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Pulling the strings

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The puppet figurine is among the exhibits of an ongoing show at the National Museum of China that features more than 300 puppets made by members of the Xu family from Zhangzhou, East China's Fujian province. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

For a long time, puppets were made about 20 centimeters tall, which suited small, street theaters. But Xu Zhuchu makes them between 30 and 50 cm, so that people can have a better view of the details.

Meanwhile, as traditional puppet shows move to bigger stages and even films, bigger puppets are a must.

When Xu Zhuchu took over the family studio, he inherited a repertoire of around 100 puppet characters including fairies and ghosts. Through the years, he has enriched the trove to between 500 and 600 characters.

Old-time artisans could hardly live on making puppets. They had to supplement their incomes with sculpting Buddhist figures for temples and making toys, as well as painting temple walls and applying lacquer to furniture.

And artisans incorporated the visual elements they saw in temples and on classic furniture into puppetry.

Xu Zhuchu has taken this a step further by creating new characters, after being inspired by other categories of traditional arts and crafts. To gain inspiration, he frequently visits markets and fairs where he sets up stands to sell puppets and toys.

Also, he keenly observes passers-by and those who make an impression on him ultimately become the "faces" of his works.

The puppets by Xu Zhuchu and his family are highly sought by puppet troupes in Zhangzhou and also in the neighboring city of Quanzhou, which boasts a rich tradition of marionette shows.

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