"A chill, millions of soldiers raised their hands and danced. A cowhide is full of joys and sorrows, and half a face is loyal to the wicked. "This is the most vivid summary of folk shadow play artists.
What was China's shadow play for the first time?
Shadow play is a folk art that integrates literature, drama, music and art. Shadow play, also known as "shadow play with lights" or "shadow player", is an ancient and unique folk drama art, which is widely circulated among the people in China. Characterized by lights, screens (commonly known as "lights"), folk musical instruments, singing and manipulation, it has dramatic content and artistic effects.
02. What is the history of Chinese shadow play?
Making Chinese Shadow Play:
Most scholars believe that the emergence of Chinese shadow play is closely related to the spread of Buddhism and Taoism. The "common sayings" of monks in the Tang Dynasty have a deep origin with shadow play. The introduction and wide spread of Buddhism in the late Han Dynasty, a popular form of talking about monks and talking and singing, combined with cartoons, spread Buddhist scriptures along the Silk Road and Chang 'an, Tang Dou.
Spreading the doctrine in the way of "as the saying goes" is also used by Taoist priests to impart the doctrine and set up an altar to preach. Because there is no relevant literature or material evidence in the Tang Dynasty, some people think that it was the period when Chinese shadow play was formed, that is, from the end of the Five Dynasties to the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty.
In today's western Henan, eastern Gansu and southern Shanxi, we can see this kind of "proverb" of Buddha's name and Taoist name in the accompaniment instruments such as Qupai, Taoist fishing drum and simple board used in Taoist shadow play, which is likely to develop into later "hanging words". The shadow play of Shaanxi Chinese Opera still follows the saying of "telling stories on paper": the "Wan Wan accent" of the shadow play in Huaxian County, that is, the percussion instrument imported from Buddhism, that is, the "bowl bowl" shaped like a small bronze bell, hence its name.
The Development of Shadow Play in Song Dynasty;
During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, with the development of commercial economy, citizens' interest in culture and art increased day by day, and China's films flourished from entertainment to storytelling, from storytelling to history books. There are many small studios in the capital of song dynasty, where the audience has no shelter from the wind and rain, and there is no hot air during the day. In Song Renzong, the city people play the shadow play of the Three Kingdoms, and the rich children in the capital play the beautiful shadow play. When it comes to beheading Guan Yu, they burst into tears. Shadow play has changed from saying to novels, legends, case-solving, historical classics and so on.
In addition, there are also "plate-making societies" and "shadow puppeteers" specially organized for the professional guild of shadow play of Hangzhou filmmakers. Zhang Zeduan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, also described the scene of entertainment in the capital of song dynasty in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, in which movies played accounted for a large proportion.
The Development of Shadow Play in Ming and Qing Dynasties
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the northward movement of political, economic and cultural centers, the art of traditional Chinese opera developed rapidly in Hebei. Shadow play has reached an unprecedented height in terms of production, performance techniques, singing and props soundtrack. At that time, many large enterprises were proud of hiring famous teachers for lettering and photocopying, toolbox and private classes. Wang Gongbeier often invites film troupes to perform in his mansion, which is called "palace shadow play".
There are many folk shadow play troupes, large and small, and there are twenty or thirty in one town. Not surprisingly, the prosperity of shadow play can be seen. With the development and change of China society, due to the rapid development of urban and rural economy and the huge impact of film and television culture, except for a few areas such as Longdonghuan County and Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, traditional shadow play gradually declined nationwide. In 1980s, there were only over 200 shadow play classes in China, but now there are only over 200.
02, the spread and geographical distribution of shadow play.
At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, after the Jin army invaded the Central Plains and captured Bianjing, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty was moved and the Yuan Dynasty was unified, which led to large-scale population migration and mobility, and promoted the exchange and dissemination of folk culture and art styles in various places. Because the equipment of film performance is earth-shaking and has the advantage of mobile performance, it has become a major form of entertainment, and the film performance technology has also spread, and many schools of shadow play with local characteristics have emerged.
According to the spreading direction of Central Plains movies, China has gradually formed a large number of regional schools:
(1) Shadow Play centered on Luanzhou Studio in the north;
(2) Western shadow play is dominated by Shaanxi shadow play;
(3) Shadow Play represented by Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Huguang in Central and South China.
Northern films are mainly distributed in Hebei, Beijing, Henan, Liaoning, Heilongjiang and other places; Western shadow play is mainly concentrated in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Qinghai and Gansu. Shadow play in southern China is mainly distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and other places.
Moreover, Chinese shadow play was introduced into Southeast Asian countries such as Central Asia, West Asia, Turkey, North Africa, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. with the westward expedition of Mongolian troops from the13rd century. Later, as western Catholic missionaries brought it to Italy, Germany and France, it was called "Chinese Shadow Play".
Shaanxi shadow play, represented by Qin Jin's shadow play, has more than ten kinds of vocals, showing a complex pattern. The material selection and character modeling of shadow play have also formed the cultural characteristics of different regions. To the west, Shanxi Jinzhong, Southwest, Qinghai and other places choose cowhide as shadow play, with exaggerated but fine and beautiful image.
Compared with the northern shadow play represented by Tangshan, Hebei Province, the shadow play is larger in size and generally made of transparent and durable donkey skin. In modeling, it combines the artistic features of folk paper-cutting and New Year pictures.
The most famous shadow play in South Chongqing is Sichuan Shadow Play, which is made of cowhide, also called Niuwa. Its vocals are mostly Sichuan Opera and Sichuan Tune, which are high-pitched and mellow, forming a relatively independent artistic style.
Conclusion: Chinese shadow play is the wisdom crystallization of folk art and needs critical inheritance and development!
In the process of spreading, his works are influenced by different regional cultures and local people's feelings, as well as shadow play characters' modeling, costume matching, singing during performance and other factors. At the same time, they show the characteristics of different schools because they absorb the elements of folk arts and local operas in various regions. "Chinese shadow play" is the wisdom crystallization of folk art, which needs to be inherited and carried forward!