Chapter 11 Section 3 shadow puppetry

Shadow puppetry, also known as shadow play, or lamp shadow play, is a general term for opera shadow figures, sets and props carved by artists with donkey, cow and other skins, mainly based on characters.During the performance, white silk is used as the screen, and lamps are used as the lighting effect. The performers hold the joystick for manipulating the body movements of the shadow puppets, and perform incognito in front of and behind the lamps. With music, it is full of strong flavor of folk life. According to literature records, the history of shadow puppetry can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty.It is said that during the time of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty, Gong'e played with the prince in front of the window, cut out tung tree leaves to make a human figure, and performed it on the screen window for fun. The shadow puppetry of later generations actually originated from this.Another legend is the story about the alchemist Li Shaoweng who let Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty watch the image of Mrs. Li under the light of the tent that we talked about in the paper-cutting section.Although the images in these stories are not real shadow puppets, they are the embryonic form of shadow puppets.

The real shadow play in history appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty.Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan), the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the political, economic, and cultural center of the country at that time, and its commerce was very developed.With the prosperity of commerce, civic rap literature flourished, and a large number of excellent folk literature began to appear in the art forms of songs, storytelling, drum lyrics, Tanci, and opera.Shadow puppetry is a special kind of drama that has evolved from storytelling and history telling.According to the records in "The Chronicle of Things" by Gao Cheng of the Northern Song Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty, there were people in the market who talked about the history of the Three Kingdoms with shadow figures, which were quite popular among the people.On the 16th day of the first lunar month, the streets and alleys of the capital are filled with lanterns and there are many small movie sheds.In order to prevent the children of the tourists in Benfang Lane from getting lost, let them gather in the studio to watch the play.Famous film and television artists at that time included Dong Shiwu, Zhao Qi, Cao Baoyi, Zhu Poer, Wuyuntuo, Feng Sengge, Zu Liujie, etc. They showed people this unique art form with their superb skills and won people's praise. .

The earliest shadow puppets were not shadow puppets but paper shadows. The figures were carved out of plain paper, and later they were carved out of sheepskin and decorated with colors to strengthen their firmness.At that time, most of the repertoires performed were the stories of the Three Kingdoms, which were popular among the city people, and half of them were true or false.The shadow puppet carvings are often carved with good appearance by loyal ministers and good generals, and ugly ones by treacherous officials and thieves, implying praise or criticism. In the Southern Song Dynasty, shadow puppetry took root and developed in Lin'an (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang).Famous shadow puppet artists include Jia Zhen, Jia Xiong, Shang Baoyi, Shen Xian, Chen Song, Ma Jun, Ma Jin, Guo Zhen, Li Erniang, etc. There is also a film organization named "Hui Ge Society" in the city.At that time, shadow puppetry was enjoyed not only by farmers and urban residents, but also by the court.During Emperor Xiaozong's reign, in order to celebrate the birthday of the Supreme Emperor, Wang Runqing, a shadow play artist, was invited to perform in the palace to add to the fun.

After Jin Bing captured Bianjing, Bianjing's paper-window movie artists were taken captive to Shanxi, and movies took root in Shanxi.In the early years of the Yuan Dynasty, movies were often performed in military camps as an internal entertainment activity for the army. In 1953, a tomb of the Yuan Dynasty was excavated in Zhangjiazhuang, Xiaoyi, Shanxi Province, and it was found that there were eight paper window figures painted on the walls of the tomb.A poet at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty once wrote a poem about shadow puppetry: "Nanwa (the entertainment venues in Song and Yuan cities are called "Wa") newly opened a movie theater, and the whole house was full of bright candles. Look at Wujiang Ferry The hero sings the overlord." It can be seen that the shadow puppetry at this time has specialized in performing the biography of the story and the sword and horse characters.

The shape of ancient shadow puppets is greatly influenced by ancient silk paintings, especially Han stone reliefs.Because they all express the facial expressions of the characters with a full-sided structure, the eyebrows and eyes must be drawn together.The shape of shadow puppets is also influenced by ancient religious murals and sculptures. For example, the shapes of "Dan" and "Sheng" shadow puppets absorb the shape characteristics of Buddha statues to a certain extent. The fish-shaped details, the corners of the lips are staring, the long man, the long ears, the chin has folds, and there is often a little red between the eyebrows of the Danjiao;This is the origin of Chinese opera facial makeup, and it is also the wisdom crystallization of film art, the predecessor of Chinese stage opera.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, shadow puppetry developed unprecedentedly and became widely popular.In the third year of Emperor Wuzong Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1508), Beijing held a performance of a hundred operas, and shadow puppetry also participated in the performance.During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, every new year's day and festive days, the palace would spread the shadow puppet class into the inner courtyard for elder brothers and princesses to watch.The palaces of the princes also invested in the purchase of theater boxes and hired famous artists to perform for a long time.Some aristocrats from the palace of the Qing Dynasty were also very keen on the art of shadow puppets. They not only participated in the shadow puppets singing, but also designed and sculpted shadow puppets by themselves.For example, during the Daoguang period, the aristocrat Yu Yu'an served as the garrison of Wuchang Mansion in Hubei Province. During his three years in office, he carved a box of filmmakers from the Beijing Xicheng School with the looted people's wealth, and it was said to be a "good story" for a while.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, during the dissemination of shadow puppetry, each region recreated it according to the specific local conditions, the style of the local opera, and the aesthetic habits of folk traditions, forming different modeling styles and genres.There are mainly Shaanxi shadow puppets, Beijing shadow puppets, Tangshan shadow puppets, Shanxi shadow puppets, Sichuan shadow puppets, and Hubei shadow puppets. Shaanxi shadow puppetry can be divided into two schools, East and West, according to regions and artistic features.The shadow puppetry of Donglu (the Guanzhong area east of Xianyang) has exquisite and meticulous shapes, strict decoration, exquisite carving, and small shadow figures. The facial shape of Shengdan is characterized by prominent forehead, delicate nose and small mouth shape.The shadow puppets on the West Road (from the west of Xianyang to the Baoji area) have rough and powerful shapes, simple decoration, simple and generous, tall shadow figures, painted faces with round noses and deep eyes, and Shengdan faces with sky-high noses.

