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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaQinghaiBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

After the 1990s Hehuang shadow puppetry gradually declined, its troupes falling sharply to less than a fifth of the former number and its range of activity retreating from the central areas to remote mountain districts.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Hehuang shadow puppetry has a history of about two hundred years and has formed certain inherent features in its long development. It has an independent and mature banqiang-system vocal system, dedicated xiansuo music qupai and percussion qupai, its singing not interchangeable with other local genres. Its figures are distinctively designed and rich and lifelike in image, made of eleven parts, mainly divided into the “shaozi” (head) and the body, the head joined to the headdress and the body, limbs and costume joined together. A shadow troupe consists of five people: one operator (bashi) works the sheng, dan, jing and chou roles and also sings, while the other four are musicians responsible for all the civil and martial accompaniment.

The Banqiang Vocal System and Xiansuo Qupai

Hehuang shadow puppetry has an independent and mature banqiang-system vocal system with dedicated xiansuo music qupai and percussion qupai, its singing not interchangeable with other local genres.

The Eleven-Part Figure Modelling

Hehuang shadow figures are made of eleven parts, mainly divided into the head and the body, the head joined to the headdress and the body, limbs and costume joined together.

Yuanmen Zhan Zi (Executing the Son at the Camp Gate)

A work performed by the inheritor Zhou Banghui, which won a gold performance award at the Qinghai ethnic folk craft and art exhibition.

Newly Created Plays such as The Lamb and the Wolf

Works created since 1978 by the inheritor Jin Shengchang, including The Lamb and the Wolf, The Lying Child, The Weasel Pays a New Year Call and Mr Dongguo.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Hehuang shadow puppetry is also called “Qinghai shadow puppetry”, known locally as “yingzi” or “piying'er”, and circulates mainly in eastern Qinghai, with a few troupes also in the Han-populated areas of the ethnic autonomous prefectures.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Hehuang shadow puppetry rarely has written scripts, its performance relying entirely on oral transmission by the artists, in which process a special set of memory methods has gradually formed, most artists having the gift of improvisation. At present this precious folk art is on the verge of dying out and urgently needs rescue. Jin Shengchang (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): fond of storytelling and lamp-shadow opera from childhood, he studied shadow singing and performance under Yang Shenghui. Long active performing in the countryside, he commanded a fairly large repertory, his singing fine and plaintive and much welcomed by audiences; since 1978 he created such works as The Lamb and the Wolf, The Lying Child, The Weasel Pays a New Year Call and Mr Dongguo. Male, Han, born in April 1931, died in December 2011, a native of Huzhu Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai; a representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Hehuang shadow puppetry) in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. He trained such shadow artists as Shi Zhancai, Jin Yongyi, Jin Yonghong, Jin Yongxing and Zhou Banghui. Zhou Banghui (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Han, born in May 1974 in Datong Hui and Tu Autonomous County, Qinghai. Fond of shadow puppetry from childhood, in 1996 he took the old artist Jin Shengchang as his master to learn shadow singing and performance. In 2002 he joined the “Jin family troupe”, performing in the townships of the county and afterwards forming his own troupe to sing, ranging across the province. His singing is forceful and powerful, his timbre full and passionate and his characterisation vivid. He has several times taken part in Qinghai ethnic folk craft and art exhibitions, his work Yuanmen Zhan Zi winning a gold performance award, and has travelled with the Qinghai Department of Culture to Taiwan and South Korea for cultural exchange. He is a representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Hehuang shadow puppetry) in the fifth 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 (Qinghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Jin Shengchang · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Zhou Banghui · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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