Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 13:23:00 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From: Northwest Puppet Center <nwpuppet-AT-earthlink.net>
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: [Puptcrit] Cultural Revolution Puppetry


Hi Darlene and other critters,

I noticed the discussion of puppetry in China during the cultural revolution and thought I would write a couple things.  First Li Tian Lu (I use the "pinyin" system for romanization and can't remember the Taiwan system of spelling) was working in Taiwan so did not have any direct impact from the Cultural Revolution.  He was working during the time of Japanese occupation but that is another interesting historic period.  

Li Tian Lu's ancestral town was Quanzhou and he asked his sons to study marionettes in their ancestral hometown style.  They ended up studying under Huang Yi Que who is now nearly 80 and has been working in puppet theatre since he was a kid so he was active before, during and after the Cultural Revolution.  There are several examples of Cultural Revolution era marionettes at the Quanzhou Marionette Theater which Mr. Huang worked at before officially retiring a few years ago.  I'll try to dig up a picture I took of two soldier marionettes on a scale motorcycle with sidecar.  If I have time to find it, I'll email it over.  It is really great and typical of the work being done in those days.

My grandfather-in-law, Yang Shen who was a famous hand-puppeteer, was killed during the cultural revolution.  My father-in-law, Yang Feng, did not like to talk openly about political matters.  I think the Cultural Revolution was such an intense period that many people still do not feel comfortable publicly sharing their stories.  There is an official apology/memorial in Beijing which has the names of artists who were wrongly killed during those years, including Yang Shen.  

Prior to the Cultural Revolution, many of the countries top artists were asked to move to Beijing in an attempt to make the capital not just the center of politics but also to make it a national center of culture.  Yang Shen was asked to move there but refused because his wife didn't (and still doesn't) speak Mandarin (the national language) and only speaks the local dialect (Southern Fujian which is also spoken by some in Taiwan so also called Taiwanese sometimes).  Later when the Cultural Revolution was going on, I think many of the artists who moved to Beijing were able to survive.  I am not sure whether some politicians who valued the arts had some advance knowledge about the approaching chaos and were trying to save artists or whether it was a coincidence.

The Chinese goverment found puppetry valuable in building ties with USSR after Obratsav visited and wrote his book about Chinese puppets.  Puppetry was part of the first cultural exchange between P.R. of China and USSR.  Later, puppetry was also part of the first cultural exchange between PRC and USSR.  But I degress...  One interesting development during the cultural revolution is that technical demands of the changing repertoire required puppet builders to invent many new puppet controls and mechanisms.  Tying in with the other topic of types of puppeteers, there are puppet builders and puppeteers who do not often do the other role.  Many of the most exceptional puppeteers in China also do some puppet making or at least need to adapt the puppets that are made by others.

If you have any specific questions, I can try to help more.  You can email off-list if you want.  Look forward to reading your work.  Please let us all know when you are done.

Best regards,

Dmitri Carter



Northwest Puppet Center
9123 - 15th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98115-3111

tel:  206 523 2579
fax:  206 523 8078

http://www.nwpuppet.org
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