Shadow of Qinhuangdao Crafts

Shadow is the art of making shadow figures carved from animal leather. The production of shadow is extremely complex, from the selection of leather to the shadow figure shaped on the theater, there are many craft skills. The traditional production process can be divided into eight basic steps, such as selecting the skin, making the skin, drawing the draft, passing the draft, carving, applying color, sweating and ironing, and decorating and combining into eight basic steps.

Selection of skin Generally, it is best to use the cow's skin of four to six years old, or donkey's skin.

Skin production process is selected in the cowhide, placed in clean cool water soaked for two or three days (according to the temperature, the cowhide and the water to grasp the specific situation), take out the knife to scrape the system: the first process first scraped cow hair, the second time to scrape off the skin of the meat residue, the third time is to scrape the thinning, scraping off the skin. Every scrape with water to soak once, until the fourth exquisite fine work, scrape the skin thin soak bright until. Scraping must pay attention to make the skin uniform thickness, hand strength to be light and steady, so as not to damage the skin. Scrape good support on a wooden frame, shade dry that is.

Drawing The drawing used in making shadow puppets is called "sample sheet", which is a design that has been passed down through generations of artists. Since paper sample sheets are more difficult to preserve than cowhide shadows, very few sample sheets from the Ming and Qing dynasties have been handed down, and those that have been found have become isolated copies, such as those from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

Over the draft Carving artists will scrape the cowhide decomposition into blocks, with a wet cloth damp soft, and then with a special push plate, a little bit of oil juice to push the moxibustion, so that the cowhide is more smooth, and can lift the contraction of the cortex, and then only to depict the pattern. The rational use of finished leather before drawing is also a delicate work. Thin and translucent finished skin, to be used for the head, chest, abdomen, these important parts; thicker and darker finished skin, can be used for legs and other general props. This not only saves raw materials, but also improves the quality of the shadow, but also makes the shadow figure form the upper light and lower heavy, in the picking sign performance and static leaning station when the stability, hand. Tracing the pattern is to use a steel needle pen to the outline of the parts and design patterns and patterns were copied, depicted in the skin, which is called "over the draft", and then put the skin on the jujube wood or pear wood board for carving.

Carving Carving knife artists are very careful, generally have eleven, two, more than thirty or more, only from the knife's system grinding can be seen in the depth of the artist's skills. The knife has a different width of the beveled knife, flat knife, round knife, triangular knife, (wife's foot knife) flower mouth knife, etc., the division of labor is very delicate, requires proficiency in a variety of different methods of application of the knife. According to the traditional experience, when carving the line pattern, we should use the flat knife to tie; when carving the straight line pattern, we should use the flat knife to push; for the round pattern of the sleeve head and jacket side of the traditional dress, we need the chisel knife to chisel; for some twisting and turning patterns, we should use the sharp knife (i.e., beveled knife) to carve. The artist's motto for carving is as follows: Cherry blossom flat knife, Wanji flat knife push, sleeve head jacket edge chiseling knife on, flower pointed knife carving.

Painting shadow carving finished, began to paint, the old artists with color is very careful. Most of their own copper, silver, Zhu, Plain, Li Zi and other minerals and plants concocted red, green, apricot yellow and other colors coloring. Concocting method of the first to make a good pure color into a slightly larger wine cup, put into a few pieces of transparent leather with fine leather boiled gelatin, and then put the cup on a special lamp holder, the lower side of the lit alcohol lamp fire, so that the gel color dissolved into a porridge together, while hot on the shadow of the person. Although there are not many kinds of colors, but the old craftsmen are good at color matching, coupled with the changes in the intensity of the dyeing and dyeing, so that the color effect is exceptionally brilliant.

Sweating and ironing After applying the color, the shadow should be dehydrated and sweated, which is a key process. Its purpose is to make the color after the appropriate high temperature eat into the cowhide, and make the water retained in the skin to evaporate. Dehydration sweating method is many, some with a thin wooden board clamped shadow parts, pressed under the mat of the hot bed; there is also a flat cloth wrapped shadow parts to iron or iron hot; another very old earth is to use the adobe or brick built in a zigzag shape, the following straw heat, flatten the shadow so that dehydration sweating.

Fixed knot completion of the shadow figure is the main body of the movie theater, its structure is quite ingenious. In order to move flexible and unhindered, a complete shadow figure of the body, from head to toe usually have a skull, chest, abdomen, legs, arms, elbows, hands, *** counting eleven shadow figure of the joints of the various parts of the carving out of the hub of the wheel type, called the "flower wheel" or "empty flower ", the old artist is called "bone seam" to avoid excessive overlap of limbs superimposed. The point that connects the bone joints is called the "bone eye". Selection of the bone eye is related to the shadow of the beauty of the modeling, choose the right will have the spirit of the phase, on the contrary, it seems to be hunched over and dying, depressed. After selecting the bone eye, the pivot nail engraved with cowhide or fine cowhide rubbed into the line embellishments combined into eleven major components are thus fitted into a complete shadow man.

In order to perform the needs of the device, but also three bamboo sticks as a joystick, that is, the sign. Wenchang figure in the chest of the upper front of the device a sign, wire connection, so that the shadow person can be reversed activities, and then to the hands of each device a sign, to facilitate the hands of the dance. And martial arts figures chest sign device position in the upper back of the chest (i.e., after the upper shoulder), in order to facilitate martial arts, so that the shadow people can make running, standing, sitting, lying, lying, rolling, crawling, fighting and other postures.