Puppet King of Quynh

(Baonghean) -In the chill of the drizzle on an early spring afternoon, coming to the parish of Xuan An (Quynh Xuan-Quynh Luu), following the shepherd children, we seemed to be lost in an amusement park in a garden with beautifully decorated rockeries with miniature scenes: planting rice, rowing boats, pounding rice, fishing... so lifelike. When asked, we learned that it was the home of the "King of puppetry in Quynh" - Ho Van Than.

Born into a poor family, his father had to work as a servant, become an adopted son, and had a hard life, from farming, digging red rocks, raising shrimp, driving tractors, trucks... he did everything, but there was one thing that Mr. Than could not give up, which was his passion for puppetry. More than ten years ago, he joined a puppetry team that performed everywhere, but because of life, the members left the profession one by one, and the puppetry team was disbanded. Unable to perform anymore, Mr. Than missed the puppets, missed the performances so much, and to satisfy that longing, he came up with a way to make "automatic puppets" - so that he could control an entire puppet troupe by himself according to each scene that he had prepared.

Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once about those puppet troupes, we lingered at Mr. Than's house to watch the free "automatic puppet" performance for the villagers. Following the puppetry scenes taking place before our eyes, we seemed to be in the Northern Delta with the Lien Anh and Lien Chi singing Quan Ho folk songs together. Going to the mountainous region of the Northwest, letting our souls be carried away by the skillful dance steps of the Mong boys in the Khen dance, and enjoying the bamboo dance festival of the Thai boys and girls. Going to the Central Highlands with the singing and dancing of the wine festival flickering by the fire. Then watching the choirs, Western trumpet bands, and ethnic orchestras blending together to create joyful music. Seeing the peaceful life through the "countryside" scene depicting the life of farmers with daily tasks such as planting rice, plowing, herding buffalo, flying kites and animals such as ducks, chickens, buffaloes... all the movements of the puppets are very lively and similar to real-life characters: the scene of a musician playing the instrument, tapping the rhythm with his feet, nodding his head, and glancing at the audience; a Mong boy playing a flute, hopping next to a girl who is both charming and dancing with an umbrella; a buffalo walking and nodding... Viewers are even more amazed and surprised when dozens of puppets in the same scene, each one showing a different appearance and character, but the movements are rhythmic and in sync with each other, very lively. The scenes are performed one after another, bringing different experiences to the audience in admiration: Just like real life!



"Puppet King Ho Van Than" with puppets.

Mr. Than said that to have an automatic puppet set from the initial idea, he had to spend months carefully researching each character to prepare to buy raw materials such as: fabric, paint, wood... then mechanical details such as gear shafts... to make automatic puppets. He said: The most difficult step is the step from individual puppets, assembling them into each scene, having to make the movements of the puppets match each other and be lively. Sometimes it takes weeks to edit an out-of-sync movement of a puppet in a western trumpet ensemble, how to make the hand puppet press the trumpet keys, the feet beat the rhythm with the other puppets... For each scene, Mr. Than also finds a piece of music, or a song suitable for each scene, then records it on a CD and when performing, when the scene chooses the right piece of music, that song plays on the speaker.

Creating puppets and an entire set of automatic puppets requires skillful hands, an aesthetic sense, knowledge of electricity, mechanical engineering, and perseverance. Mr. Than has researched and used broken electric fan motors and homemade gears to create "engines" that operate both the puppets and each puppet. Taking advantage of his free time, or rainy days when he doesn't have to work in the fields, he takes out his tools and meticulously works: sewing each set of clothes, painting each fingernail, fixing each hair, shoe heel... to gradually perfect each puppet, adjusting and re-adjusting the puppet's movements to make them flexible and lively. Like that, month after month, year after year, he completes each puppet, creating each scene. Under his skillful hands, inanimate things that seemed to be thrown away have turned into beautiful and soulful characters such as a Quan Ho girl, a Thai girl, a Mong boy, a female singer, a musician, an old boatman, a water wheel, a rice mortar, a buffalo... Seeing his passion, someone asked him why he didn't take advantage of doing other things to earn some extra money to spend instead of being so absorbed in "childish things". He just smiled and said, this has seeped into his blood and flesh, if he likes it, he will do it, no one forces him. After nearly ten years of saving, up to now, Mr. Than has a "huge fortune" with 8 automatic puppet sets, hundreds of puppets of all kinds, and is known by everyone as the "King of puppets of Quynh"!

In addition to spending time and money to make puppets and puppet sets, Mr. Than also bought loudspeakers, sound and lighting equipment to bring these puppet sets to operate, serving free of charge to people inside and outside the commune on holidays, Tet, serving children, schools... He said: "There were times when it was drizzling and windy, but people still came to watch in large numbers, making my father and I forget all about the cold, telling each other to try to do well because there is nothing more joyful than serving our homeland".

Saying goodbye after the first Spring puppet show in Xuan An village, Mr. Than said that he is planning to invite more players, restore the puppetry game, perform plays such as "Afternoon Meeting", "Bao Cong Trial", "Bo Khong Bao Never Say"... which have high educational value, which he performed decades ago and stage more new plays to preserve a beauty, a unique traditional culture that is at risk of being increasingly lost and forgotten.

Duc Dung