布袋戲相傳發明於泉州，約三百年前，有梁炳麟者，屢試不第，一日偕友至九鯉仙公廟卜夢。仙公執其手，題曰：功名在掌上。夢醒，以為是必然會上榜，於是欣然赴考。及至發榜，豈知又名落孫山，廢然而歸。偶見鄰人操縱傀儡，略有所感，於是自雕木偶，以手代替絲線操弄，更見靈活，他藉稗官野史，編造戲文，演於鄉里中，以抒發其懷材不遇心情。不料震動遐邇，爭相聘演，後遂以此為業，而致巨富，始了悟仙公托夢之靈驗。
布袋戲起源於明朝，最初是由傀儡戲演變而來，到清朝時才逐漸成為偶戲中的重要戲種，清朝嘉慶年間，因演戲酬金便宜、表演技術高超，所以風糜於閩南一帶，漸漸成為中國南方傳統的木偶戲的主流，清朝末從泉州、漳州、潮州等地傳入我們台灣寶島，經過本土藝師長期孕育與衍化，發揚光大，並後代使人才輩出。布袋戲又可分為南管、北管、潮調三大派，不僅精緻地方民俗文化，並且與〝歌仔戲〞並稱為最具台灣本土文化的特色藝術戲曲。 |
Hand Puppet theater has its roots
in the wooden puppet tradition of South China,evolving
originally from string puppet theater.
It began in the Ming period (1368-1644), but only began
to be a major type of puppet theater in the Ching period
(1644-1911). Hand puppets are so called because their
movements and gestures are controlled entirely by the
puppetmaster's hand, which is inserted inside.
From the Chia-ching reign (1796-1820) of the Ching dynasty,
hand puppet theater became widely popular throught the
Fukien region thanks to the mobility and intricacy of
the puppets themseves, the low cost of organizing small
scale puppet performance, and the dazzling skill of puppetry
techniques.
Hand puppet theater came to Taiwan from Chuanchow, Changchow
and Chaochow in the late Chong period.
Its populality quickly spread untill almost the whole
island was saturated with puppet troupes, and in due course
a number of gifed puppetmasters emerged.
Puppet theater has long been a highly sophisticated element
of local folk culture, and together with Taiwaness folk
opera it has come to embody a cultural flavor that is
typically Taiwaness. |
