The Big Puppets of North Sichuan from Nanchong, Sichuan, are the world's only puppet art and the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. They are known as "the rare puppet art in the world and the crown of Chinese folk art".

From the panda captain at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea to the mechanical golden bull at the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Ox, the North Sichuan puppets have amazed the world time and time again and conveyed the confidence of Chinese culture.

　　Recently, Li Hongbo, deputy director of the office of the Sichuan (Nanchong) Great Puppet Theater and screenwriter of the North Sichuan Great Puppet Show, told the cover story that the Great Puppets of North Sichuan started from tradition, based on innovation, and succeeded in persevering.

From Yuanba Opera to the puppet art that astounds the world

　　The big puppet show in Sichuan, China, is the only big puppet art in the world.

In 2006, it was selected into the country's first batch of intangible cultural heritage lists.

　　"Throughout the art form of the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets, it has a history of more than 300 years. After ups and downs, generations of puppets have stepped forward and moved forward courageously." Li Hongbo talked about the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets with confidence and pride.

　　There are hundreds of puppet shows in the world, but the big puppets are unique to northern Sichuan.

The northern Sichuan puppet originated from Nanchong, Sichuan, and was active in Yilong County, Nanchong in the early days.

Li Hongbo introduced that the Chuanbei Great Puppet was originally a family art, and it was a family team.

300 years ago, in Shifo Township, Yilong County, there was a family known for playing big puppet shows-Li Jiaban, which is now the sixth generation.

Li Siyuan, a national non-hereditary man of the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets, studied opera at the age of 8, and has been dealing with the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets all his life.

In his early years, he walked through the villages in the vast northern Sichuan to participate in temple fairs.

Xichangyuanba is the best stage. The curtain is pulled, the gongs and drums are sounded, the actors come on stage, and the wonderful puppet show begins.

　　After the founding of New China, it gradually developed from a private troupe into a county puppet propaganda group, a county puppet theater troupe, a city puppet theater troupe, and a provincial puppet theater.

The Sichuan Province (Nanchong) Great Puppet Theater is the only inheritance unit of the Great Northern Sichuan Puppet Show. It is a professional art theater troupe integrating director, screenwriter, production and performance.

There are large-scale mythological puppet shows such as "Jade Lotus", "Ruby", "Three Beats of White Bone Spirit", singing and dancing "Umbrella Dance", "Changing Face", "Long Silk Dance", "Puppet Calligraphy", "A Thousand Miles of Repertoire" and many other repertoires.

He has participated in major international and national art events on behalf of Sichuan Province for many times, won many international and domestic awards, and has been commended as "National Cultural System Advanced Group" and "National Cultural Export Key Project".

　　The Soviet dramatist Obrazzov has appreciated the big puppet performance many times. In his drama theory work, he used special space to narrate and admire the puppet show in North Sichuan in detail, thinking it is "the rare puppet art in the world" The crown of Chinese folk art".

Let the puppet become a puppet with a "soul"

　　The puppet can be as agile as a real person, with unimaginable hardship behind it.

The 92-year-old Li Fahai dedicated his life to the big puppet shape and became a provincial non-genetic inheritor.

After research and development, Li Fahai, Hu Xinying, Xian Guanghui, Xu Xuexue, Zhao Qing, generations of puppet stylists have innovated materials to make the puppets light and flexible, saving time and effort.

First, the big puppet's facial features were moved, and then a braking mechanism was installed on the neck to make the head and neck rotate like a human.

Through the principle of leverage, the waist of the puppet can also move freely.

The innovation in the production of the big puppets will soon bring unlimited potential to performance innovation.

　　How is the puppet made?

A protagonist puppet, with 8-10 organs and 2-3 makers, will take at least half a month to complete.

An 80-minute drama "Legend of Dragon Gate", with 40 or 50 characters, and 7 production staff worked in a 40-square-meter small room for 16 months to complete.

　　"The inheritance and development of the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets is divided into two major systems, the performance system and the production system." Li Hongbo told the cover news reporter that the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets have developed to the present, with distinctive artistic characteristics, tall and flexible.

After a long period of artistic practice, the puppets are on the same stage, both fake and real, in an artistic style of fake and real.

The big puppets are vivid in shape, resembling real people, and their performances are vivid and delicate. They can dress and untie, brush sleeves and dust, blow fire and wax, smoke and drink tea, and have agile facial features and limbs. It is unique in performing myths, fairy tales, and stunts.

As for puppet making, it has been passed down for more than 300 years, and it has developed into a system of head, mouth, nose, eyes, shape, and hands.

　　Li Hongbo said that in the hearts of actors and stylists, puppets are puppets with an "artistic soul".

Visiting many countries to win the world's puppet art palace

　　In 1987, "Jade Lotus" was performed abroad as an exchange program of the Ministry of Culture. In this regard, the big puppets started a series of stunning journeys.

He has visited and performed in more than 40 countries and regions including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Singapore. Everywhere he went, he was amazed by the audience.

　　"A Thousand Miles Together" program was honored at the 2013 Chinese New Year TV Gala of the Ministry of Culture; in February 2018, in the "Beijing Eight Minutes" cultural performance at the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea, the North Sichuan puppet "Captain Panda" made a stunning appearance and won The world applauds; CCTV's big puppet scarecrow and big puppet mechanical golden ox come on stage to celebrate the Chinese New Year in the world.

　　The great puppets of northern Sichuan go to the world and aspire to the world's puppet art palace.

As a result, the Great Northern Sichuan Puppetry became the country's first batch of intangible cultural heritage, and Nanchong was identified as the host of the "International Puppet Art Week" by the UNESCO International Wooden Couplets Association. In October this year, the Art Week will be held again in Nanchong.

　　“Now the Great Northern Sichuan Puppets are in a state of orderly inheritance. In the theater, we have planned and arranged for young people to gradually move to a larger stage. Outside the theater, under the care of the Nanchong Municipal Party Committee and Government, it was co-founded with Nanchong Vocational and Technical College. At present, there are nearly 60 students in the Puppetry and Shadow Puppet Transmission Workshop. They are divided into performance classes and production classes.” Li Hongbo said that the Northern Sichuan Puppetry is the country’s first batch of intangible cultural heritage, and the next step is to spare no effort to promote the spread. The intangible cultural heritage of big puppets is in line with the market and the times.

　　Cover Journalist Xie Jie