The magic of fancifully decorated water puppets dates back to antiquity in Vietnamese culture. These works of performance art, so indigenous to rural festivals and theatre were almost all lost during the communist occupation and subsequent American liberation effort there.

Lacquered and designed to dance on water in village rice paddies or portable tanks built for traveling performers, the puppets were often accompanied by musicians, colorful flags and audience participation. The crowds would yell a word of warning to a puppet in danger or a word of encouragement to a puppet in need as the impresario controlled the complex action with a long pole and strings beneath the water surface. The designs of the underwater mechanisms remain a closely guarded secret. But the beauty of the puppets and the 'reality' of their personalities transcend make-believe.

The theme of the skits concentrates on the real and imagined life of the villagers or on the folk tales told by grandparents as well as stories of fishing, harvest and rituals. Each performance and every puppet is meant to capture the essence of an insight into life and its meaning. And the puppets themselves are the symbols of myth and dramatic experience.

Today about a dozen water puppet troupes are currently performing, the water serving as not only the stage but also a character in the dramas from the tranquil lily pond to the violent waves of the ocean. The puppets rise from the deep or skim the surface of the water stages, their opulent beauty astounding the audience..

These puppets are hand crafted, exquisitely painted wood sculptures by artists who have attained their skills from generations of artisans and from ancient cultural traditions.

Believing that spirits controlled all aspects of their lives, the rural Vietnamese devised water puppetry as a way to satisfy the gods as well as a means of entertainment, education and cultural identification. Thus the puppets became an artistic expression of legend, their characters imbedded in the history of the land.

An inscription on a stone stage in Doi pagoda in the year 1121 relates in words the story of a water-puppet show. Described in ancient times as an age old traditional art, born from the rice fields, puppetry purported to explain agricultural civilization and the psyche of the Vietnamese peasants from that time to this.