Shadow play (Haining shadow play)

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

Applicant: Haining City, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 235

Project No.: Ⅳ - 91

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Haining City, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Haining Cultural Center (Haining Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center)

Brief introduction of shadow play (Haining shadow play)

Applicant: Haining City, Zhejiang 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.

Located in Haining City, Zhejiang Province, on the North Bank of Qiantang River, Haining shadow play, a classical play with the style of Southern Song Dynasty, is still popular.

Haining shadow play was introduced from the Southern Song Dynasty, that is, it was integrated with the local "Haitang salt work tune" and "Haining minor tune", and absorbed the "Yiyang tune" and other classical tunes, and changed the North tune to the South tune, forming the ancient music with "Yiyang tune" and "Haiyan tune" as the keynote; the tune was high pitched, exciting, elegant, with flute, suona, erhu and other Jiangnan Silk and bamboo, the rhythm was bright Melodious, full of water charm. At the same time, the libretto and Daobai were changed into Haining dialect, which became a popular program on wedding, birthday celebration, God praying and other occasions. Moreover, Haining is rich in silk, and there is a custom of praying for the God of silkworm among the people. Shadow play is also called "silkworm flower class" because of its long performance of "silkworm flower play".

The portrait of Haining shadow puppet is made of sheepskin or cowhide through drawing, cutting, stitching, coloring, sewing and inserting. Its main features are: "less carving, more color painting, single line flat painting", round face, one eye side, less exaggeration, close to real image, rich in "human" flavor; the whole is dominated by one hand, and feet (side body), with national and folk characteristics.

Up to now, Haining shadow play has a history of nearly a thousand years. By the 1930s and 1940s, there were more than 20 troupes, more than 300 plays and more than 120 actors in Haining. With the change of the times, the living environment of shadow play art has been seriously affected. In the 1950s, the Cultural Department of Zhejiang Province went to Beijing to perform in order to set up a troupe. After investigation, only Haining had experienced shadow puppet artists with excellent skills. But up to now, only a few old artists are over 70 years old, and there are no successors. They have become one of the key rescue projects of traditional folk art.

Chinese PinYin : Pi Ying Xi Hai Ning Pi Ying Xi