Under the natural conditions and their agricultural activities, the Vietnamese people have been close to the water. For this reason, Vietnamese peasants have created water puppetry into a unique performing art of the country. In the past, water puppet shows usually took place when the farm work had been generally completed, in springtime or in village festivals. The French called water puppetry with gentle puppet figures “The soul of the Vietnamese rice fields”, and commented, “With creativeness and sense of discovery, water puppetry can rank among the most important performing art forms of the puppetry theater”.

The water also creates the best setting for the puppeteers' theme; that is, all descriptions of day-to-day village life. Water puppet shows bring wry humor to scenes of farming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, and children's games of marbles and coin-toss. Fishing turns into a game of wits between the fisherman and his prey, with the fisherman getting the short end, often capturing his surprised neighbor by chance. A part from village life, scenes include legends and national history. Lion dogs romp like puppies while dragons exhale smoke and shoot sprays of water at the audience. Performances of up to 18 short scenes are usually introduced by a pig-tailed bumpkin known as Teu, and accompanied by a small folk orchestra.

The way of using water to activate the puppets and to hide the manipulating apparatus and the maneuvering of the puppet figures constitute the most splendid creativity. Water gives breath to puppet figures and makes them look more lively and cheerful. Water is also involved in the show together with the puppets as it was once commented, “Water also becomes a character of the puppet show”. The peaceful water surface gently undulating with a flock of swimming ducks becomes romantic in the illusory veil of smoke when a group of fairies land for singing and dancing. But it also becomes seething and furious during naval battles or when powerful yellow dragons are emerging.

A French newspaper article wrote: “The puppet figures are manipulated with an unimaginable cleverness. It’s like they are commanded by magic power”. This is the uniqueness, attractiveness and creativeness of water puppetry.

In the past, water puppet shows used to be staged in the broad daylight and in the open air. Few theatrical performances show such a perfect harmony with the natural scenes as does the water puppet show. Amidst romantic scenery, spectators have a chance to contemplate an artistic genre in which land, water, green trees, cloud, wind, fire and smoke are present, so are curved red tile-roofed communal houses. In fact this is a perfect harmony between art, nature and human beings.

Water puppeteers have retained the details of their tricks secret for centuries. Village guilds of puppeteers refer to the more complex maneuvers only by code names. A wooden puppet stands roughly two feet tall from its base and weighs 20 to 30 pounds; synchronizing its movements across the stage with their facial and arm gestures requires strength, dexterity and sometimes two or three people. Using skillful technique, the puppet is fixed to a floating base at one end of a bamboo rod about 15 feet long. The base comprises a rudder and acts as a fulcrum for the strings that control the upper body.

For generations of puppeteers, the craft involved water-borne diseases, rheumatism and leeches. They endured bitingly cold winter performances with the help of strong doses of nuoc mam (a fish sauce) and ginger tea. Today the Hanoi puppeteers wear waders.