Yangzhou is known as the "hometown of puppet", and its wooden rod puppet, which is as famous as Quanzhou's string puppet and Zhangzhou's bag puppet, is a national intangible cultural heritage.
Wooden rod puppet is commonly known as "three rods", which means the puppet is manipulated with three wooden roods. The main rod supports the puppet's head so that its ears, eyes, nose and mouth can open and close, its eye balls can roll and its head can move in the four directions, and the other two rods manipulate the puppet's hands. The puppeteer moves the three rods flexibly, agilely and accurately during the performance.
In 1956, Taixing Peking Opera Puppet Troupe, the predecessor of Yangzhou Puppet Troupe, was formed after merging with some local puppet troupes. In July 1973, Taixing Peking Opera Puppet Troupe was elevated to a higher level and was renamed Yangzhou Puppet Troupe and moved to Yangzhou in April 1983.
In that period, the troupe not only renovated the manufacturing process of wooden rod puppets and created characters with clay sculpture, but also installed moving eyes and mouth on them. In 1984, Yangzhou Puppet Troupe performed 52 sessions in two months in Japan. From 1990 to 1995, the Story of Three Kingdoms co-created by Chinese and Japanese puppet performers was performed in Japan for six years.
