Pingnan string puppetry originated from puppetry in the Song and Yuan dynasties. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been string puppetry classes in nine villages in six towns including Shoushan and Shuangxi in Pingnan, but only a few classes remain. The professions and roles of Pingnan string puppetry have maintained the older puppetry art system. The puppets are customized to have 36 bodies, which means "36 heavenly beings", and each of the roles has eight; there are fewer strings, only seven to nine. Generally speaking, the male and female roles have fewer strings, while the clown role has to show various ugly behaviors and has more strings.