"Shouwang Local Culture" 500 years of puppet drama, original taste - the story of Wang Taibao, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Linwu Opera" [Shouwang Local Culture] 500 years of puppet drama, the original taste - the story of Wang Taibao, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Linwu Opera"

<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > [Shouwang Local Culture] 500 years of puppet opera, original - the story of Wang Taibao, the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Linwu Opera"</h1>

2021-11-01 06:58:41 [Source: Hunan Daily Huasheng Online] [Author: Bai Peisheng Luo Hui] [Editor: Liu Qian]

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Wang Taibao sorted out the masks of the puppet play.

Photo by Luo Hui, all-media reporter of Hunan Daily

Hunan Daily all-media reporter Bai Peisheng Luo Hui

【Cultural Commentary】

Linwu puppet play

傩 (pronounced nuó), the original meaning is a kind of temperate and disciplined action, which is a kind of ancient ritual held in the lunar month to drive away ghosts and pray for peace and auspiciousness. Hunan is one of the birthplaces of Chinese culture. According to Liu Xianting's "Miscellaneous Records of Guangyang" in the early Qing Dynasty, there were puppet plays in shonan in ancient times, and the walkers "used red cloth as a paw and used red cloth, and those who tied their waists also used red cloth, and even more red cloths wore shins on their knees, such as women's costumes..." This refers to Linwu Yi and puppet plays, the main feature of which is that the characters wear masks made of willow wood, dressed as ghosts and gods, and their contents involve folk beliefs, traditional literature, music, dance, drama, etc. In November 2014, "Linwu Opera" was included in the list of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage.

【Watch Story】

Wang Taibao did not expect that after playing a lifetime of "master" in the ravine, he would one day become the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage; He did not expect that the little tune that was humming in his mouth every day turned out to be a "living fossil" of the opera that had been circulating in China for thousands of years.

In late autumn, the reporter came to Youwan Village, Shuidong Town, Linwu County, Chenzhou City, to interview Wang Taibao, the inheritor of the state-level intangible cultural heritage "Linwu Puppet Opera".

"The Wang family has played the 'mage' for more than 500 years, and it has been passed down to me for the 16th generation. The original idea was not to let the craft be lost. Wang Taibao sighed.

The artistic wonders of Shonan are left behind

"My first exposure to puppetry was in 1978. Once, when I came back from school, I saw my father wearing a robe and walking in front of the line. The men in the village put on masks, put on costumes, and blew and beat all the way around the village. Wang Taibao recalled that he was 18 years old that year.

"Taibao, you are also an adult, and some things in the family need to be known to you." After the ceremony, his father Wang Benyou called Wang Taibao to his side, "During the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty (1465-1487 AD), our 17th Emperor Zu Si Nenggong went out to learn the practice of sacrifice and returned to the village to create a unique style of Linwu Ritual and Puppet Drama, commonly known as 'Divine Lion' and 'Dancing Yue Gong Shen'. ”

Linwu Yi contains three major parts: wishing, returning wishes, and closing the altar, generally making wishes in the first month of the lunar calendar, and making wishes and closing the altar in the first month of the following year, during which many complicated ritual procedures such as mounting gods, opening the light of the gods, and allocating soldiers and horses are required. "At its peak, the villages within a radius of hundreds of miles would invite us to perform puppet plays, from the first month of the lunar calendar to March, hundreds of performances." When Wang Benyou said this, his eyes were full of pride.

"Why haven't I seen you act before?" Wang Taibao asked his father. Wang Benyou told him that the puppet play was once regarded as a feudal superstition and forbidden, but he thought that the things of the old ancestors could not be lost, so he quietly hid the props.

From his father, Wang Taibao learned that the most important role in Linwu Yiyi and Wu Opera was the "Mage". The "mage" plays the role of communicator and god, and is the center of the whole ritual and puppetry, and all ritual procedures are presided over by him. At the same time, he is also the organizer and manager of the performance team. In the process of performing a puppet, all actors need to wear masks.

Wang Taibao remembers that his father solemnly told him at that time: "Our family has been playing 'mages' for generations, and it is the 15th generation when I come here." 'Mage' pays attention to the dictation of the heart, one generation to another, male to female, and you will be the 16th generation. ”

From then on, Wang Taibao secretly resolved to pass on the family's mission.

Well-preserved living fossils of opera

Wang Taibao followed his father to learn puppetry, and after a few years, he achieved a little success. However, the good times did not last long, and as the villagers continued to move to the city to work, coupled with the popularity of television, fewer and fewer people invited them to perform puppet plays. "By the mid-1980s, almost no one had asked us to play puppets."

Remembering these past events, Wang Taibao looked lonely, he thought that the family's 500-year inheritance would disappear from here, until he met the "nobles" of the Linwu opera inheritance.

