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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaHaerbin, HeilongjiangBatch 3 (2011)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

At the National Day of 1959 the shadow troupe of the Harbin Children's Art Theatre was invited to Beijing to perform The Tailless Old Li for the heroes of the national assembly of model workers and then to report at the Huairentang in Zhongnanhai for central leaders, receiving the highest praise. Drawing on local materials, Longjiang shadow puppetry reached its height in the 1950s and 1960s, the troupe performing year after year in town and countryside and in schools and creating a group of shadow plays on fairy-tale and fable subjects, forming a professional creative and performing pattern centred on Harbin.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Longjiang shadow puppetry is a shadow variety centred on Harbin city with an independent performing form, repertory, performing means and transmission lineage, known as the “Jiangnan school” of Heilongjiang shadow puppetry. The shadow troupe of the Harbin Children's Art Theatre is the only professional shadow performing body in Heilongjiang. The Pig Bajie Carries His Bride, performed fifty years ago, is already known to every household in the north-east. The troupe has performed eleven times in Japan and has also toured France, South Korea, Singapore, the United States, Switzerland, Italy and the Taiwan region of China with traditional plays and academic exchange. Its figures are carved from donkey hide in bright colours and exaggerated modelling; one man at the front operates and sings while the musicians behind divide the civil and martial accompaniment, its singing absorbing Jidong shadow tunes and north-eastern folk song, its recitation carrying the north-eastern dialect and a strong rustic flavour. Besides traditional scripts it has a large number of works on fairy-tale, fable and modern subjects.

The Tailless Old Li

In 1959 the shadow troupe of the Harbin Children's Art Theatre took this play to Beijing to perform for the heroes of the national assembly of model workers and to report at the Huairentang.

The Pig Bajie Carries His Bride

A traditional Longjiang shadow puppetry play, already known to every household in the north-east after its performance fifty years ago.

Shadow Plays on Fairy-Tale and Fable Subjects

Besides traditional scripts, Longjiang shadow puppetry has created and staged many works on fairy-tale, fable and modern subjects, a distinctive feature of the genre.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Longjiang shadow puppetry circulates mainly in Harbin and southern Heilongjiang, with the shadow troupe of the Harbin Children's Art Theatre as the professional transmitting body; the migrant culture of Heilongjiang and the Songhua river basin provided varied material for its singing and repertory.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

With social change Longjiang shadow puppetry has seen a sharp fall in transmitters and a shrinking audience, and urgently needs protection and transmission. Its practice is centred on the shadow troupe of the Harbin Children's Art Theatre, which in recent years has sustained the genre through reviving traditional plays, creating children's shadow plays and conducting international exchange, attending also to training young actors and rod operators, so that this “Jiangnan school” of Heilongjiang shadow puppetry continues. The troupe's creation of children's shadow plays has also provided experience for spreading traditional shadow puppetry in contemporary children's aesthetic education.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Shadow Puppetry (Haerbin, Heilongjiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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