When and where did shadow play originate?

Overview 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 head play and shadow play. It originated in Shaanxi, China, matured in the Tang and Song Dynasties and flourished in Hebei in the Qing Dynasty. As the name implies, shadow play is made of leather. Cowhide and donkey skin are better for firmness and transparency. When coloring, five kinds of fixed transparent pigments such as red, yellow, cyan, green and black are mainly used. It is precisely because of these special materials that the shadows of figures and props in shadow play projected on the screen under the backlight are magnificent and crystal clear, with unique aesthetic feeling. According to the custom of China traditional opera, the characters in shadow play can be divided into five categories: raw, Dan, clean, ugly and ugly. More specifically, each character consists of eleven parts: head, upper body, lower body, two legs, two upper arms, two lower arms and two hands. The performer makes the characters do various actions by controlling a main pole in front of the collar and two game poles at the ends of both hands. In China, many local operas are derived from shadow play, and the performance principles and artistic means adopted by shadow play have also played an important leading role in the invention of modern films and the development of modern film art films. Nowadays, China's shadow play is being collected by museums all over the world, and it is also a good gift from the China government and other national leaders. It can be seen that the art of shadow play has high artistic value in China and even in the world. Editing the History of Shadow Play Shadow Play originated in Shaanxi during the Western Han Dynasty in China. It has a history of 1000 years. It is the earliest art of moving shadow play in the world. Some people think that shadow play is the modern "ancestor of movies". Shadow play is also called "Shadow Play", "Light Shadow Play" and "Earth Shadow Play", and in some areas it is called "Monkey Play" and "Paper Shadow Play". It is a kind of drama, in which figures carved from animal skins or paper plates are illuminated by lights to perform stories. Traditional Chinese opera and aria mostly interact with local operas, which are manipulated by artists and sung with music. It is said that Chinese shadow play art was introduced to Asia and Europe countries such as Persia (Iran), Arabia, Turkey, Siam (Thailand), Myanmar, Malay Archipelago, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia from the Yuan Dynasty in the13rd century. From a global perspective, Goethe, Chaplin and other world celebrities in the18th century spoke highly of China's shadow play art. It can be said that shadow play is a folk art with a long history and wide spread in China. From the Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the art of Chinese shadow play reached its peak. Many shadow puppeteers have inherited their father's career and passed it on from generation to generation. No matter from the aspects of shadow play modeling, acting singing and popular fields, it has reached the peak of history. At that time, many Wang gentry in the official residence were proud to invite famous teachers to engrave films, store precision film boxes and raise private film classes. Shadow play classes abound in folk rural towns, and it is not surprising that there are twenty or thirty shadow play classes in one township and one city. Whether it is a holiday, a bumper harvest, praying for the gods, or a wedding banquet to celebrate the birthday, it is indispensable to sing a shadow. Even this drama (series) will stay up all night or more than ten and a half months. A temple fair can have several film groups fighting each other, which is very lively and its prosperity can be imagined. However, the development of Chinese shadow play art is not smooth sailing, and it has experienced ups and downs. In the late Qing Dynasty, some local officials were afraid of gathering people in the dark places of shadow play, so they banned shadow play and even arrested shadow play artists. Shadow puppeteers were also implicated in the Anbaili Uprising in the late Qing Dynasty, and were confiscated on charges of "bandits in Deng Xuan". Before and after the Japanese invasion, due to social unrest and years of war, people lived in poverty, which led to the decline of thousands of households in the shadow play industry. After 1949, the remaining shadow play classes and artists all over the country began to become active again. Since 1955, shadow play performances have been organized at national, provincial and municipal levels, and delegations have been sent abroad for visits and performances for cultural and artistic exchanges, which have achieved good results. However, during the Cultural Revolution, the art of shadow play was unfortunately broken by capitalism again, and it was greatly damaged from then on. The Origin of Shadow Play When did Chinese Shadow Play originate? Due to the lack of literature, it is impossible to know for sure. To be sure, China's films were very mature at the latest in the Northern Song Dynasty. When China's traditional opera performance was not yet mature, the cinemas in the Song Dynasty were able to perform a complete and vivid story of the Three Kingdoms. Some works that record the life of Song people, such as Dream of China in Tokyo, Dream of Liang, and Old Stories of Wulin, all talk about the grand occasion of cinemas in the Song Dynasty (mainly in the Southern Song Dynasty), except some famous artists and even Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty. From the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, shadow play has been popular, loved by the court and the people, promoted all over the country, and combined with local