In the late Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty (1768), the ancestors of the Xu family started a workshop in Zhangzhou, where varieties of puppets for show as well as figures of Buddha were carved. The workshop was well-known at the time. 
  The carving skills have been handed down from father to son. Xu Niansong, the fifth successor, named the workshop Tianran (nature), which went hand in hand with the Jiang Jiazou's in Quanzhou. Their products came up to the highest standard of the Fujian marionette carving art. 
  Xu Congliang (currently in office as designer, producer and senior artist in the Zhangzhou puppet Troupe), the sixth successor, was clever and eager to learn. As a child, he learned skills from his father, After thirty years of practice and creation, he designed and produced tens of puppet shapes for the cinema and television at home and abroad, and was adwarded many prizes for the pupper shapes. his products are highly thought of by the performance units and enthusiasts.
  Xu Yu, the seventh successor, learned genuine skills from his father. He weeded through the old to bring forth the new and brought out a large quantity of excellent puppets that are worth both performing and appreciating. His products are sold as far as foreign countries. At the beginning of this century, he hung out his shingle with the name Yuchuan Handicraft Manufacture, where all sorts of puppets, costumes and helmets are finely made. Warmly welcome all the drama and puppet performance units and enthusiasts to come hold trade talks by mail or by telephone.