The history of establishment and development of Vietnamese puppetry art from the Great Viet has still been under the presumption of researchers. The historical documents and proofs have clearly shown the operation of puppetry in Vietnam from the Xth century by now. Located in Thang Long capital, Vietnamế feudal state was really powerful, the national strength and self-control were determined. On the basis of building palaces and pagodas, good handicraftsmen were gathered, their skills were improved; speeding up the development of sculpture and architecture. To commend the merit and power, many festivals such as celebration of work inauguration, pagoda festivals, festival of looking for queen, or King’s birthday… were held with many exciting and strange plays. The puppetry art which appeared earlier had many favourable conditions for development.
Puppetry is the traditional art form closely connected with the long-standing spiritual life of the Vietnamese people. Puppets of different kinds can be found all over the country, however, puppetry art has been developed and diversified as well as popularized mostly in northern midland areas and the plains in Vietnam. In the old days, puppetry shows were performed without words. Later on, thanks to the development of national literature, accompanying words were applied to these shows. Water puppetry was performed in the day and mainly used drums, la and heavy sound as crackers, “tu va”… The puppeteers stood waist-deep behind the screen in the water to manipulate the puppets…