Wang Taibao's "nobleman" name is Zhou Zuoming, and he is now a first-level researcher of the Chenzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports. Beginning in 2005, Zhou Zuoming began to investigate the current situation of the Wu culture in Chenzhou. He found that around 2000 years ago, during the turn of the Western Han And Eastern Han Dynasties, it was the peak period of the development of Wudu culture, and Chenzhou was the place where Chu, Yue (Yue) and Central Plains cultures converged and blended, and the folk Wushu culture of worshipping and praying for blessings and driving away evil spirits once prevailed here. But he went to great lengths and failed to find anyone who could really act.

When Zhou Zuoming was at a loss, someone told him that he had seen the scene of dancing with a mask in The Village of Youwan in Linwu County. Zhou Zuoming immediately drove to Youwan Village and met Wang Taibao for the first time.

"I really didn't expect that after more than 500 years of puppet opera here, it is still well preserved and original!" Zhou Zuoming was excited. Subsequently, Zhou Zuoming, together with the cultural department of Linwu County and the artists of puppet opera, carried out the rescue, excavation, protection and restoration of the traditional performance of puppet opera.

In June 2006, in order to further confirm the nature of the opera in Youwan Village, Zhou Zuoming invited zou Shiyi, then director of the Hunan Provincial Art Research Institute, and Sun Wenhui, a researcher, to visit Youwan Village. After watching the simple performances and related props of the villagers, the two experts determined on the spot: "What Youwan Village preserves is the living fossil of Chinese opera - Wu Opera." ”

Blooms in conservation and heritage

On October 25, 2006, the bunting flag of Youwan Village flew and the people's voices were boiling, and the puppet drama that had disappeared for more than 20 years was unveiled again.

As soon as the auspicious time arrived, "Master" Wang Taibao walked into the ancestral hall to start the wish-making ceremony. Then, the puppet troupe walked through the narrow village alleys, visited the gods and worshiped the temple, and then returned to the ancestral hall to slaughter pigs and sheep to thank the gods. While rewarding the gods, they do not forget to entertain themselves, and also interspersed programs such as "Fighting Lions" and "Beheading Little Devils" in the ceremony.

Although they performed only a condensed version of the day, it still amazed the experts and scholars who came to watch. Zou Shiyi said that linwu puppet opera "takes the red cloth as the paw and strangles its head", which is in the same line with traditional puppet opera in terms of expression, but it has many distinctive characteristics. For example, the ritual preservation is relatively complete, and the program is rich in dramatic characteristics such as dramatic plot, performance program, and character trade. In addition, there are actors who wear masks on their foreheads when performing, and the roles of the gods are played by men, which is different from other local puppet plays.

"The actors are farmers, and most of them work outside the home to earn a living, so it's a headache to gather actors." Wang Taibao said that since then, the cultural departments at the city and county levels have gradually attached importance to Linwu opera. In 2007, the Linwu County Government issued the Five-Year Protection Plan for Linwu Opera. In 2012, the Linwu County Wu Culture Research Base was established in Youwan Village, and the International Academic Symposium on Linwu Culture in Hunan Province, China was held. In 2013, the Chenzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports established the Chenzhou Non-Genetic Inheritance Base in Youwan Village, and the "Linwu Opera" was successively included in the municipal, provincial and national intangible cultural heritage lists.

In 2018, Wang Taibao was identified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as the representative inheritor of the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage "Linwu Opera", Youwan Village was shortlisted for the fifth batch of traditional Chinese villages, and the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism approved the establishment of the provincial Chenzhou Linwu County Opera Cultural Ecological Protection (Experimental) Zone.

Today, in addition to bringing apprentices, the 61-year-old Wang Taibao has trained his son Wang Yuhui as the 17th generation inheritor of Linwu Opera.

【Expert Message】

Let the artistic wonders become more and more colorful

Zhou Zuoming, a first-level researcher of the Chenzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports

In the process of circulation, Linwu opera has incorporated many cultural and artistic factors, including poetry, song, music, dance, drama, technique, etc., which has brought a lot of enlightenment to the study of the origin and occurrence of culture and art. Strengthening the protection, inheritance and research of puppet opera is of positive significance for a comprehensive, complete and profound understanding of traditional Chinese culture, especially folk culture.

It is necessary to create a social environment for the overall protection of Linwu Opera. First of all, we must protect the inheritors and provide them with certain conditions so that they can have a stage for performance and receive corresponding income. Secondly, it is necessary to protect the existence and activity space of Linwu culture, not only to excavate, collect, sort out and study Linwu opera and related traditional cultural and artistic resources, but also to carry out exhibition and performance activities and prepare for the construction of the original ecological base of Linwu culture, the Cultural Transmission Institute, and the Cultural Expo Park (showroom), so that the artistic wonder of Linwu opera will become more and more colorful.