On November 27, 2011, the sixth session of the Inter-Commission for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO reviewed and approved the inscription of Chinese shadow puppetry on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As an important part of Chinese shadow puppetry, Haining shadow puppetry was officially included in the "Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity".
Shadow puppetry was first formed in the Northern Song Dynasty, originated in the north of China, and was introduced to Jiangnan with the southward migration of the Song dynasty in the Southern Song Dynasty, and then rose in Jiangnan. "Dream Lianglu" contains: "There are more shadow actors, the original Bianjing was carved with plain paper at the beginning, and the descendants skillfully carved the shape of sheepskin, which was used to decorate with colors and not be damaged. This record records the changes in the materials used in the shadow puppet theater in Lin'an, Kyoto, which is also known as the "sheepskin play", and also shows the popularity of shadow puppetry at that time.
During the Southern Song Dynasty, Haining (then known as Yanguan) belonged to Hangzhou, only a few dozen miles away from Kyoto. Shadow puppetry was also introduced to Haining during the Southern Song Dynasty, and then took root and multiplied, and has been performed to this day. Shadow puppet play in Haining called "sheepskin play", and Haining is the silk production area, depending on the silkworm raising as a god, the custom of praying for silkworm gods and silkworm flowers is extremely prosperous, and the shadow puppet show caters to this custom and is also called "silkworm flower play". After the Yuan Dynasty, shadow puppetry has become a regular performance activity in Haining, and it gradually flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Zha Qichang of the Qing Dynasty has a poem "Ancient Salt Official Song": "New Year's shadow drama gathers star tanks, and Jingu Village makes a night window;."Yan said that the children of Chang'an Jia, lavender sang Yiyang dialect", describing the prosperity of Haining shadow puppetry at that time.
*In the early days, there were 11 shadow puppet troupes and nearly 100 shadow puppet artists in Haining County. The most famous are the "Azhou Class" of Wei Bairong, the foreman of Zhouwangmiao, and the "Langjia Class" of Xieqiao. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were still 4 amateur opera troupes in the county. After that, the shadow puppet show activities were mainly shadow puppet artists, and a shadow puppet troupe was formed to perform shadow puppet performances. In May 2006, Haining shadow puppetry was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
Haining shadow puppet portraits are made of cowhide as the material, through drawing, cutting, hooking, coloring, sewing, inserting and other processes, the main characteristics are: less carving, heavy color painting, single line flat coating. The characters are vivid, humane, less exaggerated, and close to reality. The shadow puppet as a whole is mainly one-handed and side-legged (sideways), which is quite folk characteristics. The shadow figure is equipped with a nail tube, a bamboo stick is inserted, the joints of the figure are sewn with threads, and the head and torso separation method are used at the same time, which is convenient for flexible operation and unique to the country.
After the shadow puppet play was introduced into Haining, it was integrated with the local "Haitang Salt Gong Song" and "Haining Minor", and absorbed the classical opera vocal cavity such as Yiyang cavity, changed the northern song to the southern cavity, and formed the ancient style based on the two major vocal cavities of Yiyang cavity and Haiyan cavity, the tune is high-pitched and passionate, tactful and elegant, with flute, erhu and other Jiangnan silk and bamboo, the rhythm is bright and melodious, and it is very rich in the charm of the water town. At the same time, the lyrics and narration were changed to Haining dialect, which was integrated into the local rhythm of Haining and catered to the taste of the local audience.
The shadow puppet front desk has a master (starring) and a lower hand (assistant), and two actors work together to perform, each manipulating one or more shadow puppets. In the Haining shadow puppet performance, the shadow people turn, flip, jump, very flexible, use freely, in the martial arts drama with knives and guns, fist fighting, head picking (beheading) and other difficult martial arts actions are particularly exciting, is a must in the Jiangnan shadow puppet play. The backstage of the shadow puppet is responsible for drumming and coordination, according to the content of the performance, such as entering the venue, leaving the court, going to the court, judging the court, opening and ending, etc., with fixed special music cards to enhance the performance effect.
The song card is a kind of special music during shadow puppet performances, and its names include Sunny Days, Tai Chi Yin and Yang, Auspicious Clouds and Ten Thousand Ways, and Falling to the Ground. There are nearly 100 kinds of tunes in Haining shadow puppetry, and only more than 40 kinds are retained. Haining shadow puppetry is good at performing mythological dramas and martial arts dramas, and the degree of richness of the repertoire is not comparable to other types of dramas, with 303 in 1956 and 243 in 2004 when it was declared as a national intangible cultural heritage.
Haining shadow puppet play "to make people, to light as a shadow, to the volume as the foundation, to the shadow as a play", the craft is exquisite, the sound cavity is unique and beautiful, the repertoire is rich, the so-called "a mouthful of thousands of things, both hands to dance a million soldiers", in the past thousand years in the inheritance and innovation of its own school, become an outstanding representative of the southern school of Chinese shadow puppetry.
Author: Haining Historical Research Office.