Global Times praises the beauty of Vietnamese culture through water puppetry

China's Global Times has praised the cultural beauty of Vietnam through water puppetry that has been passed down for thousands of years.

Water puppetry is one of the typical theatrical forms of Vietnamese national culture. (Source: Gom Chinh)

With the headline “‘Underwater fairy tales’ – the eternal theme that guides people towards goodness”, the article on the Global Times , a publication of the People’s Daily – the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of China, praised the cultural beauty of Vietnam through water puppetry that has been passed down for thousands of years.

At the beginning of the article, the author said that every evening, in front of the Thang Long Water Puppet Theater by Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi's Old Quarter, there are many tourists, including many tourists from all over the world, gathering here. They all have the same eager mood, waiting to see the upcoming water puppet show with respect for the quintessence of the Vietnamese nation that has been passed down for nearly a thousand years.

Tourists line up in front of the gate of Thang Long Water Puppet Theater.

The article describes that when the audience had settled down, along with the melodious sound of bamboo flutes and the rhythm of drums, what caught the audience's eyes was a small stage set up in the middle of a square pond about half a meter deep. When the lights in the theater turned on simultaneously, a brilliant green and yellow palace with dragon and cloud sculptures on the majestic eaves appeared on the water surface.

The brightly colored curtain embroidered with the sun, moon and stars was gently opened, then ancient warriors holding umbrellas and raising axes appeared on the stage, surrounded by princes and generals. On one side, a water dragon several meters long roared and breathed fire, the performance received continuous applause and cheers from the audience.

Water puppetry is affectionately called “Underwater Fairy Tales” by the locals. According to the author’s research, this art form has existed for about a thousand years. Water puppetry first appeared in Northern Vietnam, and by the Ly Dynasty in Vietnam, water puppetry had a relatively complete performance model and was extremely popular with the aristocracy.

Water puppetry is affectionately called “Fairy tales under water” by locals. (Source: Gom Chinh)

This art form has become an important part of the annual royal festivals. After being passed down from generation to generation by artisans, the water puppetry performance technique has been continuously enriched and gradually become an important cultural and artistic treasure of Vietnam.

The themes of Vietnamese water puppetry are very diverse, from classic performances that can be seen in historical and mythological stories such as “Fairy Dance”, “Dragon and Tiger Fight”, as well as “Dragon Boat Race” and “Celebrating a Bounty Harvest”…, reflecting the daily production life of the people. With the development of the times, water puppetry performances have also incorporated Western cultural elements and related plays such as “The Ugly Duckling” and “Snow White Princess”…, have been born.

However, according to the author of the article, whether it is a historical or modern legend, through the performing hands of the artists, the final content always revolves around themes that guide people to always do good, help others in times of trouble and work hard to have a better life.

Water puppetry artistically recreates the beautiful and peaceful rural scenes of Vietnam, while distilling peaceful and simple national nostalgia through the development of thousands of years of tradition.

Although puppetry exists in many countries, water puppetry exists only in Vietnam.

To this day, whether in the mountainous villages of the North or the port cities of the South, water puppet shows still exude an immortal artistic appeal.

The Vietnam Water Puppetry Theatre, Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City Water Puppetry Theatre are known as the “National Team Trio” of Vietnamese water puppetry. These three theatres perform year-round for the domestic people and foreign tourists.

In addition, many folk enthusiasts have spontaneously organized performances, especially in rural areas, water puppetry is an indispensable part of every Tet holiday and local festivals, soothing the souls of many children far from home when they return to visit their homeland. With the development of the times, performance venues have gradually shifted from ponds and lakes to places with more complete facilities.

In the old days, when it was still relatively primitive and backward, people often built Thuy Dinh in the middle of the pond to perform water puppetry. Just a curtain was needed to divide the pond into two and the landscapes such as mountains, rivers, forbidden gardens and palaces… would be designed according to the needs of the plot.

Water puppetry performers. (Source: Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre)

Today, many remote rural areas in Vietnam still preserve and conserve the Thuy Dinhs that have gone through many ups and downs of life. A Vietnamese scholar, when talking to the author of the article, said that although the era of rapid development has seen generations of Vietnamese people leave their homeland to work elsewhere, they never forget their homeland, they cannot forget every tree and blade of grass in their homeland.

Many people have made efforts to preserve and record elements of the old homeland life, as well as the villagers who protect Thuy Dinh and the folk artists who volunteer to teach water puppetry. They have let the nostalgia for their homeland, deeply rooted in the Vietnamese national sentiment, continue to flow through folk water puppetry performances.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/thoi-bao-hoan-cau-ca-ngoi-net-dep-van-hoa-viet-nam-qua-mua-roi-nuoc-294154.html