Xiantao Shadow Puppetry

Xiantao Shadow Puppetry, also known as "Mianyang Shadow Puppetry", is unique with its exquisite and vivid images, beautiful and lyrical singing, witty lines, and elegant and melodious accompaniment, and is deeply loved by the people. There is a folk song in Mianyang about "looking at the cowhide, boiling the eyelids, going home in the middle of the night to beat the drum skin, and the wife pinching her eyebrows to pinch her spleen", which shows that shadow puppetry has great allure. Although its origin cannot be verified, as early as the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the area had the habit of singing shadow puppets when holding ceremonies to thank gods and during festivals. Over time, a unique style and carving characteristics were formed. The singing style is mainly singing style and Mianyang fishing drum style. The "Chicken Crying Tune" in singing and shadow puppetry originated from the "Song of Besieged on All Sides" of Chu State in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. It is a living "fossil" in traditional Chinese music. The fish drum tune comes from the begging songs of artists in the old days. It has various tunes and has a strong local flavor.

There are many schools of Mianyang shadow puppetry with different singing styles. In the early days, they often traveled through villages, market towns, tea houses, and restaurants. Due to different popular regions, Mianyang shadow puppets are divided into Shangluzi, Zhongluzi and Xialuzi. Artists habitually call the singing shadow puppets Shangluzi shadow puppets and the Yugu shadow puppets Xialuzi shadow puppets (in order from the upper and lower reaches of the Han River). The shadow puppet shows in the areas of Miancheng, Guohe, Zhanggou, Yanglinwei and Pengchang, which are located between the shadow puppet shows on Shangxia Road, are called Zhongluzi shadow puppets.

Shangluzi tune draws on folk tunes such as grass-root songs, Dago songs, and chicken crow tunes. Zhongluzi tune incorporates Han opera, Chu opera and other singing styles, interpreting Mianyang shadow puppetry's openness to all rivers. Xialuzi tune The melody is melodious and melodious, which is the origin of Mianyang Fishing Drum Tune.

"Mianyang County Chronicles" records that in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, there was a custom of singing shadow puppets in Mianyang area whenever there was a meeting or to honor the gods. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, brothers Pi Sijin and Pi Siyin, the fishing and drum artists of Mianyang Embroidery Embankment, were forced to live in other places due to the floods in their hometown for ten years. Shadow puppet performances are performed using cloth shoe shells to imitate local shadow puppets and accompanied by Mianyang fishing drums, which initially forms the local characteristics of Mianyang shadow puppets. Later, it became increasingly popular, and a shadow puppet guild was established during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and then developed to the Yingcheng area. Mianyang Yugu shadow puppet artists unanimously recognize the Pi brothers as the first generation ancestors of Mianyang shadow puppetry. At the same time, like folk theater troupes, they respect the "Old Lang Wang Opera God" and set up a memorial tablet to worship.

“Yuguqiang” is named after the singing instrument “Yugutong”. By the end of the Qing Dynasty (around 1900), Mianyang Yugu Opera and shadow puppetry were completely merged and integrated into one, becoming a unique Yugu Opera shadow play, even replacing the singing shadow puppetry in some areas. There are five types of Mianyang Fishing and Drum singing styles in shadow play, including Ping Tune, Bei Tune, Yuwei Tune (or Fengwei Tune), Pipa Tune, and Zahua Tune. The singer uses real and fake voices, with large scale jumps, wide range, beautiful timbre, high voice, tactful, conveying emotions, and is very moving.

The production of Mianyang Yugu shadow puppets has gone through several stages of evolution: shoe shell, paper shell, cowhide and donkey skin. In terms of shape, Mianyang shadow puppets are about two feet long, and their shapes are relatively realistic. The film content is rich, including more than 100 plays such as The Conflict between Chu and Han, Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Journey to the West. The artist performs on the spot based on the notes (summary) in the Daikou notebook. The language is composed of the "five, five, seven, five" sentence pattern, and the accompaniment is rhymed with fish drum tubes and simple boards, making it easy to understand. The last sentence of each verse focuses on "shaking off the baggage". Sometimes "Haoshui Ci" or "Interlude" are added impromptu. For example, "After singing for a while, there is not a cup of tea. Although the tea in the hotel is expensive, you can simmer it in a jar.

Features:

The shadow puppets imitate the facial makeup of drama characters, with exquisite carvings, raw and dan , Jing, Mo, Chou, with a complete range of skills; the content is rich (mostly from historical stories, biographies, etc.), the plots are ups and downs, and the suspense is endless; it is sung in the tune of fishing drums, the language is humorous, and it is rich in local flavor. It is widely spread in Xiantao City and Rural areas, and even the Jianghan Plain.

Representative figures: Pi Sijin, Pi Siyin, Zhang Hongxian, Liu Pao, Chen Dahuan, Chen Dahai, etc.

Xiantao shadow puppetry has been passed down from generation to generation in New China. After its establishment, the number of singers increased. Mianyang shadow puppets with exquisite carvings and high-pitched singing brought a lot of laughter and glory to Xiantao people. In 1951, Xiantao established the first shadow puppet theater troupe in Hubei Province. In 1953, shadow puppet artist Gong Benhuai created and performed. "Wu Song Fights the Tiger" won the first prize in the province and the Central and South Bureau. During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, four shadow puppet artists went to North Korea to express condolences to the Chinese People's Volunteers and encourage the soldiers to fight the enemy bravely and defend their country.

In March 1955, he went to the provincial capital to perform, and the Mianyang shadow puppet show "Wu Song Fights the Tiger" won the first prize; in 1988, after the West German national shadow puppet delegation watched the shadow puppet show in Mianyang, they asked for two shadow puppets to take back to the country, and It is displayed in the country's museum; in May 1981, leading comrades from the Central Ministry of Culture and the National Puppet and Shadow Puppet Association went to Mianyang and watched the shadow puppet show "Flaming Mountain" and greatly appreciated the singing of the show. The provincial TV station also went to film a documentary introducing Mianyang shadow puppetry. For a time, the city's shadow puppet teams have grown to more than 40, with more than 250 artists, creating a landscape of "shadow puppet performances in every village and courtyard".