The air is filled with the lilting sounds from the orchestra of drums, a flute, fiddle, xylophone and stringed instrument. As the hushed crowd looks on, a wooden soldier rides into battle against the enemy, triumphant with a magical sword given to him by a turtle from the lake. He floats in a stage of water, manipulated by human hands, dressed in lacquer and created from solid fig wood. And his story has been told for centuries by rural farmers who build their puppet stages

in ponds, rice paddies and lakes. Not just a platform, the water is also a character that brings premonitions of the conflict of combat or the harmony of faeries and carries boats on victorious journeys.

Characters standing up to 90 centimetres and weighing as much as 15 kilograms are attached to poles and strings and manoeuvred with graceful movements perfected from practice and dedication, through ancient techniques and secrets.

Muddy, waistdeep water and a bamboo screen hides puppeteers who act out hundreds of stories and scenes of comedies and tragedies, as their ancestors have done since the 10th century.

Although times of war and strife have tried to break down this traditional artform, it still exists today in water puppet troupes that tour the world and in farmers who spend their last savings to perform only for the pleasure of recreating old folklore and history.