Zhengning puppet show is commonly known as "mud play", also known as "elbow beard", which refers to people using puppets as a medium to "sing stories with opera singing and dancing", which is a comprehensive opera art integrating **, singing, painting and carving. It has been rooted in the folk for a long time with the simple beauty of its content, the original beauty of its form, the compatible beauty of performing arts, and the harmonious beauty of the first place, and has become a folk characteristic "unique activity" sung by the rural people in Zhengning for generations. "The village heads watch the puppets, and the historical allusions are on the stage; Lift and tell stories at the same time, and look at the world from every inch. This ballad, which has been circulated in the countryside of Zhengning, is a metaphor for the image of puppet show.
Puppet theatre was produced in the court during the Tang Dynasty. Because the predecessor of Zhengning, Guluochuan County, is close to Chang'an, it was introduced into Zhengning in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, and became popular in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and sang red in the countryside in the Ming and Qing dynasties, with a history of about 1,000 years. According to the "Zhengning County Chronicles", during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Du, a villager of Wanglu in Gonghe Town, the county, led the puppet show in the official theater, and became a well-known artist in the north. At present, Liang Junxiao, Zhou Xingping, Liang Zhongcang, Lu Yinxia, etc. are the main inheritors.
Zhengning puppet show.
carve wood as a puppet and make a play with a puppet". The performance characteristics of Zhengning puppet show "using objects like people" determine that its singing is extremely convenient, with only a few people, finding a small open space, pulling a small curtain, and the actors are hidden behind the scenes to manipulate the puppet performance. When the puppet performance is accompanied by Qin dialect singing, an actor can dub several different roles, and even the male voice can play the role of Dan, or the female voice dubbing at the end of life, the singing voice is agitated, with a generous and tragic style, reflecting a strong artistic characteristics of opera and stage art. The accompanying instruments include strings, suona, music cards, and percussion; The singing cavity has a slow plate, a two-six plate, a generation plate, a two-guide plate, a backing plate, and a rolling plate; The lines played include Zhengdan, Xiaodan, Lao Dan, Xu Sheng, Xiao Sheng, Flower Face, and Harlequin; The singing categories include big play, small play, and divine play. The repertoire includes traditional operas, stories of the Three Kingdoms, myths and historical legends, including more than 10 repertoire such as "The Legend of the Golden Scales", "Havoc in the Heavenly Palace", "Chang'e Running to the Moon", "Yang Zongbao Recruiting Relatives", "Yuanmen Chop", "Mu Guiying in Command", "Flame Horse", "Three Drops of Blood" and so on, all of which are excellent works. At the same time, contemporary puppeteers make full use of modern scientific and technological products, according to the needs of theatrical content and the aesthetic trend of the times, design and produce puppets, making them more exaggerated and artistic, constituting a splendid and colorful puppet modeling world. They continue to explore the combination between modern art and traditional culture in their singing practice, and integrate advanced electroacoustic technology into the puppet show, which not only completely retains the essence of the puppet show, but also increases the audio-visual effect and makes the puppet show more moving and exciting.
Zhengning puppet theater is divided into three types: marionette (popular in the late Tang Dynasty), glove puppet (popular in the Song Dynasty), and stick puppet (after the Ming and Qing dynasties). In general, marionettes are taller, mostly at 2About 2 feet (old system, the same below). The key parts are embellished with threads, up to more than 30, at least more than 10, such as stunt performances must also add a number of auxiliary threads as needed. The level of puppeteers' performance of various dance postures and martial arts skills depends entirely on the artist's operating skills, which is the key to the level of marionette performance art. Glove puppets, also known as puppets in the palm of the hand, puppet shows, etc., the height of the puppet is 03 meters or 05 meters, the head is hollow, the inner bag of the cloth is sewn under the neck and the limbs are connected, the costume is outside, the actor's palm is stretched into the inner bag of the cloth as the torso of the puppet, and the five fingers support the head and the left and right arms respectively, and coordinate with each other to manipulate the puppet to make various movements, and the puppet's feet can be moved with the other hand, or let it swing naturally. The puppet is also known as the stick puppet, higher than the marionette, generally about 3 feet high, the puppet head and both hands are equipped with a lever, the head is the main rod, the hands are the side rods, the actor holds the main rod in his left hand, holds the side rod in his right hand, and lifts the puppet to manipulate its movements. Some are three rods or "puppets", and there are internal and external manipulations according to the position of the hand rod. The head is carved with wood, and the internal mechanism is hidden to make the mouth and eyes move; The life pole is made of wood and bamboo, and the length and length of each faction are different, and the hand pole is connected with the hand and elbow. The "internal manipulators" mostly perform traditional opera repertoire, with wide robes and large sleeves, which is convenient for performing opera programs, and the movements are flexible and lifelike. "External manipulation" multi-bend barbar lifebar, reducing the burden and increasing expressiveness; The paper puppet head turns smartly, easy to control, with diverse mechanisms and rich movements; Because the hand rod is outside, the body is shaped freely, and the overall sense is enhanced, breaking through the limitations of traditional modeling, which is more in line with the needs of the characters and the times. During the performance, 2-3 people generally hang the puppet and sing, and 4-6 people accompani, "three or five people, can be thousands of troops; Six or seven steps, you can reach the four seas and nine states."
