Holiday Performances:
During national legal holidays, there are more than 4 performances of “Quanzhou String Puppetry + Jinjiang Glove Puppetry” every day, as well as puppet operation learning experiences.
Indoor Projects:
The Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Hall mainly offers more than 30 intangible cultural heritage and folk custom experiences in three categories: interactive experience, scene punching, and viewing and appreciation.
Interactive Experience Category:
Jumping over the Fire (electronic flame), Bo Zhuangyuan (Mid-Autumn dice game), Throwing the圣杯 to Win the Turtle (taking the first place), Puppet Experience, Puppet Handicraft, Marionette Performance, Palm Puppet Performance, etc.
Scene Punching Category:
Tian Gong Sheng, Counting Palace Lanterns, Dragon Boat Race, Miniature Landscape of Anping Bridge, Duck Hunting on Water, Burning the Pagoda, Firewood Stove, Cooking Cakes, Xiao Gong, etc.
Free Viewing Category:
Why Quanzhou, The Great Beauty of Jinjiang, Wudian City, Aerial View of Wudian City, Anping Bridge, Duck Hunting, Suoluo Lian, etc.
Indoor Viewing Projects:
Among the four ancient civilizations, only our Chinese civilization has continued uninterruptedly. This is largely due to the ancestor-worshipping culture and gratitude culture of our Chinese nation, as well as the result of the working people’s worship of nature and continuous conquest of nature from ancient times to the present. Therefore, in the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall, you can see the simulation scenes of worshipping nature and sacrificing to heaven on the first and ninth days of the lunar month in the Quanzhou area, as well as the simulation scenes of inheriting the winter solstice custom of sacrificing to ancestors.
2. The coherent story of 22 world heritage site viewing lights in “Quanzhou: The World Maritime Trade Center of Song and Yuan China”.
There are 22 round ceiling lights in the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Hall. Each ceiling light takes the trendy Chinese style as an element and is designed in combination with 22 world heritage sites. Arranged and combined, they form a unique story starting from Wudian City and connecting 22 world heritage sites. This story tells the true portrayal of the ancestors of the Minnan people going out to sea to make a living.
3. 8 square intangible cultural heritage viewing lights and other round folk custom viewing lights in Quanzhou.
There are 8 square ceiling lights in the Quanzhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Hall. They are mainly designed with elements such as trendy Chinese style, Quanzhou world intangible cultural heritage, Quanzhou national intangible cultural heritage, and Quanzhou folk customs.
Indoor Performance Projects:
1. Marionette Performance, Quanzhou Marionette Opera (National Intangible Cultural Heritage)
Quanzhou Marionette Opera was anciently called “hanging string puppet”, “string play”, “wooden figure play”, etc. In Quanzhou and Minnan dialect areas, it is commonly known as “puppet play” and “Jiali play”. Some scholars call it “Quanzhou dialect puppet play”. Its origin is closely related to the ancient witch culture. It was originally “funeral music” and became a unique performing art in wedding and other festive occasions in the Han Dynasty. It moved south to Fujian with the gentry from the Central Plains during the Jin and Tang dynasties. According to documents such as “Hua Shu” written by Tan Qiao, a Taoist priest from Quanzhou in the late Tang and Five Dynasties, it was popular in the Quanzhou area at the latest during the late Tang and Five Dynasties. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Quanzhou’s social economy was extremely prosperous, and diverse cultures converged and flourished. There were many temples, and folk beliefs and folk activities such as praying for blessings, dispelling disasters, repaying gods, and exorcising evil spirits were extremely prosperous.
