Chinese Shadow play
10 min readAlso known as the”Deng Ying Xi”or”Ying Xi ren, “shadow play is a form of ancient folk art in China, a type of puppet show. Developed from “plain paper cutting to “colored leather adding”to leather carving and painting, shadow play is exaggerating in figures and simple in performance preparation and with the characteristic of mystery and strong local and country flavor, it is favored by chinesepeople. The figure, the property and the view object for the show are special artworks, products of combination of Chinese folk arts and crafts and opera Shadow figures are similar to folk paper-cut, but the hands, legs, etc, after being carved, will be connect to in the joints and then linked together, to be flexible enough o perform. They were firstly the thick paper sculpture, and later made of cattle skin, donkey skin, and sheep skin. Process to make shadow figures: Steeping the cattle skin, donkey skin or sheep skin, scraping and grinding, dividing flatting and smoothing(to avoid the shrinkage) the skin, to make it approximate glass, suitable for carving; then carve, color, iron and bind by hand the ultimate goal is to get a smooth body and flexible arms and legs. Shadow figure carving needs particular care. Generally there are three kinds of cutters, oblique-edge cutter, even-edge cutter and pattern-edge file It is carved with each part separate, namely, carving the head the upper body, the lower body, arms, legs, hands and feet one by one
Considering the difference in thickness and softness of the skin, shadow figure carving is divided into two systems: cattle skin systems and donkey skin system. Being similar to donkey skin in thickness, sheepskin and paper for show figure also belong to donkey skin system. Being relatively thick, cattle skin needs more complex carving tools, and donkey skin carving is relatively simple. In Shaanxi, Hunan and other places, cattle skin is usually used, and donkey skin in Hebei, Northeast China, Beijing, etcArtists have created a variety of carving methods: open carving and secret engraving open and secret supporting carving, and open and secret cutting file And the dotted ne hollowing out skill of open carving is adopted for shadow figures, namely retaining the lines that present the body and hollowing out the rest. Another skill used is the chasing which is mostly applied to character masks and some decorating patterns. After carving is done, then smooth, polish, and color the figure, in transparent colors for illumination purpose the first-stage coloring should use hid glue for modulating the colors to achieve strong adhesive force, and the covering colors are red, yellow, blue, green and black Coloring methods are dominated by flat coloring, and sometimes delineating and shading are used to enhance the third dimension
Limited by the plane modeling, shadow figure has only side image Masks and headdress have a great variety, rich styling, and outstanding personalities. The lower side(half face) modeling of mask and headdress is of much ornamental value. All make the mask and headdress the essence of the shadow play. The costume is basically similar to opera costume, including robes, armor, and civilian clothes according to different identities and genders. The half-size face(seventy percent of body ) modeling of costume is adopted to present the complete costume and accessories the figure Wears
The vivid, colorful shadow figures under the control of artists, projected onto the screen(Liang zi) in the light, dance with musical accompaniment and singing. In order to adapt to the screen manifestation, into shadow figures and the view objects the abstract and realistic ways are blended, and the integrated treatment of complanation, artification, exaggeration and dramatization are applied. The masks and costume are vivid and lifelike, exaggerated and humorous, simple and rough, or delicate and sweet. The figures are not only for performance, but also for playing w both hands for entertainment purpose, or for appreciation before the window and on the wall being simple and elegant and of strong ethnic flavor shadow figures are of both artistic appreciation values and collection value
This show can date back to Western Han Dynasty, when Emperor Wu missing his lover, he would watch her picture from the other side of the curtain But that is onlythe alchemist magic, and can’t prove itself to be the origin of shadow play. Later in Song dynasty, shadow play had been very popular in the city. As recorded in the Dongjing Menghua Lu of Meng Yuanlao in Song Dynasty, there were many Wasi(entertainment venue) in Bianliang(Capital of northern Song Dynasty and the present Kaifeng City of Henan). The singing and saying literature was prevailing Shadow play appeared in the form of “storytelling on the other side of the paper and shadow random talking. In the Southern Song dynasty, there was Hui Ge She, association of shadow play, in Linan City(the capital city, and the present Hangzhou ) This show also had taken part in the “hundred-opera fair”of Beijing in 1508
