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Puppet lions facing extinction
By Xu Wenwen |
June 1, 2011, Wednesday
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A local folk custom is at risk of disappearing as only a few people carry on the tradition today. Xu Wenwen finds out more about the lion puppet dance and how its particular form native to an area of Hangzhou is hanging on - quite literally.
Lion dance, in which performers dressed in a lion costume mimic a lion's movements, is a representative folk art of Chinese culture and remains a frequent sight today, but a sort of puppet lion dance that once prevailed is now under threat of extinction, with only a few areas in Zhejiang Province preserving the custom.
As its name implies, puppet lion dance is presented by people using strings to control lion puppets. However, the puppet is usually as large as the lion used in lion dance, and during the puppet show puppeteers do not hide behind a screen.
Puppet lion dance has versions that differ according to location, such as the Jiushitu that features nine lions moving together; the Bolu Huoshi that manipulates a puppet lion to break out of flames; and the Aerial Lion that features two lion puppets fighting in the air.
Despite the varying forms, the contents of the shows are the same - the lions try to grab a ball in front of them and the shows end when one or several lions get the ball.
Each version of the puppet lion dance has players control the lions using a pulley system of ropes attached to the puppets and a large overhead rack.
Like the ordinary lion dance, puppet lion dance is shown during big Chinese celebrations, such as Chinese Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival.
All of the mentioned puppet lion dances remain tradition in China's eastern Zhejiang Province, and the Aerial Lion has its roots in Shen'ao Village, Tonglu County, Hangzhou.
"Puppet lion dance, which was invented in northern China during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), came to southern China during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)," said Xu Chonggang, an expert on Tonglu's local cultural relics.
During the Northern Song era, the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng in Hebei Province), but in 1279, the Song court, which lost control of northern China to the Kin kingdom, retreated south of the Yangtze River and established their capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou).
"People living in and around Lin'an adapted the dance from northern China and shaped their own style," added Xu. "The Aerial Lion puppet dance was adapted to be performed in the air so people could observe it clearly."
Aerial Lion features two puppet lions fighting each other for a red-and-golden ball. The puppets are suspended from pulleys on a wooden rack more than 4 meters in height.
The show, accompanied by a local gong and drum ensemble, generally lasts for more than 20 minutes. It begins with the two lions fighting each other and ends when the two bite the ball together.
The lion puppets are 1.5 meters long, and feature a golden face, a golden tail and golden hairs dotted across the body.
The lions' mouths open and close during movements, and the their bodies consisting of bamboo circles are flexible.
Suspended via pulleys the two lions are hung face-to-face on the rack, and between them is the ball which is around 60 centimeters in diameter.
One or two puppeteers pull on the ropes that control each lion, while another player guides the ball to make the competition fiercer.
To manipulate the lions vividly, the controllers need to be very familiar with the lion's weight, the ropes' elasticity and the rhythm of the accompanying music, so the 20-minute shows can be quite physically and mentally demanding for the puppeteers.
All puppeteers should follow a set routine to control the ropes, incorporating strength, steps and timing. However, since the routine has never been recorded on paper but was handed down from mouth to mouth via a pithy formula, it has been partially lost over time.
The folk custom was almost extinct in the 1940s as all the craftsman producing lion puppets had died while people stopped the tradition because of the ceaseless war in China at the time. The techniques didn't recover until the late 1940s when Shentu Yongqing, a then-young craftsman who made Chinese lanterns, began to make model lion puppets based on his memory.
Though the puppets look rustic today, the show used to be one of the few local entertainments and was fanciful and exciting. In olden times, players from Shen'ao Village went on tours to perform the puppet show to adjacent villages during festivals.
But the art "cannot return to its old level, both in technique and popularity," said 85-year-old Shentu, "as the number of players are much fewer and people are much less serious about it."
Currently, only a dozen people in the village can perform the Aerial Lion, and among them the youngest is over 60 years old. Moreover, there are only two craftsmen making puppets, Shentu and his apprentice.
In 2007, Aerial Lion was listed as a Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhejiang Province, while Shentu was recognized as the descendant of the art.
