An exhibition of more than fifty traditional Chinese puppets and shadow figures is currently on view through June 20 at the China Institute galleries in New York. The exhibition is organized under the aegis of the Center for Puppetry Arts, which was founded in 1978 to promote puppetry as a performance and visual art form, and features over 175 figures in its permanent collection in Atlanta, Georgia. For the New York exhibition, guest curator Roberta Helmer Stalberg has assembled puppets from both past and present, drawn from Chinese public institutions as well as diverse private collections in the United States.
Chinese puppetry is an ancient art rooted in prehistory. In the exhibition catalogue, Puppetry of China (Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta, Georgia, 1984), Ms. Stalberg presents a brief informative history of the art form. Written records of it are extremely rare until the twelfth century A.D., and even then the descriptions remain vague. One popular legend ascribes the invention of puppetry to a craftsman named Master Yan, said to have lived about 1000 B.C., who was able to construct puppets that had amazingly lifelike qualities of movement. When the craftsman was called to perform before the king, however, his figure winked so provocatively at one of the royal concubines that the king ordered the performer put to death. The craftsman then took apart his puppet before the astonished king, revealing its ingenious inner workings and thus sparing his own life.
Ms. Stalberg writes, "The origins of puppetry can probably be traced to religious ceremonies in which the image of deity or a spirit was animated by a shaman for spiritual guidance, protection, or to bring good fortune." Early Chinese written documents describe funerary figures that were recently realistic in their movements in song and dance. In the spring of 1979 such a figure was unearthed in Laixi County, Shandong Province. "Found in a tomb dating to the year 107 B.C.," Ms. Stalberg describes, "the figure is constructed of thirteen main strips of wood jointed to permit movement of knees, shoulders, and waist so that the figure can sit, kneel, or stand." When used in the shamanistic funeral ritual, such figures appeared to assume the soul of the deceased. In this context a popular legend records that in the second century B.C. Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, heartbroken by the death of his wife, searched for a way to bring her back to life. One of the emperor's subjects set up a lantern and from behind a gauze curtain caused the dead wife's image to appear. This is said to be the origin of shadow figures in China.
With the growth of popular entertainment, puppets moved from funeral rituals to less somber settings. By the sixth century the figures were used in acrobatic skits and popular stories in marketplaces and temple fairs. Throughout most of its history puppetry also served an important social function in transmitting elements of Chinese classical culture to a largely uneducated population. Through this medium generations of Chinese became familiar with the legendary figures of history and literature, and those who never had the opportunity to visit the imperial capital were able to witness vicariously the events taking place in the imperial household.
For this purpose, elaborately carved and ornately painted stages, such as the magnificent example featured in this exhibit, were sometimes constructed to resemble household interiors or temple fronts, while at other times makeshift stages were assembled on short notice using simple
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