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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaHuayin, 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.

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. For a long time it was the family play of the Zhang household of Quandian village, Huayin county, transmitted only within the clan and not to outsiders. Its vocal style has an upright, high and majestic spirit, sounding like a Guanxi man singing of the great river flowing east; its closing notes introduce the work-song tune of the Wei river boatmen, with one singing and the rest joining in a drawn-out refrain (popularly “labo”); its accompaniment does not use the suona but sets a clapper (tanban) for the beat—all these constitute the genre's distinctive strengths, giving it outstanding historical and cultural value, transmitted through the generations and performed without cease.

Fang Yongning (Visiting Yongning)

A representative Huayin laoqiang play and the principal work of the inheritor Zhang Ximin.

The Family Repertory (the Zhang Clan of Quandian Village)

Huayin laoqiang was long the family play of the Zhang clan of Quandian village, its repertory transmitted only within the clan and not to outsiders, handed down through the generations.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Huayin laoqiang is a shadow-opera genre formed in the late Ming and early Qing on the basis of the local art of narrative-singing.

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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 the danger of extinction, urgently needing rescue and protection. But given this genre's special circumstance as a family play, it remains in an endangered state on the verge of extinction and urgently needs long-term protection. Wang Zhenzhong (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1937 in Huayin, Shaanxi. Thoroughly versed in music theory and skilled in playing the yueqin, he can also write plays, and his singing, bold and impassioned, is much welcomed by people; he has sung laoqiang in many films and plays, making an important contribution to its spread at home and abroad. He is a representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Huayin laoqiang) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. Zhang Ximin (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in 1947 in Huayin, Shaanxi. He now has more than thirty disciples, his main representative work being Fang Yongning. He is a representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Huayin laoqiang) in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Shadow Puppetry (Huayin, Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Wang Zhenzhong · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Zhang Ximin · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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