Traditional cultural of Vietnam: Water puppetry

Traditional puppet characters

Puppetry is a traditional art form closely connected with the long-standing spiritual life of the Vietnamese people.
Especially, water puppetry art that originated in the Red River Delta and midland areas in the North of Vietnam has a closed connection with the material and spiritual life of people in water-cultivated areas such as Vietnam.

Puppeteer controls the puppet

Water puppetry art in Vietnam has dated back for nearly 1,000 years. The stage was always on natural ponds but they have moved indoors now. The puppets are made of light-wood and are manipulated from a room behind the stage through long bamboo poles and strings that are hidden under the water surface. To control the puppets, the puppeteers have to stand waist-deep in water.

Boats racing festival

Because the stage is water surface; moreover, it is separated with manipulation room by a rattan curtain; the audiences can not see the puppeteers but the performance of puppets. One special thing in water puppetry art is the actions of puppets do not only depend on pole-and-string apparatus but also on the force of water as well as the system of rudders and floats in a "controlling machine" of the puppets.

Water puppet show in Hanoi

Vietnamese traditional culture was expressed through folk songs, idioms, and literature...

Contact information by travel Vietnam