Water Puppets

Vietnamese water puppets originated in the Red River Delta in the north and are primarily a means of communicating and honoring the water gods. The water gods are important to Vietnamese tradition because they control the outcome of rice harvests. Typically, water puppet shows are performed before or after a storm. Despite the religious overtones of the performance's role in the community, the content of the show often involves mundane motifs and humor.

The puppets are supported by bamboo rods under the water and are controlled by a complex system of strings operated by the artists from behind the background. Today, water puppets are performed in artificial pools in Norther Vietnam and are considered a tourist attraction. 

Relative to the planting of other cereal grains, rice cultivation has not changed significantly since antiquity. This is important because so long as the human ritual involved in rice planting is alive, so are the beliefs and behaviors that ascribe significance, like the water puppets.