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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaNanbu, SichuanBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Drawing on Sichuan shadow-puppetry research, the shadow puppetry around Nanbu county is based on the fusion of native and Guang shadow puppetry and has long circulated among the people of northern Sichuan, its making close to that of Langzhong yet with its own local features. By the late Qing and early Republic several shadow troupes were already performing at urban and rural temple fairs there.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Sichuan shadow puppetry consists mainly of native shadow puppetry, Guang shadow puppetry (also called “Weinan shadow puppetry”) and Langzhong shadow puppetry, of which Langzhong shadow puppetry is the most distinctive. Langzhong shadow puppetry is popular in the thirty-six counties and cities of Nanchong, Guang'an and elsewhere centred on Langzhong city, covering 530,000 square kilometres. It was created by the family of the Langzhong folk shadow master Wang Wenkun, whose forebear combined the strengths of native and Guang shadow puppetry to create a new-style Langzhong shadow puppetry. Langzhong shadow making shows great skill: the carving technique is accomplished, the lines fluent and fine, the hollowing and leaving of solid well judged, the figure structure balanced and the modelling handsome, the face oval, the headdress and beard not fixed, and the costume mostly decorated with traditional patterns popular in northern Sichuan, exquisite and beautiful in appearance with a strong local character. Its singing borrows mainly the five great vocal styles of Chuanju and also draws widely on popular folk mountain songs and ditties and on Buddhist and Daoist music, embracing all and forming a system of its own. Nanbu shadow figures are carved from oxhide, stressing carving technique and balanced figure structure with well-judged hollowing; in performance one man at the front operates and sings while several behind divide the civil and martial accompaniment, the singing using the five great Chuanju vocal styles together with folk mountain songs and ditties.

The Three Kinds of Sichuan Shadow Puppetry (Native, Guang and Langzhong)

Sichuan shadow puppetry consists mainly of native shadow puppetry, Guang shadow puppetry (also called “Weinan shadow puppetry”) and Langzhong shadow puppetry; the Nanbu line is based on the fusion of native and Guang shadow puppetry.

The Five Great Chuanju Vocal Styles (Borrowed Singing)

Sichuan shadow puppetry's singing borrows mainly the five great Chuanju vocal styles and also draws widely on folk mountain songs and ditties and on Buddhist and Daoist music, embracing all and forming a system of its own.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Nanbu county shadow puppetry is popular in Nanbu county and the northern Sichuan area around Nanchong and is an important distribution point of Sichuan shadow puppetry in northern Sichuan, with the Nanbu county cultural centre responsible for the project's protection and transmission.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Sichuan shadow puppetry fully reflects the customs, social life and humanistic tradition of the Sichuan region and has important value for folklore and art studies. The shadow troupes of the Nanbu line mostly perform at village temple fairs, birthdays and vow fulfilments, preserving a large number of serial plays and carved figures and constituting important material for studying the lineage of northern Sichuan shadow puppetry.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Shadow Puppetry (Nanbu, Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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