The production of Shaanxi shadow puppetry involves such processes as skin sorting, leather making, drawing, carving, color painting, sweating and ironing, embellishment and synthesis.Plastic art pays attention to appreciation, with potential and rhyme, and the whole shadow puppets are complex and not chaotic, which is very artistic. Tangshan shadow puppetry originated in Leting County, Hebei Province (formerly Luanzhou), so it is also called Luanzhou Shadow and Leting Shadow.The production of Tangshan shadow puppets is to soak donkey skin in tung oil to make it transparent, cut and carve it into various human shapes, and add colors.A human figure is divided into six parts: head, body and limbs, which are connected and manipulated with wires, and can move freely.The characters have distinct personalities, are exaggerated and vivid, and have bright colors.

Shanxi shadow puppetry is mainly carved with cowhide, and the material is cowhide with small teeth. It is made by professional craftsmen, and it is antique after coloring.Shanxi shadow puppets can be divided into north and south roads. The south road is influenced by the Shaanxi East Road shadow puppets. The works are large in size, finely carved, highly decorative, and bright in color. They are mainly distributed in Xinjiang, Quwo, Linfen, Yuncheng and other areas; Influenced by the Xicheng School, the carvings are exquisite and meticulous, and the colors are bright and eye-catching. They are mainly distributed in Guangling, Lingqiu, Hunyuan, Daixian and other areas.

It is said that Beijing shadow puppetry started in the early Qing Dynasty and was divided into two factions. One was from Zhuozhou, and most of the troupes were in Xicheng, called the Xicheng School; the other was from Luanzhou, and most of the troupes were in Dongcheng, called the Dongcheng School.Xicheng School shadow puppets are exquisitely carved, emphasizing the different characteristics of the characters (Figure 27).The shadow puppet masks of the Dongcheng School are more exaggerated, highly decorative, and have more obvious facial contours.Shadow figures are made of sheepskin or donkey skin.

Sichuan shadow puppets were popular during the Daoguang and Xianfeng years of the Qing Dynasty.The style of the East Road is similar to that of Shaanxi East Road, but it has its own characteristics. The shadow puppets are small, which is convenient for performances in mountainous areas;Mainly carved with cowhide. Hubei shadow puppets are mainly made of cowhide and goatskin, painted with color after carving, and finally coated with a layer of tung oil.There are two kinds of shadow figures. The big shadow is called Menshenpu, which is two feet high;The shadow is divided into six parts: head, body, and limbs. The upper limbs are divided into shoulders, elbows, and hand joints, which are bound together to form a shadow figure.The head and crown can be removed and replaced at will. There is a saying of "one body with three heads" and "one head with three hats".Hubei shadow puppets are influenced by the local Han tune, Chu tune, Jingzhou tune, Yugu tune and other drama masks, with strong local characteristics. Most of the repertoires of shadow puppet performances are "Three Wars against Lu Bu", "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage", "Red Boy", and other folk traditional opera themes based on historical stories, myths and legends.The performance is full of voice and emotion, and the singing is mostly based on local operas, which has a special meaning. The facial make-up art of shadow puppets is the most abundant. "The eyebrows are flat, so loyal; the round eyes are wide open, the temperament is fierce; if you want to smile, the corners of your mouth are raised; if you want to worry, you frown", a few words point out the characteristics of the characters' expressions of happiness, anger, sadness and joy.Depicting girls, "curved eyebrows, lined eyes, a little cherry mouth", coupled with high foreheads and straight nose bridges, vividly highlights the dynamic beauty of ancient girls.There are many "clean" (painted) and "ugly" shadow puppets, such as clean face (the whole face is dyed in a single color, black beard, lying fish eyes, and the upper and lower eye sockets are hollowed out as eye sockets), rape face (with Yang engraved lines indicate muscle knots, there is a red snake under the eye socket, and the eyebrows are shaped like a black snake to show cruelty), treacherous face (the inner corner of the eye has a pointed point upwards, and there is a red snake in the outer lower eye socket to show viciousness), Fierce face (with red stripes and lines on the face, with blue veins bulging to symbolize ferocity), treacherous face (three-colored face with only the eye circles hollowed out to show good intentions), fujing (use the original color of leather, and engrave it with a knife evil characters), painted face (a facial make-up that borrows the characteristics of certain animal images to express a character's personality), three tiles (a facial make-up with peach-shaped eye sockets, nose sockets bent in front of the ears, and double-hooked eyebrows), butterfly face ( From the side, it looks like a butterfly-shaped facial make-up), etc., showing different types of characters in different images, which is similar to the facial make-up of stage opera characters.