Xu Zilin

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Xu Zilin, Male, Han, from Lingyuan, Liaoning, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Shadow Puppetry (Ⅳ-91). The tradition is documented in Lingyuan, Liaoning. Within the regional tradition and school record of Shadow Puppetry in Lingyuan, Liaoning: Lingyuan shadow puppetry is known to every household locally and is fairly influential at home and abroad; it has several times won first place at provincial and municipal shadow festivals and has given special performances for central leaders and international friends. The time of shadow puppetry's formation is not yet determined, but according to Meng Yuanlao's Dongjing Menghua Lu of the Southern Song it had matured and flourished by the Song at the latest, and among the shadow artists of the Bianliang pleasure quarters there were already nine men such as Dong Shiwu, Zhao Qi and Cao Baoyi. Through the Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming dynasties shadow puppetry, spread across the whole country, presented a flourishing scene in the Qing. In 1996 the Ministry of Culture named Lingyuan city a “hometown of Chinese folk art (shadow puppetry)”. On 17 September 1999, on seeing the several thousand juan of shadow scripts collected in Lingyuan, the former Minister of Culture He Jingzhi said “Lingyuan's shadow scripts may be the greatest in the whole country”. CCTV and Liaoning TV filmed several television works in Lingyuan, including Bitter Shadow Puppetry, Visiting Shadow Puppetry in Zouma Lingyuan, The Script Fan and the drama-packaged shadow play Flaming Mountain, among which the feature programme The Charm of Lamp and Shadow was sent to embassies and consulates abroad, and Dance of Shadows was entered in the 2004 Sino-French cultural exchange.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Xu Zilin is anchored in the documented technical standards of Shadow Puppetry in Lingyuan, Liaoning. Within the documented technical tradition of Shadow Puppetry in Lingyuan, Liaoning: Shadow puppetry is an operatic form that cuts figures from hide or cardboard and tells stories by projecting the cut figures in lamplight. Its distribution is extremely wide, covering almost every province and region, and different local vocal styles have produced a great variety of shadow puppetry—Huaxian, Huayin laoqiang, Agong qiang and Xianban qiang shadow puppetry in Shaanxi; Huanxian daoqing shadow puppetry in Gansu; Xiaoyi wanwan qiang shadow puppetry in Shanxi; Tangshan and Jinan shadow puppetry in Hebei; Haining shadow puppetry in Zhejiang; Jianghan plain shadow puppetry in Hubei; Lufeng shadow puppetry in Guangdong; and Fuzhou and Lingyuan shadow puppetry in Liaoning. In the Wenshu hall of Yanshan temple, Fanshi, Shanxi, a Jin-dynasty mural “Picture of Shadow Play” vividly shows shadow performance in Shanxi at the time. Though there are many kinds, they differ mainly in vocal style and repertory, while figure-making and performance technique are broadly similar. Figures are generally made by scraping the hair and blood from oxhide, donkey hide or sheepskin, processing it to semi-transparency and then carving and colouring it, stressing fine knife-work and lifelike modelling. A figure is divided into head, body and four limbs, all in profile, the head with helmet or cap, the body and limbs dressed, baked and pressed flat over a firebrick after oil colouring. In performance the head is inserted into the body, the body joined to the limbs, and three bamboo rods fixed to the body and two hands for operation. Besides the characters, stage props, tables and chairs and scenery must be carved. The main prop is the screen, popularly “liangzi”, generally three feet high and five wide, at most four by six, with white paper as the backdrop for single-person operation, and next an oil lamp to project the figures and their movements. Lingyuan shadow puppetry is an important branch of northern Chinese shadow puppetry and is said to have a history of more than three hundred years. In the course of transmission and development it has formed a distinct artistic style and charm—exquisitely carved and translucent figures, wonderfully lifelike manipulation and a distinctive pinched-throat singing. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Lingyuan Shadow Scripts (Several Thousand Juan)": The several thousand juan of shadow scripts collected in Lingyuan were praised by the former Minister of Culture He Jingzhi as the greatest in the whole country; the painted “shadow register” preserves the precious craft of shadow carving. "Flaming Mountain (A Drama-Packaged Shadow Play)": One of the television works filmed by CCTV and Liaoning TV in Lingyuan, alongside the feature programmes The Charm of Lamp and Shadow and Dance of Shadows.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Xu Zilin was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Shadow Puppetry, with Lingyuan, Liaoning as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Shadow Puppetry in Lingyuan, Liaoning: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Lingyuan, Liaoning as its declared area, and Lingyuan Hongshan Culture Chanye Development Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Xuzilin (Lingyuan, Liaoning) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Xuzilin · China ICH Official Archive