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Old puppets pack surprise punch
By Shi Xiaohan |
August 17, 2011, Wednesday
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AFTER relocating with his family to a village in the Hangzhou countryside as a young child, Zhang Keyi became the talk of his classmates at school because of the kung fu puppets an elderly neighbor taught him to create from bamboo. Shi Xiaohan meets the unassuming creator of the toys which have are now recognized as an intangible cultural heritage.
Zhang Keyi, a 65-year-old farmer living in Hangzhou's countryside, was the first in Zhongqiao Village to make bamboo puppets when he was only seven. To his surprise, his childhood toys have now become a cultural heritage more than 50 years later.
The puppets, with bamboo tubes as limbs and short sticks as swords, facilitated the most exciting game during Zhang's childhood.
"Fighting was the most popular 'game' among the countryside boys at that time. Before I made these toys, we would just fight physically. But with the toys, we could 'fight' in a more civilized way," says Zhang.
Zhang emigrated with his parents to the village in 1955 from Shanghai as Zhang's parents lost their jobs and had to move out of Shanghai and start a new life.
A large number of out-of-town people came to Shanghai due to the occurrence of disasters and wars in the 1950s. Shanghai's population had quickly outgrown its capacity. Especially after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 when imports to China were blocked, Shanghai with its overloading population was almost short of everything. So the authority decided to downsize the population. As a result, many out-of-town people went back to their hometowns, and local jobless people were encouraged to go to the rural areas.
Zhang's home in Shanghai was located near Xintiandi in Shanghai, while his new home in the countryside was in the mountains.
The transition from the jolting cosmopolitan life to quiet countryside living was not easy, especially for Zhang, a then seven-year-old boy.
When Zhang started attending school in the village, he needed to walk for two hours on the mountain road to get to school. "Faced with the harsh conditions, I just wanted to go back to Shanghai almost upon arrival," Zhang says.
But things started to change after Zhang got to know his neighbor, a then nearly 70-year-old man, whose name Zhang does not even remember. "He always invited me to play at his home.
With him, I found vast pleasure in the countryside. Everything was so lively. The mountains were like my own secret wonderland," Zhang says excitingly.
With his neighbor, Zhang learned how to use bamboo tubes to make a water pistol, and how to use bamboos to make swords and to practice kung fu. But the most exciting creation of all were the kung fu puppets, which made Zhang gain recognition as a star toy inventor in his class.
Though the puppets look primitive today, for Zhang and his peers at that time, it was the most advanced toy of all. "Kung fu puppets had to be played among a group of people. After I learned how to make the puppets from my neighbor, I brought my works to my classroom. The game soon became popular. All the boys in school learned puppet-making so that they could get their own puppets and join the game," Zhang explains.
Like many of his peers born in the 1940s, Zhang did not go far with his education.
He dropped out of middle school when he was 14 and started helping his parents with farm work. As his puppet-playing years had come to an end, Zhang completed his transition from a citizen to a farmer.
Zhang was later given a chance to move back to Shanghai with his wife, who was also a Shanghai citizen. She was a high school student when the campaign of sending the educated urban youth to rural areas started in the 1970s. She was sent to Yunnan Province in southern China. She got married to Zhang since she didn't need to go far away to Yunnan after marriage.
But once the educated youth were allowed to return home in the 1980s, Zhang's wife left the village for Shanghai immediately with their newborn son. To stay with his family, Zhang went back and worked in Shanghai for several years. However, he found himself no longer comfortable with city life. Zhang prefers countryside life, with clean air, beautiful scenery and fresh food. So after his son grew up, he came back to the village in Hangzhou and continued his farming life until today.
With the initiative taken by local government to enlist dying-out folk arts as local intangible heritage in 2008, Zhang's kung fu puppets became popular again.
"I haven't made them for over 50 years, but I can still vividly remember how to make the puppets," Zhang says.
Zhang has given more than 10 shows with his kung fu puppets across Hangzhou. His most successful show was the one at his village's kindergarten. The curious kids gathered around the performance table to figure out how Zhang got the puppets fighting. The principal of the kindergarten has invited Zhang to host a handicraft art class to teach the children how to make these puppets.
