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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaWeinan, ShaanxiBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

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. Huaxian wanwan qiang shadow puppetry (formerly called shiqiang) was formed in the early Qing.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

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. This genre has a complete set of vocal styles and metrical patterns, and its accompanying instruments are highly characteristic, the music delicate and elegant, supple and lingering, with richly varied forms of expression. The shadow figures are gracefully modelled, the characters show distinct individual traits, the materials are carefully chosen and the workmanship fine. In the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing, the dramatist Li Fanggui and other literati and examination candidates wrote for wanwan qiang shadow puppetry many traditional repertory works such as The Ten Great Plays, which still circulate today, have been taken over, adapted and staged by other genres, remain in unbroken performance, and have made an enormous contribution to the operatic art of Shaanxi. Shadow puppet troupes and societies consist mostly of five or six people, are easy to move about, need no particular venue, and can work year round in the villages and courtyards of the countryside, taking firm root in the vast rural areas.

The Ten Great Plays

In the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing, the dramatist Li Fanggui and other literati and examination candidates wrote for wanwan qiang shadow puppetry many traditional repertory works such as The Ten Great Plays, which still circulate today, have been taken over, adapted and staged by other genres, remain in unbroken performance, and have made an enormous contribution to the operatic art of Shaanxi.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Because it circulates mainly in the Weinan area of the eastern Guanzhong prefectures, in the two Hua counties and Dali, it is also called the eastern-route wanwan qiang.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Shadow puppetry is an important traditional folk art of our country; in recent years, under the impact of modern film and television, audiences and the performance market have steadily shrunk and many shadow forms face extinction, urgently needing rescue and protection. Now, for various reasons, it faces the crisis of being lost and of surviving; rescuing and protecting wanwan qiang shadow puppetry, this fine traditional culture that the masses enjoy hearing and seeing, has become an urgent and pressing task at the present moment. Liu Hua (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, of the Han nationality, born in 1943 in Huaxian, Shaanxi. In 1958 Liu Hua entered the drama class of the Shaanxi Provincial Opera Research Institute to study Qinqiang, wanwan qiang, Meihu and other forms; in 1959 he entered the Gansu Provincial Drama School to study the yueqin; in 1964 he joined the Huaxian Guangyi Shadow Puppet Society of the noted Huaxian artist Mr Pan Jingle, serving as the banhu player, and he can also perform qiansheng, qianshou, erxian bowing and other techniques. Representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Huaxian shadow puppetry), a second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item. His banhu playing matches the qiansheng of shadow puppetry in perfect accord, fully revealing the folk flavour of the music; he is honoured with the titles of the finest skill of eastern Guanzhong wanwan qiang and king of the yueqin, and has taken apprentices such as Liu Tianwen and Liu Jinrui. Wei Jinquan (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, of the Han nationality, born in 1964 in Huaxian, Shaanxi. Wei Jinquan comes from a family of shadow puppet performers, was steeped in the art from childhood and grew fond of it; in middle school he already performed often with his father's troupe, and after graduating from high school he studied under the famous master Mr Lin Maoji, specialising in qianshou, then under Pan Jingle, Zhao Zhencai and others to learn qiansheng; in 2004 he became a disciple of Hao Bingli. In the end he drew on the strengths of many masters and became a many-sided shadow puppet artist skilled in qianshou, qiansheng, houchao and carving alike, and now has six apprentices. Over more than twenty years he starred in traditional repertory works such as Xia Hedong, the Golden Hairpin and the Whole Family Portrait. Representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Huaxian shadow puppetry), a second-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Shadow Puppetry (Weinan, Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Liu Hua · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Wei Jinquan · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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