Shadow Puppet, Puppet Show 2. Skin Tune

1. Shadow Puppet

Xiaoyi Shadow Puppet is a rare and precious traditional folk art in China, and has been included in the list of The first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists.

(1) Characteristics of Xiaoyi shadow puppets and puppet shows. Shadow puppets are performed by actors operating various leather props behind the scenes, which are projected onto a white curtain through lights, accompanied by musical instruments, singing, dialogue, etc., allowing the audience to hear and see various colorful puppets. The dramatic story gives people a sense of beauty both physically and spiritually. Because the two-dimensional puppets and scene props and scenery in the play are leather products carved and painted by hand by folk artists, it is called shadow play, or shadow play. Shadow puppetry is a unique art variety that is a clever combination of folk arts and crafts and opera in my country. It is a pearl in the palace of Chinese national art. With its unique charm of light performance equipment, rich and beautiful singing, and wonderful and moving performances, it has been widely circulated and deeply loved by the people for thousands of years.

Xiaoyi shadow puppetry is divided into paper window shadow puppetry and screen window shadow puppetry, with paper window shadow puppetry being the mainstay. Paper window shadow puppets mainly use hemp paper windows as screens, and rely on the sesame oil lamps suspended behind the paper windows to illuminate the shadows, so they are called "lamp shadows" and "paper windows". Generally, paper windows are about 1 meter high and 2 meters long, and are fixed on the cabinet frame. Paper window pasting requires strict five-step processes including paper cutting, raw edge, matching, pasting and smoothing. The window will be smooth, wrinkle-free and white. Shadow puppets often use sheepskin, cowhide or donkey skin as materials. Based on dramatic stories, shadow puppet makers carve out various vivid and personalized characters, such as tables, chairs and benches, pavilions, flowers and trees, strange mountains and rocks, and dragon pavilions. Golden Temple. Various and exquisite scene props and natural objects such as military camp tents and so on. Generally, these figures, scenery and props are carved into a height of 42-60cm and painted in various colors. These carved objects are also called Xiaoyi leather carvings. Xiaoyi's leather carvings have simple compositions, unique shapes, meticulous knife skills, exquisite carvings, different density, bright colors, a combination of form and spirit, and can show a three-dimensional effect under light, which has unique aesthetic value.

Xiaoyi shadow puppets are a folk art that integrates literature, music, performance, and carving techniques. They can not only perform stories, but also be appreciated as independent folk arts and crafts works. Xiaoyi shadow puppet music is unique and unique, with rich local characteristics. Xiaoyi shadow puppets have rough shapes, concise lines, exaggerated techniques, prominent characters, exquisite and clear carvings, simple and concise shapes, powerful lines, elegant and unique colors, and are full of charm.

Xiaoyi shadow puppets have been popular in Xiaoyi area for a long time, and their spread and distribution range are small. In terms of music, it has little influence from foreign operas, so Xiaoyi shadow puppetry develops slowly and lacks changes, but it retains its own simple charm and color.

(2) The origin of Xiaoyi shadow puppets and puppets. Shadow puppet art can be called the originator of today's film and television art. It originated in China and is one of the earliest types of operas in our country. According to historical records, shadow puppetry began in the pre-Qin Dynasty, flourished in the Han Dynasty, flourished in the Song Dynasty, and spread to West Asia and Europe during the Yuan Dynasty. It can be said that it has a long history and a long history. Xiaoyi is one of the birthplaces of shadow puppetry in my country and an important branch of shadow puppetry in my country. It is named after its popularity in Xiaoyi, Shanxi Province. According to historical research, Xiaoyi shadow puppets have a history of 2,400 years. According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, from 445 BC to 396 BC, Confucius's favorite disciple Zixia gave lectures in Xiaoyi. In order to attract more people to listen to his speech, he used "shadow music" to gather people to lecture at night. . Since Zixia studied under Confucius, he was also good at "music and harp". He taught in the form of shadow music and incorporated education into the music, so that "teaching, music, harp and shadow music" were integrated into "shadow, music, education". "The perfect movie format. Zixia's lectures were loved by the local people, who learned the technique of performing shadow music. As time went by, the form of shadow music teaching changed into shadow play locally. This is the earliest Xiaoyi shadow play.