"I think this kind of simple pleasure of the countryside is worth retaining, especially when there are less and less kids in the countryside. They should be able to enjoy nature in this fast urbanizing age," Zhang says.
Zhang Keyi, a 65-year-old farmer living in Hangzhou's countryside, was the first in Zhongqiao Village to make bamboo puppets when he was only seven. To his surprise, his childhood toys have now become a cultural heritage more than 50 years later.
The puppets, with bamboo tubes as limbs and short sticks as swords, facilitated the most exciting game during Zhang's childhood.
"Fighting was the most popular 'game' among the countryside boys at that time. Before I made these toys, we would just fight physically. But with the toys, we could 'fight' in a more civilized way," says Zhang.
Zhang emigrated with his parents to the village in 1955 from Shanghai as Zhang's parents lost their jobs and had to move out of Shanghai and start a new life.
A large number of out-of-town people came to Shanghai due to the occurrence of disasters and wars in the 1950s. Shanghai's population had quickly outgrown its capacity. Especially after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 when imports to China were blocked, Shanghai with its overloading population was almost short of everything. So the authority decided to downsize the population. As a result, many out-of-town people went back to their hometowns, and local jobless people were encouraged to go to the rural areas.
Zhang's home in Shanghai was located near Xintiandi in Shanghai, while his new home in the countryside was in the mountains.
The transition from the jolting cosmopolitan life to quiet countryside living was not easy, especially for Zhang, a then seven-year-old boy.
When Zhang started attending school in the village, he needed to walk for two hours on the mountain road to get to school. "Faced with the harsh conditions, I just wanted to go back to Shanghai almost upon arrival," Zhang says.
But things started to change after Zhang got to know his neighbor, a then nearly 70-year-old man, whose name Zhang does not even remember. "He always invited me to play at his home.
With him, I found vast pleasure in the countryside. Everything was so lively. The mountains were like my own secret wonderland," Zhang says excitingly.
With his neighbor, Zhang learned how to use bamboo tubes to make a water pistol, and how to use bamboos to make swords and to practice kung fu. But the most exciting creation of all were the kung fu puppets, which made Zhang gain recognition as a star toy inventor in his class.
Though the puppets look primitive today, for Zhang and his peers at that time, it was the most advanced toy of all. "Kung fu puppets had to be played among a group of people. After I learned how to make the puppets from my neighbor, I brought my works to my classroom. The game soon became popular. All the boys in school learned puppet-making so that they could get their own puppets and join the game," Zhang explains.
Like many of his peers born in the 1940s, Zhang did not go far with his education.
He dropped out of middle school when he was 14 and started helping his parents with farm work. As his puppet-playing years had come to an end, Zhang completed his transition from a citizen to a farmer.
Zhang was later given a chance to move back to Shanghai with his wife, who was also a Shanghai citizen. She was a high school student when the campaign of sending the educated urban youth to rural areas started in the 1970s. She was sent to Yunnan Province in southern China. She got married to Zhang since she didn't need to go far away to Yunnan after marriage.
But once the educated youth were allowed to return home in the 1980s, Zhang's wife left the village for Shanghai immediately with their newborn son. To stay with his family, Zhang went back and worked in Shanghai for several years. However, he found himself no longer comfortable with city life. Zhang prefers countryside life, with clean air, beautiful scenery and fresh food. So after his son grew up, he came back to the village in Hangzhou and continued his farming life until today.
With the initiative taken by local government to enlist dying-out folk arts as local intangible heritage in 2008, Zhang's kung fu puppets became popular again.
"I haven't made them for over 50 years, but I can still vividly remember how to make the puppets," Zhang says.
Zhang has given more than 10 shows with his kung fu puppets across Hangzhou. His most successful show was the one at his village's kindergarten. The curious kids gathered around the performance table to figure out how Zhang got the puppets fighting. The principal of the kindergarten has invited Zhang to host a handicraft art class to teach the children how to make these puppets.
"I think this kind of simple pleasure of the countryside is worth retaining, especially when there are less and less kids in the countryside. They should be able to enjoy nature in this fast urbanizing age," Zhang says.
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