Millennium China shadow puppets attract world attention today

Old artists guide Beijing teenagers to experience shadow puppet performances personally.

Photography/Chen Qiang

On November 27, 2011, UNESCO announced that the sixth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is being held in Bali, a tourist resort in Indonesia, decided to include China shadow puppet theater, which has a history of more than a thousand years, in the "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".

Prior to this meeting, there were 213 representative work list items, 16 urgently needed protection list items, and 3 excellent practice list items around the world.

The inclusion of China's shadow play in the "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" has increased the number of items in China's representative works list to 29.

A press release issued by UNESCO said that China shadow puppet is a form of drama in which colored shadow puppets made of leather or paper are performed with music and singing.

Shadow puppets use wooden poles to control shadow puppets behind the scenes, creating dynamic images through light shining on the translucent curtain.

Shadow puppets have many unique skills, such as impromptu singing, falsetto acting, one person manipulating several shadow puppets at the same time, and being able to play a variety of different musical instruments.

Relevant shadow puppet skills are passed down either by families or troupes, or by apprentices.

China shadow play plays an important role in passing on knowledge, enhancing cultural value, and bringing fun to the community, especially young people.

Shadow puppet theater is also known as "lantern shadow theater","shadow theater", and "local shadow theater".

In some areas, it is called "skin monkey theater","paper shadow theater", etc.

It is used by artists behind the scenes to manipulate images cut out of animal skin or cardboard, and use light illumination to show the cut image on a translucent curtain to create a moving image to perform the story.

The artist controls the shadow puppet while singing, and combines it with music.

It is a kind of Chinese folk arts and crafts and traditional opera.

It is an ingenious combination and integration into drama, Ancient opera art and unique artistic varieties with various artistic means such as music.

There has been no accurate textual research on the era when shadow play was formed.

Some people even believe that it has a long history and began to sprout during the Western Han Dynasty two thousand years ago.

According to records in "Tokyo Dream Hua Lu" by Yuanyuan Meng of the Southern Song Dynasty, shadow play matured and became popular in the Song Dynasty at the latest, and has a history of more than a thousand years.

The production skills and processes of traditional shadow puppets are very precise, and the materials used to make the shadow puppet image are also very particular.

First, the selected donkey skin or cowhide is soaked in water to soften it, and then processed to make the skin surface smooth and transparent.

Then, the figure and animal shadow puppet image are carefully carved and painted with various colors.

After it is dried, it is brushed with tung oil.

Its limbs and head can be moved, and the artist uses thin wooden poles to control it and perform.

During the performance, a piece of white gauze was used as the screen.

The artist stood behind the screen and pasted the shadow puppet to the screen.

The light shone forward from behind, reflecting a moving image on the curtain watched by the audience.

Accompanied by the artist's singing and musical instruments, a wonderful play was performed in front of the audience.

Shadow puppets are popular in our country, covering almost every province and region across the country.

Various shadow puppets have been formed due to the different voices and tunes used during performances in various places.

On my country's first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists, shadow puppets are included as an overall item, and the regions and specific projects it applies for involve shadow puppets in Hebei, Shanxi, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places, including Tangshan shadow puppets in Hebei and southern Hebei shadow puppets, Xiaoyi Wanwan cavity shadow puppets in Shanxi, Fuzhou shadow puppets and Lingyuan shadow puppets in Liaoning, Haining shadow puppets in Zhejiang, and Jianghan Plain shadow puppets in Hubei.

Guangdong's Lufeng Shadow Play, Shaanxi's Hua County Shadow Play, Huayin Laoqiang Shadow Play, Auterine Palace Shadow Play, Xianbanqiang Shadow Play, and Gansu's Huan County Daoqing Shadow Play.

This selection into the "Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" has brought the protection and inheritance of China shadow play to a new level, and has also given people from all over the world a better understanding of China shadow play.

Since the 13th century, China shadow puppet art has been introduced to Persia, Arabia, Turkey, Siam, Myanmar, Malay Islands, Japan, etc.

In the mid-18th century, it has been introduced to Europe in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and other countries.

French missionaries also brought China shadow puppet theater back to France and performed in Paris, Marseille and other places.

It was a sensation and was called "China Lantern Shadow" by the French people.

However, in the late Qing Dynasty, the development of shadow puppets was adversely affected due to various reasons.

Later on, due to the Japanese invasion, social unrest and years of war, the people were in dire straits, and the once-prosperous shadow puppets collapsed.

After the founding of New China, the remaining shadow puppet troupes and artists across the country regained their lives with the care and support of the party and the government.

However, the "Cultural Revolution" caused shadow puppet art to suffer bad luck.

The ten years of catastrophe destroyed the family of shadow puppets widely hidden among the people.

It was passed down from generation to generation until after the reform and opening up.

However, under the impact of new technologies such as contemporary film, television, audio and pop cultural entertainment, the endangered situation of shadow puppets is still worrying.

Protection and inheritance is a topic that urgently needs attention and implementation.

Being selected into the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has undoubtedly injected new confidence and vitality into the protection and inheritance of shadow play in China.