Basic overview

Shadow play, formerly known as "shadow play" or "light shadow play", is a kind of folk drama that uses light to illuminate the silhouette of people made of animal skin or cardboard to perform stories. In the performance, the artists manipulated the opera characters behind the white curtain, sang stories with local popular tunes, and matched them with percussion instruments and strings, which had a strong local flavor. In rural areas of Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi, this simple Han folk art form is very popular with people.

Its performers manipulate silhouettes, sing or accompany music behind the scenes. Shadow play was once one of the most popular folk entertainment activities in the underdeveloped media such as film and television. Shadow play is an ancient traditional art of Han nationality in China, and the old Beijingers call it "donkey shadow play".

For thousands of years, this ancient art, accompanied by generations of ancestors, has spent many happy times. Shadow play is not only a puppet art, but also an authentic handicraft. It is made of cowhide, donkey skin, horse skin and mule skin through several processes such as material selection, carving, coloring, sewing and painting. Shadow play is exquisitely made, exquisite in craftsmanship and lively in performance. Influenced by many factors, such as the external environment, differences in animal cortex and so on, the modeling styles of shadow play vary from place to place.

Cultural status quo

At present, the present situation of shadow play is not optimistic. The producers and performers in those days are now over 100 years old, and this exquisite skill is about to be lost. Nowadays, more and more forms of entertainment make the status of shadow play plummet in people's minds. What are the reasons that hinder the continued development of shadow play in China? How can we save this splendid art and give it new vitality? Undoubtedly, traditional shadow play has inevitable limitations in many aspects, which is also the biggest obstacle for it to adapt to today's fast-paced society.

The elaborate and ingenious color modeling of shadow play fascinates countless artists, but it brings great difficulty to its production. The production of a filmmaker includes more than ten processes such as tanning, drawing, carving and coloring. These complicated processes are enough for a craftsman to spend weeks, not including the possibility that it can't be modified because of any small mistakes during this period.

At the same time, the preservation of finished products is also a difficult problem. Long-term exposure to the sun will make the pigment fade, and the hot and humid changes of temperature will also cause the deformation of shadow play. This is undoubtedly a fatal weakness for industrialized societies that emphasize mass production. 2018165438+1October 28th, the general office of the Ministry of Education announced Zhengzhou University as the inheritance base of China excellent traditional culture shadow play.

Shadow play is everywhere.

Due to the wide spread of shadow play in China, different schools have been formed in the long-term evolution of different regions, such as Sichuan shadow play, Hubei shadow play, Hunan shadow play, Beijing shadow play, Tangshan shadow play, Shandong shadow play, Shanxi shadow play, Qinghai shadow play, Ningxia shadow play, Shaanxi shadow play, and other local shadow plays with different styles. The musical vocals and rhythms of shadow play around the country absorbed the essence of local opera, folk art, folk songs and minor music system, and formed many colorful schools.

There are Mianyang shadow play, Tangshan shadow play, Jinan shadow play, Xiaoyi shadow play, Fuzhou shadow play, Haining shadow play, Lufeng shadow play, Huaxian shadow play, Huayin old tune, Agong tune, Xianban tune, Huanxian Taoist shadow play, Lingyuan shadow play and so on. Although the voices of shadow play in Hebei, Beijing, Northeast China and Shandong all originated from Laoting in Luanzhou, East Hebei, their respective voices were nourished by Peking Opera, gongs and drums, bangzi and folk songs, forming different schools. Smooth flat tones, gorgeous and gorgeous tones, and sad and sad tones are all available.

Among them, the choking singing method in Luanhe River area in Tang Dynasty is very unique. Shadow play is a kind of performance form that combines drama, music and other artistic means. It has a long history, and it is also the earliest China traditional art introduced to the West. China's shadow play was very popular in the Song Dynasty (960- 1 127), and there were many shadow plays on festivals. By the Ming Dynasty, there were forty or fifty shadow play clubs in Beijing. In13rd century, shadow play was also used as an entertainment performance in Mongolian military camps at that time. Later, shadow play was brought to Persia, Arabia, Turkey and other countries with the army. Since then, shadow play has spread in Southeast Asian countries. China's shadow play spread to Europe from the middle of18th century.

According to records, in 1767, French missionaries brought Chinese shadow play back to France and performed it in Paris and Marseille, which was called "China Lantern Shadow" and caused a sensation. After being transformed by the French, it became a "French lamp shadow". China's shadow play has made a unique contribution to enriching the world art world. A shadow play must be manipulated with five bamboo sticks. The artist's fingers are flexible and often dazzle the audience. You should not only have excellent skills in your hands, but also speak, read, play and sing in your mouth, and brake gongs and drums at your feet. The screen of shadow play is a piece of white gauze with the size of 1 meter. The white yarn becomes crisp and bright after being polished by fish oil.

During the performance, the shadow play moves close to the screen, and the hollow figures and colorful colors are really touching. The vocals used by artists in performing shadow play have their own originality besides absorbing the traditional vocals of the region. Although the shadow play seems simple, it is ingenious and contains the rich imagination and ingenious artistic creativity of the working people. It is small in props, convenient to perform, not limited by the venue, and the actors do not need formal training. In the areas where shadow play is popular, people will affectionately call it the art of "carrying one load" or the light cavalry of cultural life when it comes to this light art form.

representative works

The performance forms of shadow play are historical romance, folklore, martial arts case-solving drama, love story drama, fairy tale drama, fashion modern drama and so on. There are many plays, including single play and even multiple plays.

Common traditional repertoires include The Legend of the White Snake, Picking up the Jade Bracelet, The West Chamber, Qin Xianglian, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Yang Jiajiang, The Legend of Yue Fei, The Water Margin, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West, The List of Gods and so on. From the revolutionary war years to before liberation, fashion drama, modern drama and fairy tale fable were newly exhibited. Common plays include brother and sister land reclamation, white-haired girl, Liu Hulan, Xiao erhei getting married, little son-in-law, Lin Hai Xue Yuan, red lantern, turtle and crane, two friends, Mr. Dong Guo and so on.