folk art, language and customs, developed into a shadow play art with local characteristics. Materials of Shadow Play Because Shadow Play is a kind of folk art, all aspects of the situation vary from place to place, and the production materials also depend on the skins used locally. Cowhide, sheepskin and donkey skin are widely used in China. Shadow play is a folk art form in China. Longdong Shadow Play in Gansu, northwest of China, is mainly distributed in Pingliang and Qingyang counties, and the triangle bordering Shaanxi and Ningxia in the east is relatively concentrated. Longdong Shadow Play was very popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (14th century-19th century), with handsome and generous shapes and straight outlines. The carving is fine and smooth. Longdong Shadow Play uses young black bull cowhide, which is moderate in thickness, firm, flexible and green. The cowhide is scraped and dried until it is bright and transparent. First, draw a sample on the cowhide lightly, and then carve or chisel it with various knives. After that, the transparent water color is used, and the colors are generally not harmonious, so it is pure and beautiful, and the contrast is strong. After cutting and coloring, ironing is the most critical and difficult step. After the water comes out and dries, you can go on stage for binding combination. Shadow play also requires high performance skills. Performers should not only be able to control the movements of three or four shadow puppeteers by themselves, but also closely cooperate with the music on the field, giving consideration to narration and singing. If you want to practice excellent skills in shadow play performance, you not only need the master to teach by example, but also need him to study hard and accumulate a lot of practical performance experience. Therefore, it is not easy to train actors or even finally form a shadow play troupe. Because of this, there are only a handful of shadow play troupes in China, and they are all concentrated in mountainous areas and rural areas where cultural life is relatively poor. Obviously, this way of performance and communication channels can't let shadow play enter the city or even the world. In contrast, digital shadow play animation can overcome the above limitations. It not only truly reproduces the principle of shadow play, but also is quite convenient to make and can be modified at will according to the needs of the audience. We can break the heavy feeling of shadow play as a traditional art and give it many modern pop elements. We can use all kinds of long mirror, short mirror and montage techniques in movies in animation, and we can use shadow play to interpret modern stories. The most important thing is that we can make the shadow play (not just the shadow play itself) spread all over the world and be accepted by more and more people through modern network technology. All this does not require the producer to have too many carving and performance skills, but only enough enthusiasm and creativity. This is the original intention of making shadow play into digital animation today, and we also believe that this expression can give new life and vitality to traditional shadow play. The equipment of shadow play is very light, so the troupe has a strong advantage in mobile performance. No matter in the theater or in the hall, square, courtyard or even ordinary room, you can open the theater by setting screens, curtains and light boxes. A troupe of six or seven people and a box of filmmakers can perform forty or fifty plays. After the performance, all the clothes were packed and left, so it was very convenient to walk around. Therefore, shadow play has been a form of military entertainment since ancient times, and it is also one of the reasons why it is widely circulated and popular among the people. The skills and singing skills of performing shadow play are the key to the level of shadow play class. The exercises and vocals were written by Master from heart and practiced through long-term hard study. During the performance, artists have the ability to manipulate shadow puppeteers and musical instruments to make up for the chorus and take care of the chorus at the same time. Some experts can shoot seven or eight filmmakers at the same time. Martial arts scene in full swing, shadow people gun rolling up and down, very lively. However, the music and singing in the field of literature are full of charm and beautiful. Or passionate or lingering, there are joys and sorrows, full of emotions and feelings, touching. Because cars, boats, horses, carriages and grotesque monsters in shadow play can all be performed, such as flying into the ground, stealth deformation, smoking and fire, falling into the sea, etc., and can also be accompanied by various shadow play stunts and acousto-optic effects, the fantasy scene of performing large-scale dramas is unique in shadow play. The performances of shadow play include historical romance, folklore, martial arts case-solving drama, love story drama, pantomime, fashionable modern drama and so on. There are countless dramas, including single dramas and even dramas. Common traditional repertoires include The Legend of the White Snake, Picking up the Jade Bracelet, The West Chamber, Qin Xianglian, The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, Yang Jiajiang, The Legend of Yue Fei, The Water Margin, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West, The List of Gods and so on. From the revolutionary war years to before liberation, fashion drama, modern drama and fairy tale fable were newly exhibited. Common plays include brother and sister land reclamation, white-haired girl, Liu Hulan, Xiao erhei getting married, little son-in-law, Lin Hai Xue Yuan, red lantern, turtle and crane, two friends, Mr. Dong Guo and so on.