Why Hengshan shadow play is so valued

Shadow play, also known as shadow play, shadow play, it is a collection of paper-cutting, window and local theater, ventriloquism and other art forms, known as China's traditional culture "living fossil". Futianpu Township, Hengshan County, in May 2000, was named by the Ministry of Culture as the "Township of Chinese Folk Art (Shadow)". Shadow puppets are reproduced and passed down at the foot of Nanyue.

About the origin of shadow play, the most widely circulated folk theory is that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty missed Mrs. Li. It is said that after the death of Mrs. Li, Emperor Wu missed her day and night, but "her spirit never came to dream". In order to solve the emperor's worries, Li Shao-weng, a magician, used brocade and silk to cut the image of Lady Li and painted it with colors. Night lamps and candles set up curtains, please the emperor on the other side of the curtains look away, see a woman such as the lady's appearance, the dragon's face is very happy, so love. This story of infatuation, which was written in the Book of Han, is believed to be the origin of shadow theater.

Shadow puppets are affectionately known as the "earth movie", the famous French film historian Georges Sadoul in his book "General History of Cinema", but also jokingly referred to shadow puppets as "the forerunner of the movie". The appearance of Hengshan shadow theater was around the reign of Shunzhi in Qing Dynasty. It is said that Peng Fengju, a farmer from Futianpu Township in Hengshan, returned from abroad to learn the art, and set up the "Old Dragon Society" specializing in shadow puppetry, thus creating the precedent of Hengshan shadow puppetry.

The development of shadow puppetry in Hengshan has been a long and steady stream, though not a great one. Until the Cultural Revolution, the shadow theater was classified as "four olds" and was forced to stop performing. The delay was ten years. Ten years later, the shadow comeback, Hengshan Cultural Center set up a "shadow demonstration team", in the provincial repertoire of a hit, holding back a first prize. 1979, Hengshan County also set up a shadow group, but in the south of Guangxi Yangshuo performances, but the road encountered heavy rain, shadow props were all destroyed, members of the group had to The members of the troupe had to return to their hometowns and were no longer able to reorganize the troupe. But from here out of some shadow makers and performers, but also in various forms to inherit the art.