Lingao puppet show is a rare drama that is unique to Hainan and rare in the world. It is mainly popular in Lingao County in the northwest of Hainan Island and the towns and villages in the surrounding cities and counties such as Haikou City, Chengmai County, and Danzhou City that speak Lingao dialect. It is a treasure of the intangible cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. According to the legend of old artists, Lingao puppet show originated in the late Southern Song Dynasty. When the ancestors of Lingao prayed to gods and Buddhas to drive away ghosts and exorcise evil spirits, they all used human-shaped stick puppets. According to the Lingao County Chronicles revised in the 17th year of Guangxu, "Lingao folks mostly believe in Shintoism and do not believe in medicine. Every festival, a wooden sculpture is placed on the shoulders, and male and female witches sing and answer as a play." After being modified by artists and put on the stage, it was formed at the latest during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. Chen Hecheng, an 80-year-old artist in Lingao County, successively donated 10 old puppets collected by seven generations in 1979, of which 4 had the logo of the reign of "Kangxi" engraved on their heads. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, there were 30 puppet troupes such as Wu Silong, Cao Daluo, Wang Xiangfa, and Liu Caifeng. Lingao puppet show is an important cultural carrier that is popular among the local people. It has a unique performing art. Its main feature is that there is no curtain on the stage. The actors hold puppets in their hands and go on stage in makeup. People and puppets play the same role on the stage, and the lack of puppet emotions is compensated by human performance. The main singing styles are "Aloha" from the local folk song and "Lang Tan" from the Taoist tune, which are beautiful and have strong local characteristics. In 1962, the drama master Tian Han visited Lingao County to inspect the work. After watching the performance of puppet show, he praised puppet show as "a rare species, extraordinary, smart performance, and beautiful singing", and wrote a poem: "A few songs by the coconut forest, the new waves of Wenlan River, and Liu Sanmei here, singing more production in Lingao." There are many ancient traditional repertoires of puppet show. After liberation, historical dramas and modern dramas were also performed. From 1981 to 1993, the puppet show in Lingao was performed in Beijing twice, both of which were well received and won the Outstanding Performance Award and Outstanding Music Award. Among them, "Flower Fairy" was recorded and broadcast by CCTV, and was reviewed by many media such as "People's Daily", "National Pictorial", and "China Puppet News". Puppet show has outstanding historical, cultural and social values, a deep mass base and the characteristics of inheritance from generation to generation. However, in recent years, due to the impact of fashionable popular songs and dances and the influence of diversified entertainment, puppet show has fallen into an endangered predicament with a lack of successors and urgently needs rescue and protection.