Qing Dynasty saw an unprecedented development and popularity of this show with content richer and richer, figure images increasingly diverse, and chasing more delicate. During the reign of Emperor Jiaqing(1796-1820), the shadow play troupes would be invited into the residence for performing during the festival. At that time, the troupes in Beijing performed puppet show during the day and shadow play in the evening. Many Beijing Opera actors would joint the shadow play troupe sometimes Beijing shadow figures were well known for the line carving In middle and later Qing Dynasty, by shaping, there were masks of the “lead, the female lead, the “painted face. the old lead”and the clown five main characters of chinese opera Shaanxi shadow play tangshan shadow play longdong shadow play and beijing Shadow Play are the four major shadow play schools. Shaanxi Shadow Play School has a long history and maintains many elements of folk storytelling. The figures, plain, concise but delicate, are good ornaments. The shaping is simple, lines lively and vigorous, and the whole figure is an outline with some part retained, to achieve thebalance between complicated and simple, false and true. The figure, the property and the background are usually decorated with beautiful patterns, presenting a flowery but succinct ensemble. Each part of the image is nice and the whole image is in harmony. On the stage, the distinction between the important and the lesser ones is well presented, colors are striking and lines are natural in density By region and art characteristic, Shaanxi Shadow play falls into donglu and xilu schools which are of different characteristics: Donglu are exquisite in shaping, strict in ornament and carving, and of relatively small size (roughly 36 centimeters); Xilu are rough in modeling, concise in ornament, and of lager size(about 56 centimeters)
During the reign of Emperor Wanli in Ming Dynasty(1573-1620), an unsuccessful Luanzhou scholar Huang Suzhi created a important shadow play school-Tangshan School, after failing in the imperial competitive examination for many times. His profound knowledge contributed to the script of this creative work. Being proficient in drawing and carving, he transformed those scripts into the delicate figures Tangshan School is famous for the small size of figure skill of line carving variedcarving ways, exaggerate modeling and high decoration value. a figure comprises six parts connected by iron wire and silk, and can move freely. Seen from the shaping, thefigure has big nose and small mouth, very classy. It is also called”donkey skin shadow for it is made of donkey skin in general. This school is dominated by the young female character, “the “junior, “”senior, the “painted face, and the clown “It is rich in characters, complicated but neat carving, and exquisite cutting ways. Pulling carving pushing carving, rotating carving, rhythmic carving, open carving, and secret carving every carving is accurate, speedy, and stable. After being down, and installed with three rods, the figure would be agile enough to move and can imitate the movement of a person
Shaanxi is the center of shadow play of northwestern China，around which lots of schools have developed.Among them，Longdong School of gansu Province had been popular in Ming and Qing dynasties Characterized with the exaggerate and varied shaping，Longdong School shadow figures have big head and small body with the upper body narrow，lower body wide，and arms extending over the knee.Except some clown and monster have the 3 4 side face all the others have the side face the rule of facial masks is basically the same as that of Shaanxi Opera，namely，the black is loy the white wicked，red upright，the colorful brave，and the hollow（openly carved）justOther items like the hall，the table，the bed and all kinds of animals and flowers are condensed in size，and are perspective and slightly lower than the figure.Materials cover skin of young and black-hair ox，for it is proper in thickness and softness，and is blue and somewhat transparent.It is ready after shaved，dried to be transparent Draftis drawn on the skin and the skin would be carved with different cutters then color it with transparent water colors without diluting to get the magnificent and contrasting effect.When carving and coloring are done，it’s time for ironing，the most critical procedure.Dry and bind it after being ironed，and then it is ready for performance
