Shadow play (Fuzhou shadow play)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Shadow Play (Fuzhou shadow play)

Applicant: Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province

Project No.: 235

Project No.: Ⅳ - 91

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Liaoning Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province

Protection unit: Wafangdian Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Brief introduction of shadow play (Fuzhou shadow play)

Applicant: Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province

Shadow play is a kind of opera form that uses animal skin or cardboard to cut images and uses light to illuminate the cut images to perform stories. Its popularity is very wide, almost all over the country's provinces and regions, and forms a variety of shadow plays due to the different voices, such as Huaxian shadow play, Huayin laoqiang shadow play, agongqiang shadow play, xianbanqiang shadow play in Shaanxi, Daoqing shadow play in Huanxian County in Gansu, Wanwanqiang shadow play in Xiaoyi County in Shanxi, Tangshan Shadow Play in Hebei, Southern Hebei shadow play, Zhejiang shadow play Haining shadow play, Jianghan Plain shadow play in Hubei, Lufeng shadow play in Guangdong, Fuzhou shadow play and Lingyuan shadow play in Liaoning, etc.

The formation age of shadow play has not yet been determined, but according to the records of Menghua records in Tokyo written by Meng Yuanlao in the Southern Song Dynasty, it was mature and popular in the Song Dynasty at the latest. There were nine actors in the vashe of Bianliang in Tokyo, including Dong Shiwu, Zhao Qi and Cao Baoyi. There is a picture of shadow play in the Jin Dynasty mural of Wenshu Hall of Yanshan temple in Fanshi, Shanxi Province, which vividly shows the actual situation of Shanxi shadow play performance at that time. After the development of song, Jin, yuan and Ming Dynasties, shadow puppet shows a prosperous situation in Qing Dynasty.

Although there are many kinds of shadow play, the differences are mainly in the aspects of voice and repertoire, while the production and performance techniques of filmmakers are similar. Generally, the film makers scrape off the blood of the cattle skin, donkey skin and sheep skin, process them into translucent shape, and then carve them with color. The carving and drawing process is exquisite, and the shape is realistic. Generally, filmmakers are divided into head, body, limbs and other parts, all of which are silhouettes. The head is attached with helmets, and the body and limbs are dressed. After painting, they are baked and flattened with firebricks. During the performance, the actor's head is inserted into the body, and the body and limbs are connected. At the same time, three bamboo cuttings are installed on the body and hands to operate the performance. In addition to character modeling, we also need to carve some props, tables, chairs and scenery modeling to match the performance.

The main props are shadow windows, commonly known as "Liangzi", which are generally 3 feet high, 5 feet wide, no more than 4 feet high and no more than 6 feet wide. They are made of white paper for single person operation. The second is an oil lamp, which is used to reflect the movie player and perform the action.

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. Many shadow plays are facing the danger of extinction and need to be rescued and protected.

Fuzhou shadow play came from Shaanxi soldiers who came to defend the northeast border during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620). The real active and popular time of Fuzhou shadow play was in the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1796-1821). At that time, the "Bailian cult" was popular in Hebei. Some shadow play artists also participated in the "Bailian cult". They were falsely accused by the Qing government as "hanging lamp bandits" and ordered to ban shadow play. Hebei luanzhou shadow puppet artists were forced to flow into the northeast and into southern Liaoning. It is against this background that Fuzhou shadow play came into being and developed. It has a history of more than 300 years.

Since 1932, Fuzhou shadow play was forced to stop performing. After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, Fuzhou shadow play resumed. After the liberation of China, shadow puppets in Wafangdian area were very active. At its peak, there were 43 shadow puppet troupes in the county, and more than 20 shadow puppet artists had a great influence among the masses.

Fuzhou shadow play has a long history and important historical and cultural value. It plays a role of publicity and education in spreading cultural knowledge, preserving and inheriting valuable folk historical legends, local conditions and customs, and anecdotes of characters. From the content of Fuzhou shadow play, it covers the social life, praises the truth, the good and the beautiful, castigates the false, the evil and the ugly, and is deeply loved by the local people.

Chinese PinYin : Pi Ying Xi Fu Zhou Pi Ying Xi