700 years of keeping the soul of water puppetry
Nguyen Xa water puppetry troupe has long been considered one of the important cradles of Vietnamese water puppetry art. Nguyen Xa water puppetry not only exists as a living heritage, but also continues to move with the modern pace of life.
When we visited the water pavilion of Nguyen Xa village on a day at the end of the year, People's Artist Nguyen Dinh Bay smiled kindly and welcomed guests. The story of the 700-year-old puppet troupe began, slowly like the atmosphere in this countryside.
According to him, for generations, Nguyen village - formerly belonging to old Thai Binh, now Dong Hung commune (Hung Yen) - had many different puppet troupes. Gradually, the puppet troupes merged into Nguyen village water puppet troupes, later known as Nguyen Xa water puppet troupes.
Right from the 1960s, the Nguyen Xa water puppet troupe affirmed its position when participating in puppet shows throughout the North in Thai Binh (old) and Hanoi. During the years of resistance against the US, the sound of puppet drums and laughter from the water pavilion once followed the puppet troupe to serve officers and soldiers of Military Region 3, bringing rare moments of relaxation amidst war bombs and bullets. When the country was at peace, the Nguyen Xa water puppet troupe continued to step out into the world, toured in the Soviet Union (old), Japan, France, Canada, and left its mark at many art festivals, including the Hue Festival.
Having gone through many ups and downs, the puppetry troupe still preserves hundreds of ancient puppets and many unique performances and plays. Hundreds of plays vividly reflect the cultural life of agricultural residents: From transplanting, piggybacking, herding ducks, to festival fun games such as wrestling, cockfighting, boat racing; along with religious rituals and excerpts of ancient cheo.
To create flexible and fun movements, it is not only a technical challenge, but also requires absolute harmony between the people behind the water curtain. The most typical performance of Nguyen Xa ward is "Running the five-way zither", where characters such as monks, nuns, and young masters move in the shape of stars on the water surface. Running, falling, and binding rings continuously create complex and expressive paths. Many artisans simultaneously have to take on many roles, swinging one hand, grabbing another hand to keep the rhythm for the whole stage, creating a rhythmic and lively overall.
According to People's Artist Nguyen Dinh Bay, what makes up the unique identity of Nguyen Xa water puppetry is the technique of string play. Unlike many puppet troupes that use poles, Nguyen Xa artisans control the puppetry with a system of strings hidden under the water.
The performer uses ropes up to 12m long to create complex movement rings. That is the secret of the profession passed down through many generations, requiring ingenuity, accuracy and incredible endurance.
To have a complete performance, artisans have to soak themselves in water for hours, in some places the water is deep to the neck, especially on cold winter days. They have to stand firm on the mud, because if they lose balance, the children can pull the performers to fall along. It's hard, but for people like Mr. Bay, water puppetry is not simply a livelihood, but a passion.
Behind the water lighting
Although old, even though each time going to the water is another time of fatigue, Mr. Bay still maintains his love for the puppets. For him, every time he sees the puppets move in front of the eager eyes of the audience, he sees himself becoming younger.
But behind the applause, shimmering lights and water surface, there are many worries of those who keep the profession. "Doing this profession with economics is difficult to follow. The biggest profit is joy, is spirit," Mr. Bay shared.
Currently, Nguyen Xa ward has more than 20 artisans, from 16 to 80 years old. Teaching has been focused on for many years, with training classes in the form of hands-on guidance to avoid technical errors. Although each performance can collect about 20 million VND, after deducting expenses, each artisan only receives about 300,000 VND. Water puppetry cannot therefore bring a stable income, forcing many people to do other jobs to cover their lives.
At the end of April 2025, the Nguyen Xa water pavilion was upgraded, with a total budget of more than 6.6 billion VND. In that spacious performance space, the sound of drums and puppets echoed again, attracting groups of visitors from many places to return. The familiar saying: "Hearing the sound of drums and puppets, even boiling rice is abandoned" seems to still have its value, partly explaining the irresistible appeal of water puppetry.
In particular, when the Government agreed to the policy of preparing a scientific dossier for the "Water Puppetry" intangible cultural heritage, proposing to be included in UNESCO's Lists, practice spaces such as Nguyen Xa water puppetry troupe continued to affirm the sustainable vitality of this folk art form. The fact that the heritage is preserved and transmitted in the community is an important basis for building dossiers, meeting UNESCO's requirements on the subjective role of the heritage practice community.
In 2018, Nguyen Xa water puppetry art was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. That title is not only a source of pride for local people, but also an affirmation of the value of a folk art form that has been and is being preserved with the enthusiasm of many generations of artisans.
It's a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit.
It's a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit.
It's a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit.
