The birthplace of shadow play

Shadow play is a form of traditional opera in China. In shadow play, images are cut from animal skins or cardboard, and these images are illuminated with lights to perform the story. Its popularity is extremely extensive, covering almost all provinces and regions in China. Due to the different voices played in different places, various shadow plays have been formed, such as hua county Shadow Play in Shaanxi, Huayin Old Shadow Play, Agong Shadow Play, Sinkboard Shadow Play, Huanxian Taoist Shadow Play in Gansu, Xiaoyi Wan Wan Qiang Shadow Play in Shanxi, Tangshan Shadow Play in Hebei, Haining Shadow Play in Zhejiang and Hubei.

There is no exact textual research on the formation time of shadow play, but according to Meng Yuan's Dream of Tokyo in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was mature and popular in the Song Dynasty at the latest, and there were nine shadow play artists such as Dong Shiwu, Cao, etc. in the Wafangdian in the capital of Tokyo. There is a "Shadow Play Map" in the murals of the Manjusri Hall of Yanshan Temple in Fan Shi, Shanxi Province, which vividly shows the live performance of shadow play in Shanxi at that time. After the development of Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, shadow play, which was popular all over the country, showed a prosperous situation in Qing Dynasty.

Although there are many kinds of shadow play, the difference is mainly in the voice and repertoire, but the production and performance techniques of shadow play actors are similar. Shadow people usually scrape the hair and blood from cowhide, donkey skin and sheepskin, process them into translucent shapes, and then carve them into colors. Their carving and painting techniques pay attention to exquisite knife work and realistic modeling. Shadow people are generally divided into several parts, such as body, limbs and so on. They are all silhouettes, wearing helmets on their heads and costumes on their limbs. After painting, bake and flatten with refractory bricks. During the performance, the filmmaker's head is inserted into his body, and his body is connected with his limbs. At the same time, three bamboo strings are installed on the body and hands to operate the performance. In addition to character modeling, some end props, tables and chairs, and scenery modeling should be carved to match the performance.

Props are mainly shadow windows, commonly known as "Liangzi", which are generally 3 feet high and 5 feet wide, but 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. White paper as a curtain for single operation. Behind it is an oil lamp, which is used to draw shadows and perform actions.

Shadow play is an important traditional folk art in China. In recent years, due to the impact of modern film and television art, the audience and performance market are decreasing day by day, and many shadow plays are in danger of extinction and need urgent rescue and protection.

Shadow play xiaoyi shadow play

Reporting area or unit: xiaoyi city, Shanxi.

Xiaoyi Shadow Play is an important branch of Chinese Shadow Play, which is named after its popularity in xiaoyi city. According to historical records, xiaoyi shadow play had class rules and sculptors in the song and Jin dynasties, indicating that xiaoyi shadow play was mature in the song and Jin dynasties. According to experts' research, Xiaoyi Shadow Play originated in the Warring States Period and is one of the earliest birthplaces of shadow play in China.

Leather cavity is the tune of shadow play. Because the music of leather cavity takes suona as the main accompaniment instrument, it is also called "filial piety blowing cavity". Xiaoyi Blowing Opera is one of the earliest folk blowing operas in China.

Xiaoyi shadow play takes hemp paper window as the screen, and because there is sesame oil lamp hanging behind the paper window, it is also called "lamp shadow" and "paper window". The general paper window area is1.75m×1.21m. Paper window stickers have five strict procedures: cutting paper, deburring, proportioning, pasting and leveling, and the window is smooth and wrinkle-free, and white and flawless.

Xiaoyi shadow play was carved from sheepskin before the Ming Dynasty, with a height of 58 ~ 60 cm, commonly known as "two-foot shadow". In the Qing dynasty, the shadow figures were reduced to 42 ~ 48 cm, commonly known as "five-foot shadow play", and the three-year-old cowhide was the first-class material for carving. Xiaoyi shadow play is rough, concise and exaggerated, with rich lines and great charm.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the heyday of Xiaoyi Shadow Play. Xiaoyi has more than 60 shadow play clubs, which gradually declined. Xiaoyi city Puppet Shadow Play Art Troupe was founded on 1956, and was abolished during the Cultural Revolution. 1978 resumed the performance of shadow play, participated in the performance of the first China Art Festival, and went to the UK for an exchange visit. 1995, the image of the military commander in Xiaoyi shadow play was recognized as a stamp pattern by the people of the whole country. Xiaoyi Shadow Play has a rich repertoire, with a collection of 200 Yu Ben. These plays have a wide range of themes, rich contents and great academic value. Studying the formation and development of xiaoyi shadow play is helpful to explore the internal law of the occurrence and evolution of China opera and understand the original vocal structure of Piqiang.