Tradition VS Puppet performance

This month (Gregorian month from 10 August to 7 September) is a traditional Chinese Festival known as the Lunar Seventh Month (aka Hungry Ghosts Festivals or in Chinese, better known as 鬼节). On the 14th (Southern Chinese belief) or 15th day of the Seventh Month, this day is known as Zhongyuan Jie 中元节 by the Taoists or Yulanpen Jie 盂兰盆节 (Ullambana) by the Buddhists. As had been reported earlier, the Teochew rod puppet performance had already begun since the first day of the Seventh Month, so be sure to expect more performances (Hokkien and Henghua marionette) for the whole of this month! Stay tuned for more updates... 



Source: http://pic.pimg.tw/miqlin66/1188071878.jpg

Teochew Rod Puppet performance at Chee Chung Huay

Chinatownboy informed me that there would be a Teochew Rod puppet performance at Chee Chung Huay on 10 August (first day of the Seventh Lunar month). As I have never seen one in real life, I decided to have a look.

The performance by Sin Sai Bao Feng troupe (新赛宝丰班):

A closeup of the rod puppets (dan and sheng):  

Notice that the puppeteers manipulating the puppets were not singing. Like some of the glove puppet performances that I had seen, 'voices' of the puppets are created by other performers backstage. This is different from the string puppet performances that we have seen so far.

A glimpse on the backstage (an ensemble of performers and musicians is less seen in street performances):

  

                                                        A video clip of the performance (note the fast rhythmic beatat 00:00:30 and see comment below):

A followup of the glove puppet performance at Central's River Promenade

A followup of the glove puppet performance (in Teochew) at Central's River Promenade last Wednesday (21 July) that did attract some curious crowd, including tourists who took a few snapshots as well. Here are some pictures:

 

A closeup on the glove puppets:

 Initially thought there were subtitles, but it was more of a synopsis of the performance: 

 

Puppet performance in conjunction with Singapore Food Festival

In conjunction with the Singapore Food Festival 2010 (16-25 July), there will be string and glove puppet performances. Visitors can munch to their hearts' content while enjoying the puppet performances. 

String Puppets 提线木偶
Venue: Merlion Park
Time: -7.30pm to 8.00pm
          -8.30pm to 9.00pm 

Language:Hokkien, with English synopsis 

Hand Puppets 布袋戏 
Venue: Central's River Promenade
Time: -8.00pm to 8.30pm
          -9.00pm to 9.30pm 
Language:Teochew, with English synopsis

Information and pictures from http://singaporefoodfestival.com.sg/streetsnacks.php

Marionette Performance in celebration of Zhang Tianshi's birthday

Was a little worried that the performance would be affected by the heavy downpour earlier but fortunately, the rain stopped when the performance began at 5pm. It was staged in front of a house (along Hougang St 21) where the owner had requested for the marionette performance and religious ritual in celebration of Zhang Tianshi's (张天师) birthday.

Notice the ritual conducted by Taoist priests behind the stage

A closer look at the ritual

Worship of Marshall Tian (田都元帅) near entrance of the house

During the break, I met Master Li of Hian Eng Daoist (显应道坛) for the first time. Master Li is actively involved in the Taoist scene in Singapore as well as China, UK. The performance ended at about 9pm when the ritual had also come to an end. 

The Legend of Tian Du Yuan Shuai 田都元帅

Perhaps, the one Deity who comes to mind when we talk about Chinese Marionette Theatre, it must be Tian Du Yuan Shuai 田都元帅. There are many different threads and tales about Tian Du Yuan Shuai and his involvement with the Chinese Opera and Marionette.

Professor Kenneth Dean did a detailed study on the Chinese temples in the Putian Plains, Fujian, China, and with them, the Chinese Marionette Theatre. Below is a teaser to his full length DVD that tells a little about Tian Du Yuan Shuai.

Bored in Heaven teaser from Image Fatale on Vimeo.

Mosquito bites leg? You are wrong..

Sorry folks, I know I have not been updating..but had a good chat with Singapore's very own historian painter Marcus Lim http://www.marcuslim.com/ and he corrected my (and a lot of people) misconception of the term "Mang Ga Ka"(referring to the Balestier area, including Bendemeer area).

That's what Marcus said: 
The name actually means "under the jackfruit tree". The Balestier area used to be home to Whampoa (Mr. Hoo Ah Kay) who owns Nam Seng Garden (南生花园) and it is in that villa where many fruit trees, especially jackfruit trees, were grown.

In the old days, the locals who are mostly illiterate would use physical landmarks as place names, thus this place (referring to Balestier/Bendemeer area) is named after that.

 

As explained by Marcus, "Mang ga" refers to jackfruit, so "Mang Ga ka" means "under the jackfruit tree" ("ka" means leg, so it has the connotation of below the jackfruit tree). This cleared my misconception of the term after so many years...argh..stop thinking Bendemeer/Balestier area is a place where people get bitten by mosquitoes ok..

Picture by Marcus of where the location of Whampoa Gardens is, later on identified as Bendemeer House:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2818155&id=60073512572