Illusionism
01 · Historical Records
Zhou Huayi, stage name Zhou Jisheng, was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, in 1907. At thirteen he took Zhang Xiangchen as his master, and at fifteen he won wide fame for performing the large magic trick "The Eight Immortals Offering Birthday Wishes".
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In 1938 he founded the Huayi Magic Research Society, and later organized the Brothers Magic Troupe, performing for many years in Northeast and North China; in 1952 he founded the Shaanxi Zhou Huayi Magic Troupe, ending the long-standing situation in Shaanxi Province where magic performance consisted only of street performers setting up stalls to sell their art, with no formal performance troupes. The Zhou Huayi Magic Troupe staged a series of marvelous large-scale stage magic programs such as "The Water-and-Fire Pavilion" and "Hoop Transformations", attracting numerous troupes from across the country to observe and learn. Under this influence, magic art developed rapidly within Shaanxi Province; various places established a number of professional magic performance troupes, enriching the magic art of the Northwest region and enabling the people of Shaanxi and the Northwest to appreciate the wonder and charm of the magic arts. Zhou Huayi's magic is complete in variety, rich in content, numerous in programs, diverse in form, and natural in performance. According to incomplete statistics, his magic programs include 11 of the bottle type, such as drawing wine from a bottle and changing it into paper strips, and doves flying from a broken bottle; 18 of the box type, such as moving wooden blocks, producing objects from a small box, and guessing the three-color board in a box; 22 of the card type, such as performing cards empty-handed, spots appearing on paper cards, swords strung with cards, and cards multiplying from a spectator's selection; 26 of the flower type, such as producing flowers empty-handed, flowers appearing on candles, and planting flowers on the spot; 154 small hand-technique illusions, such as burning paper into ash that changes into a scarf, wheat straw turning into a dove, and cleverly escaping from rope bonds; 33 large-scale magic acts, such as the fire-escape box, the water-escape tube, blasting a live person, and dividing a body into four parts; and 32 classical stage magic tricks, such as "Twenty-Four Plates", "Bead Lamp", and "Nine Linked Lamps". Zhou Huayi's magic includes not only close-range marvels performed right before the audience's eyes, but also large-scale fantasy programs on stage. Sleight of hand and small illusions are wide-ranging and seamless; the large-scale stage programs are unexpected and infinitely changing, and the Chinese classical stage magic he performs is highly distinctive. Zhou Huayi's magic condenses the essence of traditional Chinese illusionism, enriches the cultural and recreational life of the people of the Northwest region, and demonstrates the innovative ability and artistic talent of Chinese magicians on the basis of their inheritance of traditional Chinese culture; it plays a positive role in strengthening cultural confidence and in spreading and promoting China's fine traditional culture on the international stage.
Water-Fire Pavilion and the Hoop Changes
Large stage illusions staged by Zhou Huayi's company, which drew troupes from across the country to study and inspired new companies in Shaanxi.
Classical tricks: twenty-four trays, bead lamp, nine-linked lamp
The thirty-two classical Chinese tricks in the repertoire, a branch the company performed with particular distinction.
Fire box, water tube, cannon and quartered body
The thirty-three large illusions of the repertoire, contrasted with the company's close-up hand magic.
Bottles, boxes, cards and flowers
The repertoire counted by category: eleven bottle tricks, eighteen box tricks, twenty-two card tricks and twenty-six flower tricks.
The Huayi studio and the magic lectures
The studio founded in 1938 and the Shaanxi company of 1952, whose founder set down his experience in published lectures.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Zhou Huayi's magic is a traditional school of illusionism circulating in Shaanxi Province and the Northwest region.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Illusionism · Illusionism.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zhou Huayi attached importance to training inheritors, summarizing his lifetime of magic performance experience into "Lecture Notes on Magic" for transmission within the family and from master to disciple. The diversified forms of transmission and dissemination have had a positive influence on the living transmission of Zhou Huayi's magic in the contemporary era.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Fu Tenglong 05-2572
- Wang Xianpo
- Zhou Zhili
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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