When night falls, threads quiver and curtains glow, and the puppets of Southeast Asia come to life, some twirling on strings beneath temple spires, some breaking through the water in rice fields, others leaping as light and shadow across a screen. In Southeast Asia, puppetry is one of the most enduring cultural memories, crossing borders and generations.

（Burmese marionette）

（Burmese puppet show）

In Bagan, Myanmar, marionettes are famed for their delicate carvings and masterful manipulation. Records suggest this art may have originated in the 11th century as court entertainment under the Bagan dynasty, taken shape by the 15th century, and reached its peak in the 19th.

（Water puppet show）

（In a theater in Vietnam, audiences watch a water puppet show)

In the rice fields of northern Vietnam, puppetry takes to the stage on water. Hidden waist-deep, puppeteers use bamboo rods and strings to make figures emerge from beneath the surface. The puppets’ movements play with the rippling reflections, telling tales of harvest, fishing, and myth. Today, every show at Hanoi’s Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre still draws a full house.

Yet puppetry is not confined to strings and three-dimensional figures; it also lives in light and shadow. In shadow play, intricately carved leather figures dance between a screen and a light source, as performers behind the scenes animate them in time with music and chanting, bringing flat silhouettes vividly to life.

(Indonesian shadow play)

In Indonesia, shadow puppetry transforms The Ramayana and The Mahabharata into all-night epics, pairing meticulous carvings in cowhide with the music of a live gamelan orchestra.

(Thailand’s grand shadow puppetry)

(At sunrise, two men perform traditional Thai shadow play on a beach in Thailand.)

In Thailand, shadow play is divided into the grand and solemn Nang Yai and the nimble, lively Nang Talung, capable of telling Buddhist tales or slipping in improvised everyday humor during festivals.

(Bold colors and exaggerated forms are the hallmarks of Malaysian shadow play）

In Malaysia, the Kelantan style blends Javanese and southern Thai influences, marked by bold colors and exaggerated forms.

In Cambodia, by rice fields or temple towers at night, bonfires cast the shadows of two-meter-tall leather figures onto white screens. Performers animate the puppets while singing epics in Khmer, accompanied by an orchestra and two narrators, instantly conjuring an ancient, mysterious atmosphere.

Across Southeast Asia’s nightscape, the puppets still tell stories of dynasties and faith, love and betrayal, compassion and joy. As long as someone is willing to pull the strings, this ancient art will continue to live on.