![Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Thang_Long_Water_Puppet_Theatre2.JPG)
Water puppetry ( vi, Múa rối nước) is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villages of the
Red River Delta
The Red River Delta or Hong River Delta ( vi, Châu thổ sông Hồng) is the flat low-lying plain formed by the Red River and its distributaries merging with the Thái Bình River in northern Vietnam. ''Hồng'' (紅) is a Sino-Vietnamese wor ...
area of northern
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
. Today's Vietnamese water puppetry is a unique variation on the ancient Asian puppet tradition.
The puppets are made out of wood and then
lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be ca ...
ed. The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large bamboo rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers, who are normally hidden behind a screen, to control them. Thus the puppets appear to be moving over the water. When the rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this form of puppet play.
Performance
![Puppettheatre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Puppettheatre.JPG)
Modern water puppetry is performed in a pool of water 4 meters square with the water surface being the stage. Performance today occurs on one of three venues—on traditional ponds in villages where a staging area has been set up, on portable tanks built for traveling performers, or in a specialized building where a pool stage has been constructed.
Up to 8 puppeteers stand behind a split-bamboo screen, decorated to resemble a temple facade, and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg.
Rice, the main staple of the Vietnamese diet, is usually grown in paddy fields. The original water puppet festivals were literally held inside a rice paddy, with a pagoda built on top to hide the puppeteers who stand in the waist-deep water. The water acts as the stage for the puppets, and as a symbolic link to the rice harvest. It also hides the puppet strings and puppeteer movements, improves the musical and vocal acoustics, and provides a shimmering lighting effect.
A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. The instrumentation includes vocals, drums, wooden bells, cymbals, horns,
đàn bầu
The đàn bầu (; "gourd zither"; chữ Nôm: ), also called độc huyền cầm (獨絃琴, "one-string zither") is a Vietnamese stringed instrument, in the form of a monochord (one-string) zither.
History
While the earliest written records o ...
(monochord),
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
s, and bamboo flutes. The bamboo flute's clear, simple notes may accompany royalty while the drums and cymbals may loudly announce a fire-breathing dragon's entrance.
Singers of
chèo
''Chèo'' (, Chữ Nôm: 掉) is a form of generally satirical musical theatre, often encompassing dance, traditionally performed by Vietnamese peasants in northern Vietnam. It is usually performed outdoors by semi-amateur touring groups, stere ...
(a form of opera originating in north Vietnam) sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets. The musicians and the puppets interact during performance; the musicians may yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need.
The puppets enter from either side of the stage, or emerge from the murky depths of the water.
Spotlights and colorful flags adorn the stage and create a festive atmosphere.
Content
The theme of the skits is rural and has a strong reference to Vietnamese folklore. It tells of day-to-day living in rural Vietnam and Vietnamese folk tales that are told by grandparents to their grandchildren. Stories of the harvest, of fishing and of festivals are highlighted.
Legends and national history are also told through short skits. Many of the skits, especially those involving the tales of day-to-day living, often have a humorous twist.
Tễu
Chú Tễu
Chú Tễu (literally ''uncle comedian'', ''buffoon'', ''joker'') is a typical puppet in Vietnamese water puppetry
Water puppetry ( vi, Múa rối nước) is a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century when it originated in the villa ...
("chú" means uncle, man, boy or Mr. in Vietnamese) is a recurrent and the most notable character in water puppetry. Tễu means "laugh" in ancient Vietnamese. He is a jester who provides witty comments on political and social realities, especially officials' corruption. His appearance is of a smiling boy who often wears nothing but a simple
loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...
, sometimes accompanied by a simple open vest.
Gallery
File:Water Puppet Vietnam.jpg, Water puppet, representing one of the stages of the Buddhist 'ox herder' parable
File:Final act of Thang Long water puppetry show.jpg, Puppeteers out on stage for final act
File:Water-Puppet-Show-Musician.jpg, Musician at Water Puppet Show, Hanoi, Vietnam
File:Hanoi Water Puppets - Fairy Dance (3695189852).jpg, Hanoi Water Puppets - Fairy Dance
File:水上木偶秀一.JPG, Water Puppets
File:Le théâtre de marionnettes sur l'eau Thang Long (Hanoi).jpg, Water puppets at the Thang Long Theater
File:Water-Puppet-4.jpg, Water Puppet
File:Water-Puppet-turtle.jpg, Turtle Water Puppet
File:Water puppeteers Phantom Tranh Liem and his wife, Hanoi, 2017.jpg, Water puppeteers Phan Tranh Liem and his wife in waders, Hanoi, 2017
References
Literature
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External links
{{commons category-inline
Puppetry
Vietnamese traditional theatre
Vietnamese inventions