Thailand, known formerly as Siam, has a long history of puppetry tradition. The most renowned genres of puppetry include rod puppetry, hun krabok, hun luang and hun lakhon lek, and shadow puppetry nang talung and nang yai.
Many believe that there was puppetry in Thailand as early as the eleventh century; yet, according to the records, the earliest puppet shows in Thailand appeared in the royal court in the 17th century, and became popular at the end of the 18th century. Puppetry gradually vanished from the stage after the Second World War, especially in the 1940s when the government banned any non-local Thai cultures. Influenced by Chinese culture, puppetry was also deeply challenged. It was not until the end of the 20th century that puppet traditions were slowly revived.
Hun Krabok first appeared in the late 19th century, during the regime of Rama V. It is influenced by the puppet tradition in Hainan, China. Puppets are 50 centimeters tall, and the bodies are made of bamboo, covered by glove puppet-like costumes. Hun luang (also known as hun yai) are large-sized rod puppetry. Puppets’ heights are around 70 to 100 centimeters, and the costumes and designs resemble Khon, a performance tradition commonly seen in the royal court. As the puppets are larger in size and the puppeteering techniques are more complicated, a performance often requires multiple puppeteers to perform together.
Hun lakhon lek is similar to hun luang in terms of the style of performance and design of puppets. In the early 20th century, puppet master Krae Sapthavanich found out that the structure and performance were too difficult when he was making hun luang puppets. Hence, he simplified and reformed the design and control mechanism of hun luang puppets, and invented hun lakhon lek. Resembling Japanese bunraku, hun lakhon lek requires three puppeteers to control different parts of a puppet: the first person controls the puppet's head and right arm, the second is in charge of the left arm, and the last person controls the legs. The most commonly seen play is Ramakien, the Thai version of the Indian epic Ramayana. Hun lakhon lek almost declined after Krae Sapthavanich passed away. It was until the 1970s that Sakorn Yangkheiosod (Joe Louis) redesigned the puppets once again that brought this puppet art back to the stage and became popular again.
In addition to rod puppetry, there are also regional shadow puppetry traditions in Thailand. Nang talung, also called wayang siam by the locals, is smaller shadow puppetry similar to the shadow theatre in Kelantan, Malaysia, and are both from Java, Indonesia. Another shadow puppetry, nang yai, is larger in size, and is associated with court performance and religious rituals. Nang yai is believed to have its origin in traditional mask dance, Khon, and it is like Cambodian sbek thom regarding the form of performance. Nang yai is considered the earlier puppet tradition in Thailand as it can be seen in the records from the 14th and 15th centuries. The traditional play of both shadow puppetry is Ramakien; however, to attract audiences, there are more romances and comedies, accompanied by guitars and jazz drums recently.
泰國舊名為暹羅,擁有深遠的偶戲傳統,著名的偶戲形式包含杖頭木偶戲 hun krabok、hun luang 和 hun lakhon lek,以及皮影戲 nang talung 和 nang yai。
相傳十一世紀時泰國即有偶戲,而根據文獻記載,泰國木偶戲最早出現在十七世紀的宮廷,並在十八世紀末受到極大的歡迎。二戰後偶戲演出消失於舞台上,尤其在 1940 年代,政府禁止所有非泰國本地文化,而中國文化影響的木偶戲同樣受到打擊,一直到二十世紀末期才逐漸復興。
Hun Krabok 首次出現在十九世紀末、拉瑪五世在位期間,受中國海南傳統木偶戲影響,偶身長五十公分,身體大多以竹子製成,以布袋般的戲服覆蓋。Hun luang (或稱 hun yai)為較大型木偶戲,偶身長七十至一百公分,服飾、裝扮與泰國宮廷常見的戲劇演出和面具舞形似。因偶的身型較大、操作較為複雜,演出通常由多位操偶師共同進行。
Hun lakhon lek 的演出型態與偶的外表都和 hun luang 相似。二十世紀初,偶戲大師 Krae Sapthavanich 在製作 hun luang 偶時,發覺結構和操作上十分不易,因而簡化、改良偶的設計和操作,並發明了 hun lakhpn lek。如同日本文樂,hun lakhon lek 須由三個人同時操作不同的部位:第一位控制頭和偶的右手,第二位負責左手,腳的動作由第三位操作。常見的劇目為 Ramakien -- 泰國版的印度神話《羅摩衍那》。Hun lakhon lek 在 Krae Sapthavanich 過世後一度沒落,一直到 1970 年代後,Sakorn Yangkheiosod (Joe Louis) 再度改良偶的設計,並重新將此偶戲藝術帶上舞台,重新受到歡迎。
除了木偶戲之外,泰國亦有地區性的皮影戲傳統。 Nang talung 為小型影戲,與馬來西亞吉蘭丹地區的皮影戲類似,當地叫 wayang siam,同樣源於印尼爪哇。另一種皮影戲則較為大型,nang yai 與宮廷和宗教儀式息息相關,相傳源自於泰國傳統面具舞蹈「孔劇」,形式與柬埔寨的 sbek thom 相似。Nang yai 被認為是最初的泰國偶戲,在十四、十五世紀的文獻上已有描述。兩種皮影戲傳統的劇目皆為 Ramakien,而現今為吸引觀眾,更多浪漫愛情劇和喜劇,並使用吉他和爵士鼓伴奏。
參考資料 Reference
Broman, Sven. Shadows of Life. Nang Talung, Thai Popular Shadow Theatre. White Orchid, 1996.
Foley, Kathy. “Thailand”. Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. Ed. James Brandon. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993.
“THE HISTORY OF THE THAI PUPPET THEATRE.” Slumber Party Hostels, 26 Oct. 2018, slumberpartyhostels.com/thai-pupper-theatre/.
Virulrak, Surapone, and Kathy Foley. “Hun: Thai Doll Puppetry”. Asian Theatre Journal. Vol. XVIII, No. 1. Spring 2001. Special Issue on Puppetry. Univ. of Hawai’i Press, 2001, pp. 81-86.
World Encyclopedia of Puppet Arts - Thailand. https://wepa.unima.org/en/thailand/.