It's believed that puppetry is one of humandkind's most ancient performing arts, some forms dating back almost 3,000 years. Today a variety of puppetry arts is performed in many nations and with variation in technique, material, esthetics, and themes. But they can be classified into main two categories: Dry puppetry, preformed in many countries worldwide, and water puppetry - performed only in Vietnam and an important part of Vietnamese culture.
It is said that Viet culture is at its heart a "rice-paddy culture," because the ancestors of today's Vietnamese began cultivating rice thousand of yours ago in the Red River Delta in the north of the country. And it's believed that these rice farmers were the ones who created this artful, entertaining water puppetry because between their two annual rice crops they often had to wait a couple of months before planting again, and during the raining season their rice fields were often flooded. To entertain themselves during these fallow months, they found a way to utilize ponds and small lakes as performing stages. Thus was born a traditional art form - múa rối nước, translated as "making puppets dance on water" - that was already performed quite commonly almost a thousand years ago in what became the cradle of Viet culture.
Today this tradition is still well conserved in the countryside. In the middle of a pond they build a little temple-like pavilion where the artists stand behind a bamboo curtain to control the water puppets via a stick-and-string system. The puppets are often made from light timber such fig wood, which is light and durable enough to float well on the water's surface. In some countryside villages, these puppet performances are held once in a year during the village festival, though some cities these days also have permanent venues such as the 51-year-old Thang Long Water Puppet Theater (above) in which performances are staged year-round.
The stories told tend to mostly be about harvests, fishing, festivals, folklore, and other themes of daily living and tradition in rural Vietnam, accompanied by singing and the music of bamboo flutes, horns, drums, traditional zithers, wooden bells, cymbals, and gongs.
If you go to Vietnam, attending a performance - whether at one of these theaters or even better arranged by a tour operator in a traditional village setting as it was originallyo meant - this art form is a delightful look into an ancient Viet cultural tradition that will certainly enrich your Vietnam holiday.
Comments