Northern Sichuan culture

Northern Sichuan has a profound cultural heritage and is deeply influenced by Bashu culture. Shadow play in northern Sichuan is very ornamental, and Peking University Puppet is listed as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage.

Puppets in northern Sichuan have a history of more than 300 years. According to legend, a family named Yang brought puppets to Yilong County in northern Sichuan when they immigrated in the early Qing Dynasty. 19 14, the puppet artist Li Yuezhi of Yilong County bought the puppet technique of Yang descendants, led his sons Li and Li Zhangxiang, and founded the "Fuxiang Class". Since then, the big puppet art has been active frequently in northern Sichuan, known to all women and children, and is called "northern Sichuan puppet".

The puppet is about 1.4 meters long and weighs about 5 kilograms, but it has rich expressions and flexible movements. According to the requirements of the plot, the puppet can move eyes, eyebrows, mouth, head, ears, nose, hands, waist and joints. When performing, you can take things, take off your clothes, wear a hat, put on your boots, blow some wax, and dust off your sleeves. At the same time, badminton, fans and sleeves can also be vividly performed through puppets. Dolls (children play) on the same stage, forming an artistic feature of confusing the real with the fake, which is also true and false. Because the puppet in northern Sichuan is almost as big as a real person and belongs to the "giant" in the puppet family, the performer must use a cloth bag tied to his waist and insert a five-foot straight stick into the cloth bag as a support point to free up his hands to manipulate the puppet to complete various actions.

Puppet in northern Sichuan is an exquisite folk art, and its vivid performance and beautiful changes have made great contributions to the cultural diversity and the inheritance of national culture in Sichuan. Shadow play in northern Sichuan is an ancient traditional art of Han nationality and a puppet show widely circulated among the people. Shadow play has a long history, which can be traced back to the Han Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, there were many records about shadow play in ancient books. Northern Sichuan shadow play is active in Nanchong, Xichong, Nanbu, Langzhong, Yilong and other counties and villages. It is favored by people in mountainous areas for its vivid modeling, exquisite carving, exquisite performance, beautiful singing, funny plot and music. The shadow play created by Wang Wenkun, a native of Baotai Township in Langzhong, is very influential in northern Sichuan.

Shadow play in northern Sichuan, the characters are tall, the heads and hats are connected, and the heads and bodies can be changed. Eucalyptus is divided into three types: large, medium and small. The big one is 2 feet high, commonly known as the "door god". Medium-sized 1.5 feet high to 1.8 feet, known as the "two-door god", small and chic 0.8 feet high, known as the "little door god." According to its development stage, it can be divided into: Tupi Shadow Play, Guangpi Shadow Play (Weinan Shadow Play) and Wangpi Shadow Play. Among them, Wang Shadow Play is a unique shadow play created by the northern Sichuan Shadow Play artist represented by Wang Wenkun, the master of Baotai Shadow Play in our city, drawing on the advantages of Tu Shadow Play and Guang Shadow Play and integrating the essence of Sichuan Opera costumes. Its height is about 1.5 feet, with fine carving, vivid characters, clear and smooth lines, bright and harmonious colors, complete and unified composition, and every shadow play is a beautiful handicraft.

In the artistic practice of several generations, the northern Sichuan shadow puppetry artists, after careful study and constant innovation, mostly have high artistic accomplishment and superb handling skills. They can vividly express the thoughts and feelings of different characters and roles through the screen. Shadow characters on the screen, dancing step by step in Long Ta, Phoenix Pavilion, carved pavilions, red flowers and green trees, strange peaks and strange valleys, blue sea and blue sky, kill with their sleeves, as if they were real and unreal, which amazed the audience.