A Collection of Intangible Cultural Heritage-Shadow Play

Shadow play (light shadow play) is a kind of folk drama which is made of animal skin or cardboard and performed with bright cloth under the illumination of light. Shadow play is an ancient traditional folk art in China, and old Beijingers call it "donkey shadow play".

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.

Speaking of shadow play, I have to say that more than two thousand years ago, Li Furen, the beloved princess of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, died of illness. Emperor Wu was in a trance and ignored state affairs all day. Minister Li Shaoweng went out one day, and the children in Lu Yu were playing with dolls in their hands, and the shadows were vividly displayed on the ground. Li Shaoweng's heart moved. He carved the image of Li Furen with cotton and silk, colored it, and put wooden poles on his hands and feet. In the evening, the emperor was invited to sit in his tent and watch with square curtains and candles. Emperor Wu was so happy that he couldn't put it down. This love story in Hanshu is regarded as the earliest origin of shadow play.

Shadow play was first born in the Western Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, also known as sheepskin play, commonly known as the first shadow play and donkey shadow play. Originated in Shaanxi, China, and flourished in Hebei in Qing Dynasty.

"Shadow Play in the West of Beijing" Shadow Play in the West of Beijing, also known as Xicheng School of Beijing Shadow Play, is the earliest urban shadow play with capital characteristics in Beijing, and is the representative and mainstream of Beijing Shadow Play.

The production of shadow play is extremely complicated, and there are many technological skills from the selection of materials to the formation of shadow play. The traditional manufacturing process can be divided into eight basic steps: leather selection, leather making, draft drawing, manuscript passing, carving, painting, sweating ironing and sewing. The artistic creativity of shadow play draws lessons from the techniques and styles of silk paintings, stone reliefs, brick reliefs and temple murals in the Tang and Song Dynasties in China. Generally choose the cowhide of Qinchuan, about six years old.

Shadow play characters are the main body of shadow play, and the structure is quite ingenious. In order to be flexible, a complete shadow figure generally has a head, chest, abdomen, legs, arms, elbows and hands from head to toe, with a total of eleven parts. Head-the head includes face, hat, beard and neck, and the lower end is wedge-shaped. When performing, it is inserted into the bayonet on the upper part of the chest and taken out for safekeeping when not in use. Chest-the upper part is equipped with a bayonet inserted into the head of a shadow play. There are two arms nailed to the same point on the upper side of the chest. Each arm is divided into two sections, and the lower arm is connected with one hand.

Abdomen-the abdomen is connected with the chest, the abdomen is connected with the legs, and the legs and feet are a whole, including boots and shoes. Every joint of the figures in shadow play should be carved with a wheel hub, which is called "Hua Lun" or "empty flower", while the old artists call it "bone seam" to avoid too many ghosts in the overlapping parts of limbs. The point connecting the suture is called the "bone eye". The choice of bone eye is related to the aesthetic feeling of the shadow man. If you choose properly, you will be full of energy. On the contrary, it will look wobbly and dying. After the bone eye is selected, it is combined with the pivot pin carved from cowhide or the line made of thin cowhide strips, and eleven main components are assembled into a complete shadow play.

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.

Goethe/kloc-in the 8th century, world celebrities such as Chaplin spoke highly of China's shadow play art, which can be said to be a folk art with a long history and wide spread in China. This art form, which originated in China, has attracted many foreign opera lovers, and people affectionately call it "China Shadow Lantern".

The state attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20th, 2006, it was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. On June 8, 2007, Yunmeng Shadow Play Art Troupe in Hubei Province and Zheng Fan 'an Shadow Play Studio in Tai 'an City, Shandong Province won the first Cultural Heritage Day Award from the Ministry of Culture.

20 1 1, the intangible cultural heritage of the human world was successfully declared.

The production process of shadow play is gradually transitioning from entertainment-oriented and appreciation-oriented to appreciation-oriented and entertainment-oriented. In the future, shadow play will emphasize and highlight its static artistic value, and show its unique charm through the layout of scenes, the expressions of characters and rich colors.