The style of Caoxian shadow puppetry is simple and rough, the color is ancient and clumsy, and it has strong local characteristics
In the process of shadow puppet production, scissors are cut into the shape of opera characters, and each part of the body is strung together with a soft line to ensure that the main joints such as the head and arms can move flexibly.
Shadow puppetry, the most core prop in shadow puppetry, is the essence of shadow puppet art, Caoxian shadow puppetry, also known locally as shadow puppetry, paper-separating storytelling, is an important local branch of mainland shadow puppetry art. Shadow puppetry production is an important part of shadow puppetry, is the material basis of shadow puppetry, at present, "Cao County shadow puppet making skills" into the fifth batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage representative project list. The reporter learned that in the past, the traditional mode of walking the streets and alleys could not meet the requirements of the development of Caoxian shadow puppetry, and Caoxian shadow puppetry gradually explored the corporatized operation mode and used modern business models to bring vitality and hope to the development of traditional opera.
A unique Shadow Puppet of Cao County
The lights gradually went out, several actors immediately went to the backstage, turned on a row of lights above their heads, the white curtain lit up, the light and shadow swayed, and the traditional story of "Wusong Fighting the Tiger" was vividly interpreted, which was the performance scene of Caoxian shadow puppetry.
The caoxian shadow puppet making technique originated from Renzhuang Village, Changle Ji Township, Cao County in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and is unique in Shandong shadow puppet art. Changle Ji township Renzhuang village ancestors in the Ming Dynasty moved to Cao County, about thirty years in Qianlong, the Yellow River sent a big flood, after the flood, the good land was flooded, the residence was destroyed, the industrious Ren ancestors rebuilt their homes on the original land, but the good field became sand land can not be cultivated, only begging for food life, begging for food requires a skill, inspired by local folk art to create shadow puppetry, in order to survive.
Cao County is located in the plain, the transportation is convenient, in the frequent contact with the outside world, various cultures and arts intersect and integrate, so the soil for the growth and inheritance of folk art is rich. Caoxian people have always liked to listen to and watch plays, so in Caoxian there are innate conditions for shadow puppetry to thrive, and naturally, the shadow puppet making skills as props for making shadow puppetry can be passed down forever.
Caoxian shadow puppetry has formed a perfect system from production to performance. Shadow puppet production is made of cowhide, more than a foot high, the style is simple and rugged, the color is clumsy, the carving is strong, and it has strong local characteristics. Because the characters and animals carved on the cardboard are easy to damage and not easy to preserve, the size of the shadow people depicted at that time was not fixed, and the flexibility was poor, ren ancestors tried to carve on the animal skin, improving the production process according to the form of the human body structure, increasing the joints, so that its flexibility was greatly enhanced, and the cowhide was washed and scraped, and it was only used for production when it was cleaned and transparent. When making, the sample is first lightly painted on the cowhide, then carved or chiseled with a knife, and finally colored and ironed, each process has a special person responsible, and the last level can only be completed by the clan.
Innovate in perseverance
In music, Caoxian shadow puppetry has widely absorbed the artistic factors of local opera "big flat tone", forming a relatively fixed trade, plate style, and singing cavity. The band plays the main instruments with banhu and large oil sticks, and the cultural and martial arts field is complete. The performance skills have also been greatly improved, the manipulation skills are complex and superb, the martial arts scenes are intense, and the shadow people are turning their swords back and forth. The music and singing voice of the literary field are more melodious and beautiful. The scope of shadow puppet performances has been expanded to a large area at the junction of Shandong, Henan, Anhui and Hebei, and has become an art form that is popular with the local people.
Shadow puppetry is simple and elegant in shape, and is known for its light performance equipment, rich and beautiful sound cavity, and wonderful and moving performances, and is deeply loved by the people. Caoxian shadow puppetry is skillfully operated, the Taobai is sound and colored, and it has widely absorbed the style of local opera and folk song tunes in southwest Lu, with unique charm, melodious and melodious, witty tone, vivid story, and deeply loved by people. Most of the shadow puppets performed by Ren's descendants are based on stories such as "Yuanmen Chopper" and "Journey to the West", and most of the plays have been passed down to this day.
