What are the characteristics of Gaozhou puppet show?

As a popular puppet art, puppet show has its own unique characteristics, both in the production of puppets and in the way and customs of performance. The famous puppet show is Gaozhou, Guangdong.

Gaozhou puppet show, also known as "ghost play", has a history of hundreds of years. It first appeared in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty and became a very popular entertainment program in the Qing Dynasty. According to Gaozhou county annals in Qing Dynasty:

The number one witch in the dream of Chibu occasionally rings the bell and sings the drum ... During the Lantern Festival, the worshippers set up a shed on the sandbar outside the door to make up for the peace.

Among them, "singing puppet" refers to puppet cavity, and "playing puppet" directly refers to puppet show. Until later, Gaozhou's "annual example", namely social day, still retained this tradition.

In Gaozhou, every year in the first or second month of the lunar calendar, puppet shows are staged all over the country, and the sound of gongs and drums in the countryside is endless and very lively.

For hundreds of years, Gaozhou puppet show has been widely circulated in villages in Gaozhou. The original form of Gaozhou puppet show is small class, that is, single puppet show. By the end of Qing Dynasty, there were four middle classes and eight large classes.

Gaozhou puppet show, as a regional tributary of Chinese puppet show, has very unique artistic characteristics, mainly in sculpture, performance, content, music and so on.

In terms of sculpture modeling, Gaozhou puppet show is dominated by stick puppets, with bag puppets attached. Puppet head making is a traditional pastel art of folk sculpture.

Gaozhou puppet is exquisite and natural in shape. It is made of tough wood, painted and decorated with exaggerated methods, so that it has both form and spirit, its head can be rotated, its eyes can be vivid, its hands can hold props, its mouth can be opened and closed, and it is lifelike. Puppet carving technology has always been passed down from master to apprentice, mainly from one family to the next, without interruption.