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Chinese shadow puppetry history9/3/2023 If possible, she would like to become a music teacher and impart this knowledge to her students. Zhang believes learning shadow puppetry can help her better understand traditional Chinese culture and folk art. An innovative shadow puppet show named The First Shot in Longyuan, which was performed by Zhang and her classmates, won a provincial literature and art award in 2021. One of Liu's favorite students is 20-year-old Zhang Liang, who has become the main puppeteer of the show after two years of training. He came to school twice a week, conducting a two-hour class each time. Thrilled by the news, Liu dropped his farmwork and became a part-time teacher at the college. "We want to develop young students' long-term interest in intangible cultural heritage, so that some of them may choose to become practitioners of traditional art in the future," said Zhao. Zhao told him that the school was going to introduce Daoqing shadow puppetry into college classrooms and invested in textbook compilation, talent training and repertoire innovation to promote the inheritance of the traditional art. The turnaround came in 2020 when he received a phone call from Zhao Zhixue, head of the music school at Longdong University. "I missed those days when people didn't have smart phones, iPads or computers, and we were crowded with audiences during the whole show," Liu said.įaced with the choice between protecting this artistic heritage and making a decent living, he chose to stay on, continually improving his techniques to shoulder the entire troupe's work alone. However, with films and television series gradually becoming major sources of entertainment in the late 1980s, the art's popularity waned and many performers moved on to other jobs.Īs more young people left the villages, Liu faced the problem of finding people to whom he could pass the tradition, an issue faced by other guardians of heritage. Over the past decades, he has mastered special techniques such as folk singing and the ability to play various musical instruments.įor years, shadow plays were welcomed by audiences of all ages in rural China, and were staged for every major occasion. The farmer began learning the craft from his father when he was 14. Hailing from Huanxian county, the hometown of Daoqing shadow plays, Liu has been performing shadow puppetry for 57 years. Originating in the Han Dynasty (202BC-AD220), Daoqing shadow puppetry in Gansu is an important branch of Chinese shadow puppetry and has been included on the national intangible cultural heritage list since 2006. Aside from Liu, the 30-plus performers of the show are all college students around the age of 20. This is a Daoqing shadow puppetry class at Longdong University in Northwest China's Gansu Province. Those sitting in front of the stage play music on gongs, drums, suona horns and other instruments. The Chinese puppet show Photos: IC and VCGAs the powerful singing voice of 71-year-old Liu Aibang echoes across the classroom, students manipulate shadow puppets with rods, making them step onto the "stage" - a translucent cloth screen illuminated from behind. More.The Chinese puppet show Photos: IC and VCG The Chinese National Academy of Arts presented the Xinchuan Award to 60 inheritors of traditional Chinese culture. More.įor the first time, folk craftsmen and artists from all over China have received national recognition for passing down their traditions. Ī shadow puppet play is a form of folk opera that involves cutting animal skin or hard paper into figures and using them in a performance in front of an illuminated backdrop to create the illusion of moving images.Īccompanied by live music, performers behind the screen manipulate the figures while narrating a story to a local tune.Īs an ancient folk art form, it is said to have originated in the Warring States Period, prospered in the Han and Song dynasties and then spread to West Asia and Europe during the Yuan Dynasty.ĭaoqing shadow play gets protection and inheritance in Gansuįolk artist Jing Tingxiao, 63 years old, presents Daoqing (a folk operetta originated from the chanting of Taoist scriptures) shadow play backstage at Chenqiyuan village in Huanxian county, Qingyang, Northwest China's Gansu province. Shadow puppets from the Qing Dynasty are on display at the Shaanxi Art Museum.
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