Beijing School can date back to the period of Liao and Jin, and was imported from the Yellow River Plain. After Beijing was determined to be the Capital of Yuan Dynasty, shadow play went around and was the main entertainment of Mongolia army. In Ming Dynasty, this school, integrating characteristics of shadow play of various places, developed its feature of capita: Large in size(40-50 centimeters tall), rough but orderly in carving ways, fine in ornament, and rich in characters. In Qing Dynasty, it maintained it popularity won particular favor from the nobilities and generated lots of troupes. In the reign of Emperor Tongzhi (1862-1874), divided by the tian an men a gate of the Imperial Palace, Beijing School falls into the East and West schools. The East School, also called the Luanzhou shadow, was active in the Dongsi area, and the West School also called the zhuozhou shadow was active in the area between the Xuanwumen gate and the entrance of Xinjie Street. during the performance, while the West School kept the script away and sang from memory, the east School would refer to the script. In the early days the figures were all made of donkey skin. the eastSchool emphasized the covering color, and covering with tung oil, so the figure was also called the greasepaint shadow figure the west school colored the figure withmineral dye, and used no tung oil, so the figure was called the watercolor shadow figure. “In the reign of Emperor Guangxu(1871-1908), lots of troupes dismissed due to depressed business. The “De Shun Ban”(a troupe) of West School, led by Lu Zongyou, went through a range of reforms, including accompany, facial masks, and costume reforms, and achieved great success. Lushi Shadow Play is handled down to the 6generation now, and is a typical one in Beijing School. The 4generation successor of Lushi Shadow Play, Lu Zongyou was open-minded, willing to research and study on this art, and epitomized strong points of many other schools to enrich the singing. He had five sons, all of which were shadow play masters and played different roles in the performance. His third son Lu Jingda, was skilled at not only “playing the figure,” but also carving the figure. Figures he made were fine and exquisite, colorful and varied in shaping.
In the early Republic of China, there were lots of troupes, famous artists, and promising young artists developed, having a deep influence on this industry. In 1930s, in addition to being performed in the country and city in China, shadow play had spread overseas, like Japan and Korea The record companies run by American, Japanese and British invited the well-known artists of Luanzhou Shadow (Tangshan School)to make shadow play record, finishing hundreds of records. Those records were rerecorded and distributed by Chinese record companies. But Beijing School suffered the depression, with only the West School maintained a small number of troupes. In 1949, only “De Shun Ban” of Lushi Shadow Play retained, and was changed to be the “Beijing Shunde Shadow Play Club, “and conducted many reforms: materials of the figure (donkey skin was changed to sheep skin), repertoire, performance, music and light reforms. After 1950s, the screen lighting was improved. The oil lamp was replaced by the vapor lamp and the electrical lamp. The screen was bigger. Repertoire was dominated by historical stories, myth and fairy tales, as well as themes presenting modern life. The China Puppetry and Shadow Arts Association, set up in 1980, holds Golden Lion: National Puppet and Shadow Competition once four years, Golden Lion: National Puppet and Shadow Young and Middle-aged Competition once two years, and calls on all its affiliated institutes and troupes to give commonweal performances on the China Cultural Heritage Day in June, to contribute to the popularity and development of shadow play and puppet art in contemporary days
The craftsmanship of contemporary shadow figures lays more stress to the static artistic value and decorative value. With themes and craftsmanship of traditional shadow play retained, characters and figures in the show, presented with consummate and fine carving skills, are for exhibition, decoration and collection. In 2006, shadow play in 13 provinces or cities in China was listed into the first batch of state-level intangible cultural heritage, in 2006 and 13 more were added in 2008. In 2011, Chinese shadow play was included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Taking this opportunity, shadow play entered the museums of various places and the art institutes of higher learning. For example, Tangshan Museum and National Art Museum of China Academy of Art have set up the Shadow Play Hall, and provided on-the-spot shadow play.