Today, the authorities of Shen'ao Village is resolved to enrich the performance by learning from other puppet lion dancesin Zhejiang Province.
Lion dance, in which performers dressed in a lion costume mimic a lion's movements, is a representative folk art of Chinese culture and remains a frequent sight today, but a sort of puppet lion dance that once prevailed is now under threat of extinction, with only a few areas in Zhejiang Province preserving the custom.
As its name implies, puppet lion dance is presented by people using strings to control lion puppets. However, the puppet is usually as large as the lion used in lion dance, and during the puppet show puppeteers do not hide behind a screen.
Puppet lion dance has versions that differ according to location, such as the Jiushitu that features nine lions moving together; the Bolu Huoshi that manipulates a puppet lion to break out of flames; and the Aerial Lion that features two lion puppets fighting in the air.
Despite the varying forms, the contents of the shows are the same - the lions try to grab a ball in front of them and the shows end when one or several lions get the ball.
Each version of the puppet lion dance has players control the lions using a pulley system of ropes attached to the puppets and a large overhead rack.
Like the ordinary lion dance, puppet lion dance is shown during big Chinese celebrations, such as Chinese Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival.
All of the mentioned puppet lion dances remain tradition in China's eastern Zhejiang Province, and the Aerial Lion has its roots in Shen'ao Village, Tonglu County, Hangzhou.
"Puppet lion dance, which was invented in northern China during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), came to southern China during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279)," said Xu Chonggang, an expert on Tonglu's local cultural relics.
During the Northern Song era, the Song capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng in Hebei Province), but in 1279, the Song court, which lost control of northern China to the Kin kingdom, retreated south of the Yangtze River and established their capital at Lin'an (now Hangzhou).
"People living in and around Lin'an adapted the dance from northern China and shaped their own style," added Xu. "The Aerial Lion puppet dance was adapted to be performed in the air so people could observe it clearly."
Aerial Lion features two puppet lions fighting each other for a red-and-golden ball. The puppets are suspended from pulleys on a wooden rack more than 4 meters in height.
The show, accompanied by a local gong and drum ensemble, generally lasts for more than 20 minutes. It begins with the two lions fighting each other and ends when the two bite the ball together.
The lion puppets are 1.5 meters long, and feature a golden face, a golden tail and golden hairs dotted across the body.
The lions' mouths open and close during movements, and the their bodies consisting of bamboo circles are flexible.
Suspended via pulleys the two lions are hung face-to-face on the rack, and between them is the ball which is around 60 centimeters in diameter.
One or two puppeteers pull on the ropes that control each lion, while another player guides the ball to make the competition fiercer.
To manipulate the lions vividly, the controllers need to be very familiar with the lion's weight, the ropes' elasticity and the rhythm of the accompanying music, so the 20-minute shows can be quite physically and mentally demanding for the puppeteers.
All puppeteers should follow a set routine to control the ropes, incorporating strength, steps and timing. However, since the routine has never been recorded on paper but was handed down from mouth to mouth via a pithy formula, it has been partially lost over time.
The folk custom was almost extinct in the 1940s as all the craftsman producing lion puppets had died while people stopped the tradition because of the ceaseless war in China at the time. The techniques didn't recover until the late 1940s when Shentu Yongqing, a then-young craftsman who made Chinese lanterns, began to make model lion puppets based on his memory.
Though the puppets look rustic today, the show used to be one of the few local entertainments and was fanciful and exciting. In olden times, players from Shen'ao Village went on tours to perform the puppet show to adjacent villages during festivals.
But the art "cannot return to its old level, both in technique and popularity," said 85-year-old Shentu, "as the number of players are much fewer and people are much less serious about it."
Currently, only a dozen people in the village can perform the Aerial Lion, and among them the youngest is over 60 years old. Moreover, there are only two craftsmen making puppets, Shentu and his apprentice.
In 2007, Aerial Lion was listed as a Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhejiang Province, while Shentu was recognized as the descendant of the art.
Today, the authorities of Shen'ao Village is resolved to enrich the performance by learning from other puppet lion dancesin Zhejiang Province.
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