Introduction to the genre
Quanzhou string puppet theater, ancient name "hanging silk puppet", originated in the Qin and Han dynasties, and has been popular in Quanzhou and surrounding areas since the late Tang and Five Dynasties at the latest. Since then, through Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing and even contemporary times, the inheritance has continued. To date, more than 700 traditional plays have been preserved, and the music of the unique genre "puppet tune" (including ancient and rare musical instruments such as "pressed foot drums" and "gong gongs" and the corresponding performance techniques) is composed of more than 300 tunes and chants. (including ancient and rare instruments such as the "pressed foot drum" and "gong" and corresponding performance techniques). At the same time, it has formed a set of exquisite and standardized line work (traditional basic line rules), as well as unique puppet head carving, idol modeling art and production techniques.
The traditional repertoire of Quanzhou Puppet Theatre has preserved a large number of ancient Minnan language region's folk beliefs and customs and activities such as weddings and funerals, preserved a large number of "ancient He Luo language" and Minnan dialect grammar, vocabulary and ancient pronunciation, preserved a lot of Song and Yuan dynasties, music, performance patterns and other valuable information, has multidisciplinary research It has a multidisciplinary research value. For thousands of years, the puppet show in Quanzhou has not only coexisted with the rituals of birth, old age, sickness and death of the people in the Minnan language region, but also spread to Taiwan and Southeast Asia from the Ming Dynasty, opening the first Chinese and foreign cultural exchange of puppet show in China.