Zhengning puppet shape is very exquisite, it is processed with tough wood, using deformation and exaggerated techniques, painting, decoration, so that it has both form and spirit, lifelike. In the past, the puppet head was carved with wood, the size of a fist, the face was stylized, and wearing a beard was a beard, and taking off a beard was a small life. In recent years, it has been improved, and the head is turned into a gypsum mold, and the paper shell is reborn, which is light and strong. The puppet head is carefully designed according to the character of the character, and the eyes, eyebrows, mouth, tongue, and ears are pretended to be active with strings and sticks, plus feet and legs, turning the dull and ruthless puppet into a person with rich feelings. In the puppet making process, the most important thing is the strings at each joint, they are the key to control the puppet's blinking, nodding and other actions, these strings will eventually converge on the three main operating levers, in order to ensure that there are no accidents during the performance, all parts of the puppet must be fixed. In this way, the puppeteer can not only make the puppet's head, arms, elbows, wrists, fingers, waist and legs stretch and flex freely, but also make the eyes and mouth open and close vividly and vividly. During the performance, you can make the puppet open and close the fan, dress, wear a hat, pour wine, hold a book, write, open a bow and shoot arrows, and other actions, every move is accurate and natural. Finally, the puppet is painted with a face, dressed, and dressed up before the performance.
Zhengning puppet show costumes and hats are designed by the artist himself, the selection of high-grade satin, pure hand-cutting, sewing, embroidery, the whole production process of excellence, first on the cloth with a fine pencil carefully outline the pattern, this is the foundation, and then color layering, the choice of coloring, embroidery, the peony and the armor of the samurai on the Danjiao costume are generally embroidered with a variety of fine stitches to create a beautiful flower shape, and then marked with dazzling gold or silver thread; The water moire pattern of the official robes such as the champion needs to be prepared with special pigments and painted one by one. The production of the hat first has a layer of cloth and a layer of paste, repeatedly, and beaten into a thick "paving"; "Paving" is flattened and dried, the shape is cut out according to the size of the puppet head, and then the seam is glued, and then the hat last is used to finalize the shape; After setting, it is carefully wrapped with velvet of different colors; Where there are folds and layers, it is also necessary to sew with the "hidden needle method"; Finally, put on all kinds of hats and accessories, and you are done. These traditional puppets are chic and handsome, the horns are beautiful and lovely, the military attache is heroic, and the clown is witty and funny, lifelike, and wonderful, which is really a boutique of traditional puppet modeling.
Zhengning puppet show is a unique artistic wonder in the art of Chinese opera, is currently included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage, the local people use this original ecological unique art to express their pure and simple thoughts and feelings, pray for good weather, national peace and security, worship the gods and ancestors, red and white ceremonies, singing puppet show conventions. It carries and embodies the folk customs, public participation, performance flexibility, cultural applicability and regional particularity, contains outstanding anthropological, ethnological and folklore values, and has a positive role in promoting folk culture, prospering opera art and promoting social progress, and has become an indispensable spiritual food for the people.
*: Qingyang Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television and Tourism.