Quanzhou puppetry fully leverages its potential in witchcraft culture and its unique function of ‘communicating with gods and spirits’, closely integrating with religious rituals such as Taoism, becoming an indispensable part of life customs such as birth, aging, illness, and death. During the Ming Dynasty, Quanzhou puppetry had long-term exchanges and integration with various drama forms of the Song and Yuan dynasties, with mature and complete performance repertoires, music, singing styles, performance skills, and puppet figurine craftsmanship, becoming a part of the ‘Quanzhou Opera’ of the Song and Yuan Southern dramas, as recorded in historical books. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, Quanzhou puppet troupes flourished, and a class-based apprenticeship system was formed, with specialized workshops such as ‘Xi Lai Yi’ and ‘Zhou Mian Hao’ emerging for the production of puppet heads, costumes, helmets, and props. Starting from the middle of the Qing Dynasty, Quanzhou puppetry spread to Guangdong, Zhejiang, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, where there were settlements of Minnan people and overseas Chinese, especially playing a significant role in the formation of Taiwan’s folk culture and its main dialect (Minnan language, also known as ‘Holo language’ or ‘Hokkien language’). Quanzhou puppetry, with a thousand-year uninterrupted inheritance, has accumulated a rich collection of traditional repertoires, unique drama music ‘Puppet Tune’, and more than 300 traditional tunes including ‘Ya Jiao Gu’ and ‘Zheng Luo’, as well as a complete set of corresponding performance techniques; it has also developed a unique set of string manipulation skills – string rules, and a rich and exquisite set of performance techniques and complete performance regulations; at the same time, it possesses puppet head shapes with distinctive ‘Tang and Song styles’, exquisite carving, enameling, puppet structure, and costume helmet craftsmanship, making Quanzhou puppetry an outstanding representative of contemporary Chinese string puppet art. Hand puppet performance, Jinjiang cloth bag puppetry (national intangible cultural heritage), is an ancient form of puppetry known as ‘puppet show’ or ‘puppet child’, a form of opera where performers operate puppets to tell stories. Chinese puppetry originated in the Han Dynasty and saw new development and improvement in the Tang Dynasty, capable of performing singing and dancing plays with puppets. The Song Dynasty was an important period for the development of Chinese puppetry, with further maturation in puppet craftsmanship and manipulation skills. With the development of the social economy, puppetry became popular throughout the country during the Ming Dynasty, and it was particularly prosperous in the economically developed southern provinces, hence the saying ‘the south is good for puppetry’. After the Qing Dynasty, puppetry entered its heyday, not only with a wide range of popularity but also with an increasing number of vocal tunes, leading to the emergence of branches such as Liaoxi puppetry, Zhangzhou cloth bag puppetry, Quanzhou string puppetry, Jinjiang cloth bag puppetry, Shaoyang cloth bag puppetry, Gaozhou puppetry, Chaozhou iron branch puppetry, Sichuan big puppetry, Shiqian puppetry, Yang string puppetry, Tai Shun medicine-fired puppetry, and Lingao human puppetry.
In terms of performance forms, they can be generally summarized into five types: marionettes, rod puppets, glove puppets, iron rod puppets, and pyrotechnic puppets. Puppet art is exquisitely beautiful and breathtaking. Besides the wonderful performances of the artists, the perfect puppet modeling art and operating equipment are also important aspects that attract a large number of audiences. The modeling art focuses on the carving and design of puppets.
Generally speaking, marionettes are relatively tall, mostly about 2.2 chi. Rod puppets are taller than marionettes, usually about 3 chi in height. Glove puppets are small in shape, only about 7 cun. They are performed by the artist’s two hands holding them up, and the operating skills are special, different from marionettes and rod puppets. Jinjiang glove puppet show, namely the southern style glove puppet show, refers to the palm puppet show in Quanzhou area. In July 1951, the southern Fujian glove puppet show was officially named palm puppet show, which is a rare genre in Chinese puppet shows. The southern style glove puppet show is popular in southern Fujian. Its origin can be traced back to the historical records in “Records of Miscellaneous Morsels” in the Jin Dynasty, “Huashu” in the Five Dynasties, and “New Year’s Day in the Late Song Dynasty”. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty was the period of the rise and development of the southern style glove puppet show. According to folk legends and “General History of Taiwan”, the glove puppet show originated during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, and its founder was Liang Binglin, who was later honored as the “champion of opera”. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the performances of glove puppet shows in Jinjiang and other places were prosperous and spread to Taiwan. At the same time, famous artists such as Li Kecha emerged. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China, some famous glove puppet show troupes in various counties under Quanzhou emerged one after another, such as the “Five Tiger Troupes” in southern Fujian during the Tongzhi and Guangxu periods of the Qing Dynasty. During the Republic of China, glove puppet show troupes in Anxi, Huian and other places were almost everywhere in the whole county. However, on the eve of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, due to the economic decline, the glove puppet show troupes in various counties under Quanzhou were in a difficult situation. The southern style glove puppet show has the characteristics of absorbing all kinds of elements and learning from others’ strong points, with obvious regional cultural characteristics. It has a unique artistic style, a detailed division of roles, vividly carved puppet heads, delicate performances and vivid actions, and is deeply loved by the vast number of audiences. 3: The Anhai Suoluo Lian Lotus Picking Custom during the Dragon Boat Festival (National Intangible Cultural Heritage) “Suoluo Lian”, also known as “Lotus Picking”, is a folk activity of the people in Anhai Town, Jinjiang City, Fujian Province, to ward off disasters and pray for health and safety. The “Suoluo Lian” in Anhai originated from an ancient folk custom in the Central Plains region and was very popular in the early Qing Dynasty. In the mid and late Qing Dynasty, this activity was closely combined with the Chinese nation’s worship of the dragon totem, and the time was changed to the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year. Nowadays, the “Suoluo Lian” is well preserved in Anhai Town and still plays an important role in folk life. When the “Suoluo Lian” is held, people carry out the statue of the Dragon King’s head enshrined, burn incense and kowtow, and walk through the streets and alleys. The whole procession is led by a drunken man wearing a Qing soldier’s hat and holding a long pole with an artemisia flag in his hand. On both sides of the team playing gongs, drums and wind instruments are the “pavement soldiers” carrying raw pig feet, straw sandals and urine pot wine on their shoulders and beating broken gongs, and the flower women dressed as men with black cloth wrapped around their heads, wearing red clothes and red trousers, carrying flower baskets in their hands and embroidered shoes on their feet.Upon arriving at each household, the flag bearer, in a state of frenzy, rushes into the hall, waving the mugwort flag to sweep the beams and recites blessings such as ‘The Dragon God gathers lotus, bringing prosperity and great fortune.’
After dancing with the flag bearer, a man dressed as a flower granny presents flowers to the homeowner, symbolizing the Dragon King’s bestowal of fortune and auspiciousness. The homeowner reciprocates with a red envelope in gratitude. In addition, on this day, families in Anhai town also engage in activities such as ‘frying tu’ to mend the sky, making zongzi, and inserting pine and mugwort at the door. The ‘Suoluo’ custom actively enriches the cultural life of the people and promotes cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, holding significant practical importance. 4: VR Mixed Reality Imaging Technology, Jinjiang Dragon Boat Festival’s Anhai Water Duck Catching (Quanzhou City Intangible Cultural Heritage) The water ‘duck catching,’ also known as ‘water duck grabbing,’ is a water sports competition held during the Dragon Boat Festival in the ancient town of Anhai, with a history of over 300 years. It is said to have evolved from Zheng Chenggong’s naval training exercises, testing participants’ physical strength, perseverance, and skill, making it a challenging and entertaining sporting activity. Records of water ‘duck catching’ date back to the Tang Dynasty, known as ‘shooting ducks,’ a court game. According to ‘History of the Five Dynasties · Tang Annals,’ it is recorded: ‘In the third year of Tongguang (923-925 AD), ducks were shot at Guobo.’ Similarly, ‘Jin Annals’ records: ‘In the third year of Kaiyun (944-946 AD), ducks were shot at Banqiao.’ Additionally, ‘The Complete Tang Poems · Imperial Hunt’ includes a quatrain by Wang Jian: ‘Green hills encircle the Phoenix City’s head, with the Chan River dividing into the imperial ditch. The newly taught insiders only shoot ducks, forever following the emperor’s eastern tour.’ Zheng Chenggong, well-versed in literature, was inspired by the ancient ‘shooting ducks’ and ingeniously applied it to train his navy, thereby toughening his soldiers’ spirit and courage. In his time, the national hero Zheng Chenggong, as the Lord of the Country, bore the heavy responsibility of resisting the Qing and restoring the Ming dynasty. Amidst a crisis where his relatives and some beloved generals defected to the Qing court, he retreated to the coastal areas that nurtured him since childhood, Anhai, Dongshi, and Shihmen, to station and train troops for a comeback. Zheng Chenggong’s army built a solid city wall in Dongshi’s Baisha, where civilians and soldiers fought valiantly, but still could not withstand the powerful offensive of the Qing army. Thus, they decided to recover Taiwan and establish a long-term base for resisting the Qing. Most of Zheng Chenggong’s troops were northern soldiers unaccustomed to naval warfare and water, unable to even take care of themselves on a warship, let alone fight. To train his soldiers in naval combat and enhance their water fighting capabilities, Zheng Chenggong created an effective training method, one of which was an entertaining method of holding a competition called ‘Water Duck Catching’ every year during the Dragon Boat Festival, which eventually became a folk custom of the ancient town of Anhai during the Dragon Boat Festival.The Anping Bridge has a wide water area, making it a natural and ideal venue for the duck-catching activity. The organizer horizontally places a bamboo pole or Chinese fir about 8 meters long on the piers of the Anping Bridge or on a boat. The bamboo pole is about 3 meters above the water surface, and at the end, a cage with a white duck inside is hung. Grease is smeared on the bamboo pole to increase the difficulty.
