"Live Shadow Play" in Shaanxi Art History —— Sinkboard Culture

Shadow play is one of China's ancient and unique folk arts, and Shaanxi's shadow play is an outstanding representative of shadow play art, which can be divided into three categories. Shaanxi's "live shadow play" also fully reflects the local folk characteristics and customs.

This issue of Shaanxi Culture brings you a living Shaanxi shadow play culture. Let's have a look.

First, the artistic characteristics of Shaanxi shadow play

Shadow play is the general name of shadow play and shadow play products (including characters, scene props and scenery). Shadow play products include figures (heads, figures), horseback riding, fairy flowers, scenery films (colored curtains, indoor and outdoor scenery, ceremonial vehicles, birds and animals) and so on. Shaanxi Shadow Play is also called "Cowhide Doll Shadow Play" or "Bangzi Shadow Play", and was formerly called "storytelling through the curtain", which is distributed almost all over the province. Shadow play is not only a prop in performance, but also an ornamental work of art with independent aesthetic value. Hua county and Huayin are the best shadow plays in Shaanxi, with small size and fine carving.

1, made of cowhide, carefully carved.

Shaanxi shadow play is carved from high-quality cowhide (calves aged 4-6 are the best). The treated cowhide is translucent linen yellow, with natural morphological characteristics such as soft luster and natural texture effect, which embodies the natural vitality and true affinity, and creates the unique aesthetic implication and artistic personality of Shaanxi cowhide shadow play.

Shaanxi shadow play is famous for its exquisite carving, complex patterns and strong decoration among several major schools in China. Especially in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the art of shadow play in Shaanxi reached its peak, and folk artists created a large number of carefully carved shadow plays. Its colorful curtains, fairy flowers, meticulous shadow play masks and stylized decorative patterns are unprecedented works of art in Chinese shadow play sculpture.

In the long-term artistic practice, Shaanxi shadow play artists are skilled, bold and cautious, and adopt the original method of pushing the skin and taking the knife, controlling the hand to push the skin along the line and carve, which reflects superb skills. There are mainly solid lines and dotted lines for drawing lines. The solid line peels off the lines, resulting in a hollow effect, and the dotted line peels off the epidermis, resulting in a three-dimensional effect. This sculpture form of contrast between reality and reality is the main method of shadow play modeling. Rooted in the consciousness of folk philosophy, the world view of Yin-Yang Taiji, which is complementary, virtual and real, transformed and endless, has been perfectly applied and developed in Shaanxi shadow play sculpture.

For example, the head of shadow play is born in stubble, and the hollow white face highlights the personality characteristics of eyebrows, eyes and facial features; Three-dimensional face painting with clear corners is convenient for the color development of facial makeup; The clown's half-hollowed, half-solid face highlights the "white tofu block", and these faces with different styles complement each other in the flickering light and shadow outside the window.

Shaanxi shadow play carved a large number of patterns and patterns in the concise outline, in which the contrast between complex and simple, the mutual penetration of points, lines and surfaces perfectly reflected the law of formal beauty. Picture 1 At first glance, it can be described as dazzling, but at second glance, it is exquisite.

2, meaning five colors, strong and distinct colors.

The color of Shaanxi shadow play is mainly red and green, black is harmonious, the color is evenly painted and dried layer by layer. Plus the yellow cowhide on the shadow window and the white of the hollowed-out part, * * * has five colors. It is the embodiment and application of the all-encompassing and simplified classification of the traditional folk five elements and five colors.

The personality characteristics of the characters in shadow play, such as loyalty, courage, cunning and treachery, are shown in four colors: red, black, yellow and white. Shadow puppeteers learn from the color matching schemes of Shaanxi Shehuo facial makeup and local opera facial makeup, especially the Qing Dynasty painted facial makeup. The color separation rendering of different color block combinations is meticulous, and with the changeable hollowed-out lines, different roles' Facebook schemes are formed, which is the most attractive place of Shaanxi Shadow Play.

The public aesthetic consciousness of either red or green in painting embodies the characteristics of Shaanxi people's distinct personality and strong feelings. The contrast of red, green and black is applied to temples, pavilions, trees and rocks in complex scenes, which echoes the color of the shadow man, making the overall color effect on the shadow window harmonious, warm, bright and calm. Supernatural animals created by images and imaginations of mythical immortals, nuns and boys. There are subjective, exaggerated, romantic and absurd immortals. Common ones are Xiangyun, fire lion, big green unicorn and big red dragon. Shadow play artists try their best to imagine that their creative ideas are eclectic.

The overall tone of Shaanxi shadow play is gorgeous without exaggeration, with sharp contrast, harmony and unity, and strong decorative interest, which shows the meaning of traditional folk art to the extreme.

3, the ideal shape, the characters are clear from good to evil.

The figures in shadow play all over the world follow the * * feature of "five points and seven points", that is, the front head is connected with half of the body, which is the embodiment of folk perfection. The most striking modeling feature of the figures in Shaanxi shadow play is that they are ideal high-priced modeling regardless of health, beauty, cleanliness and ugliness, and they are called "petrocranium". The figure's forehead is full, smooth and prominent, full of aura. Since ancient times, "full vestibule" is generally regarded as a feature of intelligence and self-confidence, which has been exaggerated and strengthened in Shaanxi shadow play. Shaanxi folk paper-cutting, Fengxiang clay sculpture and New Year pictures have similar characteristics.

Since the Song Dynasty, shadow play and facial modeling all over the country have reflected that "the faithful carve the right shape, while the wicked carve the ugly shape"