On the stage, an unusually tall "Wu Sheng" put on his appearance, waved his hands and shook his head, making facial makeup, which caused bursts of cheers from the audience. The child sitting in the front row opened his mouth wide, and the candied haws in his hand stopped in mid-air.
On the eve of the Spring Festival, lanterns are hung high in the living hall of Qingte Binhu Community in Laixi City, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, and they are full of joy. At the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects Entering the Community" event organized by the local folklore society, the "face-changing" puppets of the Lacey Puppet Art Troupe became the most dazzling "corner" in the eyes of community residents.
"Sister, how does the big puppet move?" After the performance, the children gathered around, holding the sleeves of the puppet and curiously asking this and that – this was the most fulfilling moment of Zhan Manman's grassroots performance, the sixth generation inheritor of Laixi Puppetry, a representative project of provincial intangible cultural heritage, and the head of Laixi Puppet Art Troupe.
"The reason why the big puppet can 'come alive' lies in these two sticks." Zhan Manman shook the wooden stick lightly, and the "Tiannu" puppet instantly "came alive" and waved her long sleeves to say hello.
At the event site, the troupe also "moved" a miniature version of the "Puppet Workshop". Seven or eight pairs of small hands holding carving knives and mallets danced up and down. After a while, images such as a tall horse with firecrackers on its tail and a New Year doll wearing a bellyband with the word "Fu" began to take shape. "Cultural rural areas not only allow everyone to watch the 'lively' performances, but also allow everyone to learn the 'knowledge' of making puppets." Zhan Manman's eyes stayed on the children.
Zhan Manman said that in order to adapt to the new characteristics and new requirements of the cultural life of the masses in the new era, promoting inheritance through innovation has become an important topic for Laixi Puppetry. "On the basis of inheriting traditional story plays such as "Three Strikes of White Bone Demons", we have developed new plays such as "Puppet Changing Face", "Flower Flowers and Full Moon", and "The Farmer and the Snake". At the same time, we boldly tried to combine puppets with modern cartoon and animation images, and launched a number of animation plays that children love."
Keeping integrity and innovating has also pushed Lacey Puppet onto a broader stage. Today, the troupe has traveled to Shandong, Beijing, Henan and other places, as well as to more than ten countries in Europe, America, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia.
"Guangming Daily" (Page 02, February 17, 2026)
