Shadow play review

Sing for a thousand years at a time and dance a million soldiers with both hands.

Shadow play is the earliest form of screen entertainment in the world. This is a play earlier than Shakespeare, a film earlier than Lumiere, and rock music earlier than Elvis Presley.

Shadow play, also known as "light and shadow play" and "monkey play", has a long history and is an ancient and peculiar folk opera art in China. Shadow play is related to primitive witchcraft, religion and folk customs. The ancients had a mysterious feeling about the shadow and thought it was their own soul, so they formed witchcraft beliefs and taboos about the shadow. After that, the Taoist alchemist's "Shadow Rejuvenation", combined with the forms of speaking, singing and music, gradually developed into a shadow play. By the Tang and Song Dynasties, shadow play had become quite popular and reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty.

The theme of shadow play is mainly historical and fairy tales, and it is equipped with "five musical instruments": xylophone, gong set, flute, drum and clock. During the performance, the performer stands under the white cloth screen, sticks the shadow on the screen, and projects the shadow on the white cloth with strong light for people to watch. The performer controls a main pole in front of the collar of the shadow puppeteer and two playing poles in both hands, so that the shadow puppeteer can make various actions. Usually, performers should not only be able to control the movements of three or four filmmakers alone, but also closely cooperate with the music on the field, taking into account narrative and singing. In the shadow play, fighting is in full swing, and shadow people's guns come and go, which is very lively. However, Wenchang's music and singing are full of rhythm, sound and emotion, which is touching. The famous traditional shadow play includes Bao Gong's Compensation, The Living Buddha of Jigong, Pig Eight Rings Carrying His Daughter-in-law, Monkey King Thrice Defeats the Skeleton Demon, Sacrifice Tower and so on.

Shadow play has a wide spread, from Heilongjiang Province in the north to Guangdong Province in the south and Qinghai Province in the west. Shadow play in different places has its own unique style, and the figure and shape of shadow puppeteers also have their own characteristics, so various schools have emerged. Among them are cowhide dolls from Shaanxi in the Central Plains, sheepskin shadows from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and paper window grilles from Shanxi. Shadow play absorbs the elements of local operas and music, so it has a variety of vocals, among which Houbeng Kiln in Gansu and Daoqing vocals of Qiang in Wan Wan, Shaanxi are the most famous.

Shadow puppeteers and pavilions in the background are all made of leather, among which cowhide and donkey skin are the most respected, because the shadow puppeteers and backgrounds made of these two kinds of leather are stronger and more transparent. Now, there are also new materials made of resin and FRP. The production of shadow play is very particular. The first thing is to make shadow play. Soak the freshly peeled skin in clear water for a few days, take it out, scrape the bright side of the skin repeatedly until the skin is thin and transparent, and then put it on a wooden frame to tighten and dry in the shade. After the leather is made, it is polished with a hardwood push plate, and then the pattern is drawn with a steel needle. Leather with patterns will be carved on wooden or wax boards, then flattened and colored. Shadow play usually adopts five solid colors: red, yellow, cyan, green and black, giving it a unique aesthetic feeling. Then, the head, upper body, lower body, legs, arms and hands of the characters are connected with lines, and the shadow play is completed.

"A skin is actually full of joys and sorrows, and half of the face is dressed as virtuous, evil and loyal." Because the shadow man can only move up and down, back and forth behind the scenes, except the image of the immortal Buddha, other characters such as Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mei and Ugly are all half-faced. It is this side face that creates a wonderful artistic effect on the screen, so there is a saying that "one-eyed people touch people with two eyes".