Vietnamese water puppets

The 1,000-year-old Vietnamese water puppetry (Múa rối nước) is one of the most special art forms in the world. It originated in the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam in the 11th century. The farmers in the region, while being free from the harvests, spent their time carving the wooden puppets and performing water puppet shows at the communal ponds to celebrate the festivals.

The puppets are made of wood and painted for waterproofing. During performances, the puppets are controlled through a pole-and-string apparatus concealed by the pond water. The puppeteers stand in waist-deep water behind the rattan curtain. The characters in a puppet show can be heroic, legendary or mythic, but most are ordinary peasant characters living at the villages in northern Vietnam.

The water puppet shows have been performed in many countries and highly appreciated everywhere because of its specialty. Some puppeteers said that it was an unpleasant experience when standing in the extremely cold water, but seeing the joys and applause from the audience, they have forgotten it and felt very happy and proud of their traditional art. They have to wear nylon clothes when standing in the water to control the puppets. However, at the end of the show, they appear at the water stage to wave good bye to the audience, with their upper part wearing Vietnamese traditional dress while still standing in the water.

There is an artist in Hanoi, who works at the Thăng Long Water Puppet Troupe. He invested his money in building a small factory and employed local craftsmen for making 1,000 water puppets, because of his passion for this art form and his wish to preserve it for the next generations. His puppets have been displayed at the exhibitions in Vietnam and abroad.

I have seen the water puppet show more than 10 times at the Thăng Long Water Puppet Theater in Hanoi. The first time I came there with a Singaporean engineer in my company and we sat very close to the stage. The Singaporean man insisted that the water puppets were controlled by a computer system, and didn't believe when I said there were the artists behind the curtain. Then I saw how surprised he was when the puppeteers came out from the curtain at the end of the show. I also enjoyed watching how my foreign friends and tourists were impressed by the show, not only applauded, some even stood up and waved back to the artists with their admiration.

The photos in this blog were taken at the Thăng Long Water Puppet Theater, the Museum of Ethnology, the Thành Chương's Viet Palace (35km from Hanoi's center) and 6 souvenir shops in Hanoi. Some of these happy puppets are on sale to foreign tourists in the Old Quarter. For a long time, there was only one theater in Hanoi that performed this water puppet show for the tourists. Recently I read that two new water puppet theaters were also open in Huế and HCMC (Sài Gòn). If so, it's easy for tourists to see this show in 3 cities of Vietnam.

Múa rối nước

Múa rối là nghệ thuật giễu nhại đặc trưng của nhiều dân tộc châu Á, nhưng múa rối nước thì chỉ có duy nhất ở Việt Nam. Phát triển vào thời Lý, thời Trần, Vua Trần Nhân Tông cho rằng rối nước không hợp với nghệ thuật cung đình, nên không cho biểu diễn ở trong cung. Rối nước ra ngoài nhân gian, bừng nở sức sống trong văn hoá dân gian Việt Nam. Nghệ thuật rối nước trở nên huyền diệu khi các nghệ sĩ biết kết hợp giữa các động tác khô cứng của con rối gỗ với sự mềm mại, huyền ảo của mặt nước.

Chú Tễu

Tễu là con rối quan trọng nhất. Tễu là linh hồn của rối nước, là cầu nối giữa người biểu diễn và người xem. Trải qua nhiều năm, người Việt Nam từ chốn cung đình cho đến các làng mạc nông nghiệp nghèo nhất, ai ai cũng yêu mến chú Tễu.

Tễu được làm to hơn tất cả các con rối khác, mặc dù nếu dựa vào cách để tóc trái đào của chú thì Tễu mới chỉ khoảng 7, 8 tuổi. Chú Tễu thân hình tròn trĩnh, da trắng hồng và lúc nào cũng tươi cười. Chú đóng khố để lộ bộ ngực và bụng phệ. Tay chú vung vẩy, cái đầu quay nghiêng quay ngửa mỗi khi chú trêu chọc khán giả.

Trong chữ Nôm, Tễu có nghĩa là tiếng cười. Tễu là nhân vật táo bạo, luôn luôn diễu cợt, chế nhạo. Trong các vở diễn, Tễu là người bình luận, người kể chuyện và là người chỉ trích quan lại tham nhũng.

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