining. The puppet show originated in Dongguan, so let's learn what the puppet show in Dongguan culture is like!

Introduction: The rehearsal puppet show in Dongguan originated in the late Qing Dynasty. At first, it was called holding and singing Peking Opera, and then it was gradually changed to singing and performing Cantonese Opera. Puppet shows are mainly performed for temple fairs.

Historical origin: During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Ye Man of Da Lang Village, Tang Sheng bought a set of puppets from Fujian and planned to set up a puppet troupe. Later, a villager named Chen in Xiangtou Village, Da Lang bought a puppet at a high price and set up a puppet troupe. It is well known that the artistic level of the troupe is improving day by day. 1930, Xiangtou Puppet Troupe was renamed as New World Puppet Troupe, and famous puppet artists from provinces and Hong Kong were invited to participate in the rehearsal. Thirty or forty artists have performed in Guangzhou Shixian Company for a long time. The main repertoires are "Three British Resistance to Lu Bu" and "Zhao Zilong Interception".

Development: The twenties and thirties were the heyday of Dongguan puppet show, mainly concentrated in Guancheng, Da Lang, Liaobu and other places. These troupes include Jing Xinhua, Zhong, Chinese Music, Awakening Music, Tiantianle, Tianmei Music, Le Xuan, Gansu and New World. After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, puppet shows gradually declined. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), puppet shows were replaced by films, Cantonese operas, songs and dances. 1976, the amateur puppet troupe was established in Guancheng Forest Farm, and it was dissolved the following year.