Pingyang puppet show is the essence of Han folk art in Pingyang county, which has a history of more than 800 years. As early as the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a puppet show in Pingyang, and Pingyang was also one of the cradles of Southern Opera. Since ancient times, there has been a saying that Pingyang is a performer. Pingyang puppet show respects Marshal Tian Du, the bridge head of Hangzhou Iron Plate. There is a performance scene of the puppet show "Dance Bao Lao" in the fifty-third play of Wenzhou Opera "Zhang Xie's Champion" in the Southern Song Dynasty. Among them, there are three kinds of puppets: string, stick head and doll, which originated in Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, namely, suspension spring, stick head and Meat Puppets. The so-called "Meat Puppets", "Zisheng" and "Washe follows the geisha" Note: "Take the children of the younger generation for it", and the "dolls" in Pingyang puppet show are inspired by this, that is, people are performed as puppets. Bag puppets were created by later generations. The above four kinds of puppets are integrated and performed on the same stage, which has its unique performance customs and taboos. They were all initiated by Pingyang puppet artists in previous dynasties.

Pingyang puppet show was quite popular in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Through the study of Southern Opera, we gradually moved from the original song and dance performance to a more complete story interpretation, and absorbed a lot of Southern Opera from repertoire, qupai, performance and other aspects, so that the art of puppet show gradually developed and improved. Jiang Mingzhun wrote in "Talking about a Strange Sea": "Huang Man's son-in-law is good at making puppets and taking advantage of the situation, just like a stranger." Zhu Mingjian wrote in one of "Ten Puppet Shows": "When a little girl watches a puppet show, the wind floats with colorful sleeves, and the brocade shed doesn't know that the snuff has fallen, so she reports it to the East." Qing Xu Ke's Notes on the Qing Dynasty said, "Wenzhou is a puppet show with local customs, which is famous for its guests visiting every day." Fang Ziying's "Wenzhou Zhi Zhu Ci": "Aoshan Taige is layered, and the frequency is increasing year by year." Guo Zhongyue's Ode to Bamboo Branches in Oujiang River: "The lights in front of the stage are high and low, and the guest clothes are neat. Puppets often laugh when they appear, and some people secretly help. " This shows that puppet shows were quite popular among Wenzhou folk in Ming and Qing Dynasties.