Zhangzhou puppet head carving

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Zhangzhou puppet head carving

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Item No.: 343

Project No.: Ⅶ - 44

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Fujian Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Protected by: Zhangzhou Zhuchu Puppet Art Museum

Brief introduction of Zhangzhou puppet head carving:

Applicant: Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province

Zhangzhou puppet head carving is a special skill in the production of puppet props. It belongs to folk arts and crafts, mainly distributed in Zhangzhou City, Xiamen City, Quanzhou City and surrounding areas in Fujian Province.

The overall modeling of Zhangzhou puppet includes head, limbs, clothing, helmet and so on. The carving of puppet head only refers to the modeling of head. As the head sculpture of characters on the stage of traditional Chinese opera, it pays great attention to the characterization of characters. Exaggerated modeling, rich expression and typed processing are the common characteristics of Zhangzhou puppet head sculpture. This sculpture has always been handed down from master to apprentice, and mainly in the way of family inheritance, has been handed down without interruption.

Now the representative inheritor of Zhangzhou puppet head carving is Xu zhuchu. He has been an artist for more than half a century, inheriting the excellent carving techniques of his ancestors, and can innovate and develop to form his own unique style. He designed more than 600 kinds of opera characters, including Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo and Chou. Among them, there are not only famous actors in traditional dramas, but also gods and monsters in myths and legends. All of them have different facial makeup, which are frank, delicate, beautiful, and vivid. They are known as "Oriental Art Treasures".

Xu zhuchu's puppets are commonly known as "northern puppets". Their techniques are derived from the style of northern Han Opera. They emphasize the expressionism and personality of puppet drama, pay attention to the expression of inner expression and personality, and emphasize "writing spirit with form". Therefore, before falling the sword, he always has to study carefully, carefully figure out the life experience, identity, character, likes and dislikes of the characters, and only when he is mature can he cut the sword Powerful, both in form and spirit, full of charm.

Puppet shows in Southern Fujian have a wide social mass base, and the plastic arts of puppet heads have gained a deep foundation for development. The carving art of puppet head is closely related to traditional opera. In the situation of the decline of opera performance, the inheritance of puppet head carving technology also encountered problems: if you stick to the opera stage, puppet head carving can only go to silence with the opera; if you leave the opera stage, puppet head carving can only become a simple ornamental, and many living cultures in its traditional skills will be lost. At present, Zhangzhou puppet head carving is facing this situation, which needs the attention of relevant parties.