When the competition starts, participants, encouraged by the crowd, carefully walk barefoot across the slippery bamboo pole. Whoever can reach the end and retrieve the duck from the cage wins the challenge, and the duck they obtain becomes the prize. This activity tests the participants’ swimming skills and balance, integrating fitness, adventure, and entertainment, and is highly popular among people. The duck-catching activity preserves the original flavor of the ancient folk Dragon Boat Festival in a relatively complete manner. It is a folk activity jointly created and passed down from generation to generation by the people in southern Fujian. It has a unique character and rich connotations, reflecting the distinct characteristics of cultural exchanges between the north and south of the Chinese nation. 5. The Mid-Autumn Festival custom of burning ‘Tazai’ in Anhai (a municipal intangible cultural heritage in Jinjiang) Legend has it that in the Yuan Dynasty, a general camp of Yuan soldiers was established in Gutingpu, Jiudu (now part of Anhai) in southern Quanzhou, governing the soldiers stationed in each village. At that time, every three households were required to support one Yuan soldier, and they could only share one knife. There was a well every five li, and the people were extremely distressed. To resist the brutality of the Yuan soldiers, the common people agreed to build a tower on the ancient pavilion on the Mid-Autumn night, giving commands to southern Quanzhou. Seeing the fire as a signal, they all killed the Yuan soldiers simultaneously. Finally, all the Yuan soldiers were killed overnight. To commemorate this historical event, people hold the activity of burning ‘Tazai’ every Mid-Autumn Festival, and it has become a custom passed down from generation to generation. Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, children would gather bricks, tiles, and dry firewood. Then, they would stack ‘Tazai’ of different sizes in the open space in front of or behind their houses. On the Mid-Autumn night, people light the firewood placed inside the tower, and the fire spits out vigorously from the gaps between the tiles. When the fire burns until the bricks are hot and the tiles are red, it is very spectacular, and the festive atmosphere is extremely strong. The above is just a legend. Wang Zhan, a gold-medal tour guide in Quanzhou, believes that before the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month is the harvest season. In the agricultural society, burning ‘Tazai’ carried people’s good wishes. No matter what the harvest was like this year, people hoped for a bumper harvest in the coming year to support their families. At the same time, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, when relatives gather to enjoy the moon, it is a time to reward themselves. After a delicious dinner, people believe that burning ‘Tazai’ at night can also ward off evil and get rid of bad luck from before. This is purely Wang Zhan’s personal opinion. Activities undertaken by the museum: 1. Research and study activities. The museum can receive research and study activities. Optional research and study topics include: Quanzhou culture research (special topic research), Quanzhou intangible cultural heritage research (puppet making, bead embroidery, golden and cyan embroidery, etc.), Jinjiang experience research, Wudian City historical and cultural research, etc. The museum is equipped with professional research and study lecturers and tutors.Our museum is capable of planning and hosting a variety of group activities, providing a comprehensive solution that includes catering, accommodation, transportation, tourism, and inspection services. Open all year round from 09:00 to 21:00.