Ren Yinlai, the eighth generation of Renjia class in Zhuangzhai Village, Zhuangzhai Town, Cao County, began to learn shadow puppetry skills from his father at the age of 10. In the past 40 years, it has made outstanding contributions to the production, repertoire innovation, inheritance and development of shadow puppetry, which has greatly promoted the inheritance and development of shadow puppet art. In the past, due to the relatively rough production process of filmmakers, Ren Yinlai improved the production process and formed a more mature production process in terms of cutting, polishing, and pigment ratio of filmmakers. In the production process, the cowhide is processed by hand, and then cut into the shape of various opera characters with scissors, and each part of the body is carefully strung together with a soft line to ensure that the main joints such as the head and arms can be flexibly moved to form the basic shape of the shadow puppet characters. He combined more than 40 traditional plays such as "Wusong Fighting Tiger", "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Sleepy Hedong", and "The Case of Zhenmei" with shadow puppets, and performed them in the form of shadow puppets, which was refreshing in form.
The modern business model has brought vitality to Caoxian shadow puppetry
Since the mid-1980s, due to the impact of new technologies such as modern film and television media and popular forms of entertainment, the shadow puppet performance market has shrunk year by year, and the inheritance of shadow puppet production skills has gradually withered. Of the original more than 1,000 sets of shadow puppets, only more than 250 sets are left, and most of the shadow puppets have faded and worn out. Due to the complexity of the inheritance and the low income, most young people are reluctant to engage in shadow puppet making, and the shadow puppet making skills rooted in this cultural soil are gradually becoming thin and difficult, and are on the verge of disappearing like many other traditional folk cultures.
In July 2013, Ren Yinlai arranged for four troupe actors to go to Shanxi to learn shadow puppetry production technology and shadow puppetry. The actors not only understood the production skills of the filmmakers, but also learned the performance skills of traditional shadow puppet plays, shadow puppet stage plays, modern shadow puppet plays, and sketch shadow plays. The troupe has grown from 33 actors and 2 teams before 2013, with the performance area mainly in Shandong and Henan, to 67 people and 5 teams, and the performance area has expanded to Hubei, Chongqing, Guangdong and other places. Ren Yinlai was also invited to participate in activities such as the Hong Kong Non-Genetic Heritage Exhibition, and his influence continued to increase. Ren Yinlai also developed shadow puppet crafts, which can not only increase the income of the troupe, but also promote the art of shadow puppetry.
In order to meet the requirements of development, Caoxian Shadow Puppet has also gradually explored the corporatized operation model and used a modern business model to bring vitality and hope to the development of traditional opera. After continuous efforts in recent years, Caoxian shadow puppetry has developed from the original several small opera classes into a xiqu cultural enterprise that continues to deepen cooperation and grow strongly with each other, and has also become a business card of Changle Market Town. By the end of 2019, the related enterprises of Caoxian shadow puppetry have developed to have more than 10 troupes and more than 300 employees. It is worth mentioning that the Caoxian shadow puppet project has also continuously developed shadow puppet derivatives, gradually developing from a single industry to a diversified industry, and has achieved certain results.
In recent years, Ren Yinlai has also moved the shadow puppet stage to the classrooms of Caoxian No. 1 Junior High School, Caoxian Experimental Middle School, Zhuangzhai Town Middle School and other schools, explaining the history of shadow puppetry, operation skills, production skills, etc., which are deeply loved by teachers and students. In recognition of Ren Yinlai's outstanding contributions to the inheritance of shadow puppet art, in April 2014, Ren Yinlai was named the second batch of "Qilu Cultural Stars"; in 2019, he was named "Heze Craftsman" and "May Day Labor Medal Winner" by the Heze Federation of Trade Unions; in 2020, "Caoxian RenjiaBan" was named "Heze Time-honored Brand" by Heze Bureau of Commerce.
Heze Newspaper all-media reporter Wen Jie