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Shadow Puppetry

Ⅳ-91Traditional OperaTongwei, GansuBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The exact time of the formation of shadow puppetry has not been conclusively established; by the Song dynasty at the latest it had already matured and flourished, and in the Qing dynasty it showed a scene of prosperity. Yingziqiang, that is, shadow puppetry, is also called 'dengdiao' (lamp tune) or 'meihua qiang' (plum-blossom tune); it originates in the Longnan region and is commonly known as 'Longnan yingziqiang'. The works performed are mostly transmitted in hand-copied manuscripts and by oral teaching from heart to mind; the traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Shadow puppetry is a form of Chinese drama in which figures are cut from animal hide or cardboard and stories are performed by projecting light through the cut figures. It is spread extremely widely, reaching almost every province and region of the country, and because the vocal styles performed differ from place to place, a variety of types has formed. The shadow figures are divided into head, body, limbs and several other parts, all shown in profile. Generally cowhide, donkey hide or goatskin is scraped of hair and blood, processed to a semi-translucent state, then carved and painted; after the colouring is applied with oil paints it is baked with hot bricks and pressed flat. In performance, three bamboo rods are fitted to the body and the two hands of the figure, and the figure can then be manipulated for the show. The main apparatus is the shadow screen, which uses white paper as a curtain together with a single oil lamp to project the figures and their movements. The vocal style of Tongwei yingziqiang shadow puppetry is high-pitched and bold, yet also extended and turning. In its vocal system it completely preserves the regulated-aria (banqiang) system of Longnan yingziqiang, and its metrical patterns are rich. While keeping the style of folk music, it gradually formed its own operatic music, such as 'erliu', 'manban' (slow beat) and 'maoqiang'. The 'maoqiang' in particular is one of the most expressive tunes in yingziqiang music; at the final line of a number or at its climax, one voice sings and all join in, heightening the atmosphere and strengthening the effect. The related artefacts consist mainly of yingziqiang shadow figures and props (head pieces, table and stool pieces, animals, scenery). The instrumentation for civil and martial scenes includes, in the civil ensemble, the small drum, the xianzi, the banhu, the erhu, the flute and the suona, and in the martial ensemble the gangu, the baogu, the tongzigu, the large gong, the small gong, nao and cymbals, the shuibanzi clappers and the clapper bells. Tongwei yingziqiang shadow puppetry has a great many troupes, a large quantity of traditional shadow play scripts survive, and the folk custom of sacrificial performance is still maintained. It has wide influence in the surrounding areas and plays a positive part in enriching the lives of the people, harmonising communities and spreading traditional culture.

Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain)

The works performed are mostly transmitted in hand-copied manuscripts and by oral teaching from heart to mind; the traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple)

The works performed are mostly transmitted in hand-copied manuscripts and by oral teaching from heart to mind; the traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety)

The works performed are mostly transmitted in hand-copied manuscripts and by oral teaching from heart to mind; the traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court)

The works performed are mostly transmitted in hand-copied manuscripts and by oral teaching from heart to mind; the traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yingziqiang, that is, shadow puppetry, is also called 'dengdiao' (lamp tune) or 'meihua qiang' (plum-blossom tune); it originates in the Longnan region and is commonly known as 'Longnan yingziqiang'. It rose to prominence during the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, is one of the older local operas of the area and is also the only surviving variety of Longnan yingziqiang. Its troupes are distributed mainly in Changhe Town of Tongwei County and in the surrounding townships; to this day a great many yingziqiang troupes there are still being transmitted in an orderly way, and the family rule of 'passing to the grandson and not to the son' is strictly observed so that the art passes from generation to generation. The traditional plays commonly performed include Daxiangshan (The Great Fragrant Mountain), Pusasi Huanyuan (Fulfilling a Vow at Pusa Temple), Zhongxiaotu (Picture of Filial Piety) and Shuangfuma Huanchao (The Two Prince Consorts Return to Court).

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Yingziqiang of Tongwei rose to prominence during the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty, is one of the older local operas of the area and is also the only surviving variety of Longnan yingziqiang; to this day a great many yingziqiang troupes are still being transmitted in an orderly way, and the family rule of 'passing to the grandson and not to the son' is strictly observed so that the art passes from generation to generation. At the same time, it also has a certain academic research value in such fields as opera, folk custom and traditional handicrafts. Liu Manchang (official file record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han nationality, born in August 1963, native of Tongwei County, Gansu Province. In 1980 he was taken on by the Qinqiang (Shaanxi opera) troupe of Changhe Town, Tongwei County. In 1986 he formed his own troupe to perform the shadow puppetry he had inherited; through continual study and exploration he absorbed elements from such theatrical sources as xiaoqu, folk songs and Qinqiang, making the performance more artistic and more pleasing to watch. He now holds forty-six scripts of traditional plays, four volumes of shadow-puppet music notation and more than two hundred figure pieces, and masters four or five tune patterns and more than ten metrical vocal patterns. He has formed the 'Liu-family yingziqiang', which is relatively complete in its vocal and metrical system, and he uses distinctive performance forms such as changes of time and space in the plot and the characters' 'riding the clouds and soaring through the air'; he plays a positive part in protecting and transmitting Tongwei yingziqiang. Representative inheritor of shadow puppetry (Tongwei yingziqiang) of the fifth national-level batch of 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 (Tongwei, Gansu) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Liu Mancang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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