Centuries-old Fujian puppetry kept alive on moving strings
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FUJIAN string and glove puppetry is one of China’s oldest performing arts, dating back more than 1,500 years. From temple fairs in southeast China’s Quanzhou City to classrooms overseas, it continues to blend craftsmanship, music and storytelling.
The art relies on delicately carved wooden heads, jointed limbs, painted faces and embroidered costumes.
In string puppetry, or marionette shows, puppeteers operate up to 36 strings to make gestures such as turning a head or lifting a fan.
In glove puppetry, the artist animates the figure directly with the hand. Each motion demands years of training and precision. A single bow must be practiced hundreds of times to appear effortless.
Quanzhou string puppetry was added to China’s first national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.
In 2012, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) selected the “training coming generations of Fujian puppetry practitioners” program for its Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
That plan, launched in 2008, responded to a sharp decline in young practitioners as modernization, urban migration and modern entertainment drew people away.
It focused on training apprentices, building venues, producing teaching materials, supporting veteran masters and promoting the art, both locally and abroad.
Since then, more than 200 young practitioners have completed training, and 20 public puppetry troupes have been formed.
Puppet-making workshops in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou pass down skills such as carving puppet heads from camphor wood, painting expressive faces, and assembling movable joints that bring the puppets to life.
In Zhangzhou, glove puppetry artist Yang Yazhou is from a five-generation puppetry family. He began carving puppet heads at age 9.
Each head takes roughly three days through dozens of steps — shaping, sanding, painting and dressing with costume, he told China News Service. His sister designs the garments; his brother performs.
In Xiamen, Zhuang Yanhong has dedicated more than four decades to glove puppetry, known locally as budaixi, or “palm theater.”
A provincial-level inheritor of the art, she started learning at the age of 10 from her father, puppetry master Zhuang Chenhua, while her mother made puppet heads and costumes.
Now in her 50s, Zhuang has performed in more than 30 countries and regions, winning the national Golden Monkey Award for best performance.
Since 2012, she has taught 17 students at the newly established puppetry department of the Xiamen Art School, guiding them through years of professional training.
She also teaches puppetry courses and gives free workshops at primary schools and the city’s children’s library.
Zhuang said she had “stepped from the bright stage into the quiet classroom” and that passing on the craft had become her mission.
Her research extends beyond performance. She restores puppet carving, embroidery and costume-making techniques that had been forgotten.
Zhuang also revived a long-lost embroidery method for dragon robes, combining gold and silk threads in raised stitching to create the texture of scales. One robe can take two weeks to complete.
The Fujian puppetry has also been promoted outside China.
Zhangzhou puppeteer Chen Lihui performed for nearly 200 students at Paint Branch Elementary School in Maryland, the United States, in 2019.
He made a small puppet bow, kick and wipe its hat as children cheered and applauded. After the show, students tried moving the puppets themselves.
In 2022, Chen gave a livestreamed performance for students in Oregon during a Fujian-US cultural exchange.
At the 7th China Quanzhou International Puppet Festival in December 2023, 35 troupes from 12 countries, including Spain, Russia, Italy, the Philippines and Indonesia, performed more than 80 shows.
Rod, glove, shadow and string puppetry styles were shared on the stage. Cooperation agreements were signed with international puppetry organizations to deepen exchange and protection efforts.
Dutch director Rob Bloemkolk told Xinhua news agency after attending the festival that he was struck by the “precision and energy” of the performances. He said that the combination of music, color and motion felt like living choreography.
In December 2024, as the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris reopened after restoration, the Zhangzhou Glove Puppetry Troupe performed a newly created adaptation of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” in four rural theaters in France.
“The art feels so alive and interactive,” Guo Xiaonan, a renowned Chinese stage director, told Xinhua. “Using glove puppetry to tell the story of ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ helps French audiences connect more easily with it.”
Despite renewed support, difficulties remain. Some old scripts and musical modes remain incomplete or lost.
Full-time puppeteers often depend on government subsidies or festival income. Traditional contexts like temple fairs that once hosted puppetry performances have dwindled. Many young people choose careers outside heritage arts.
Local governments, cultural bureaus and puppetry troupes continue to support the craft through training programs, overseas exchanges, digital adaptation and school courses.
The UNESCO-recognized safeguarding plan still guides these efforts. Apprentice programs now include both traditional skills and new media elements.
After each performance or class, Zhuang quietly winds the puppet strings, reboxes the puppet and greets audiences waiting backstage. At night, the routine persists: repairing puppets, rethreading strings, rehearsing movements until they appear natural.
“Even if the performance lasts only two minutes, it can connect the whole story,” she said. “It lets more people see the beauty of our local puppetry art.”
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