(3) The historical rise and fall of Xiaoyi shadow puppet art. By the Han Dynasty, shadow puppetry was widely developed in Xiaoyi. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Xiaoyi shadow puppetry had developed and matured and became a cultural and entertainment activity loved by men, women, old and young in Xiaoyi. According to verifiable cultural relics (a shadow puppet head mural unearthed from a Jin Dynasty tomb in the south of Yushuping Village, Yima Township, Xiaoyi City, Shanxi Province on December 14, 1980), at least before the first year of Jin Zhenglong (1156), shadow puppets It has always been prosperous in Xiaoyi and is deeply loved by local people. According to records, during the Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, Xiaoyi shadow puppets reached their heyday.

At its peak, there were more than 100 shadow puppet theater troupes in Xiaoyi, with hundreds of people engaged in this profession. Basically, there is no village without temples, and there is no drama without stage. It has spread to Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia and other places. These can be verified by historical monuments, such as the Xiaoyi City God Temple, which was built in the ninth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty (1305) and rebuilt many times in successive dynasties. It has an all-wood structure and a hall-style music building. It is large in scale and rare in the country. By 1992, Xiaoyi City still preserved 125 music buildings and ancient theaters, and 12 shadow puppet theaters. During the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, with the introduction of Wanwanqiang and shadow puppetry from Shaanxi to Xiaoyi, the local shadow puppetry in Xiaoyi gradually declined due to competition. After the Republic of China, its popularity and distribution scope became smaller and smaller, the performance market became smaller and smaller, film troupes were disbanded, and artists changed careers. However, during the Anti-Japanese War, shadow puppetry flourished again and was welcomed by the masses because of its ability to speak, sing and act, and its small number of people and fast movements, as well as its rich and colorful repertoire. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were still 15 shadow puppet troupes remaining in Xiaoyi who worked together during their spare time. Due to historical, social and own reasons, since the late 1980s, shadow puppetry, like other traditional cultural ruptures, has lost its former glory and has gradually declined. Shadow puppet singing, production methods, and carving techniques are all in danger of being lost. The ancient shadow puppet singing skills are on the verge of extinction, and the shadow puppet performance buildings left over from history have been destroyed. As old artists pass away one after another, there are fewer and fewer people who can perform shadow puppets, there are even fewer artists who can sing shadow puppets, and there are only a few people who can make shadow puppets.

Xiaoyi Skin Tune

It is closely related to the birth and development of Xiaoyi Shadow Puppetry. It mainly uses suona as the accompaniment instrument, so it is also called "Xiaoyi Blow Tune". Xiaoyi Piqiang retains the characteristics of the couplet's mixed rhythms and strong rise and fall. It is one of the ancient Chinese opera tunes and is of great value for studying the evolution history of Chinese opera tunes.

Pi Qiang is commonly known as Paper Window Qiang by the locals because it uses white paper pasted in the window to develop the performance. There are two basic forms of Pi Qiang's singing style. One is a four-line style with a "starting, succeeding, turning, and combining" structure. Artists often call it "Panban (Adagio)", which is called "Liu Shui" with the addition of gongs and drums; Artists call the repeated singing of up and down sentences "Duo Ban". The Pi Qiang singing style is a variation of the plank style, and the structure of the upper and lower sentences is mostly divided into two categories: wind music (including small suona, sheng and Huhu) and percussion music (including bright gong, Erwuyan, horse gong, Raoqian, wood, etc.). The music of Xiaoyi Piqiang is unique and unique, with rich local colors, simple and fresh, and the singing style is simple, bright, rough and lively.

There are more than 50 traditional Piqiang plays, and more than 30 are extant. Their contents can be divided into two categories. One is about stories about gods and monsters. Its representative works include "Zhuxian Zhen" and "Ten Thousand Immortals Zhen". , "Yellow River Formation", "Wind Sand Formation", etc.; one type writes religious legends and stories, and its representative works include "Zhenwu Monk", "Senluo Formation" and so on.

As Wanwanqiang was introduced into Xiaoyi, shadow opera gradually declined due to competition. Especially after the Republic of China, the situation deteriorated. On the eve of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiaoyi City Only half of the shadow puppet class is left.

Excerpted from Baidu netizen, thank you.