Tangshan shadow play, also known as shadow play, is one of the folk local plays in Luannan County. Originally called Luanzhou Shadow Play or Laoting Shadow Play and Jidong Shadow Play. Also known as the donkey shadow play in Changluanle area and the old bark shadow play in Northeast China. It is a branch of Chinese shadow play with unique singing and manipulation skills. Making shadow play is an art of sculpture .. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a student in Luanzhou, whose surname was Huang. He is a versatile man, not only good at writing, but also proficient in painting and sculpture. He studied in Fengtian (Shenyang) and taught several village children to live there. During this leisurely time, he gradually made his own contribution to the creation of film art. Huang has been to Beijing and seen movies in Beijing, and there are movies in Luanzhou countryside. There is a riddle circulating in the local area, "From a distance, it is brightly lit, just like a temple, with people shouting inside and people laughing outside". In the Collection of Local Dramas in Hebei Province, there is an introduction of Luanzhou movie script "Disaster Map" written by hand during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, which shows that there were already movies in this county in the Ming Dynasty. When Huang was studying in Shenyang, he took the film to his guest residence. At first, paper was used for silhouette and engraving, and later sheepskin was used for silhouette and engraving. This carving art was seen in the Northern Song Dynasty, and Huang improved it. As Gu Jiegang wrote in Luanzhou Shadow Play, "The original shadow play was invented by Mr. Huang and became very popular (in fact, it was spread and improved). Decades later, its influence spread all over the three northeastern provinces. At this time, Manchuria is in the ascendant. " Because Changli, Luanxian and Laoting are adjacent to the three northeastern provinces, there are many people going to Kanto in history. For a long time, Manchu's Chinese and living habits are getting closer and closer. Huang's improved shadow play was named "Luanzhou Shadow Play", which was widely circulated in the early Qing Dynasty with the presence of the Qing army.
In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, shadow play flourished and spread rapidly due to the advocacy of the rulers. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, people from all over the country responded to the An Baili Rebellion. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty were afraid of national instability and prevented people from gathering to make trouble. Contrary to their early enthusiasm for movies, they changed their face, saying that movies are the rebellion of paper men and paper horses, prohibiting officials from privately running film classes and performing movies at night.
Shadow play from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China is in the same strain as the present shadow play, forming an authentic Luanzhou shadow play, namely Laoting shadow play and Lao Bajin shadow play. The local people like watching movies very much, which has become a custom for a long time. In the early years of the Republic of China, the shadow play classes of Laoting Giant, Zhangjiazhongxingtang, Liuhetang and Cui were the largest and best, and a large number of famous shadow play artists emerged, which had a far-reaching influence and enjoyed a good reputation. In 1930s, Laotingying performed in Shenyang, Changchun and other big cities, which was warmly welcomed and spread to Japan, North Korea and other countries. Zhang Shengwu, Zhang Zhanke and other famous shadow play artists were invited to record a large number of records at home and abroad, which made the shadow play spread more widely.
Luanzhou shadow play is different from other shadow plays in four characteristics: first, the shadow play actors carve with donkey skins and have unique manipulation skills; The second is to sing white in Luanle dialect (with more Laoting accent and less Luanzhou accent), and the language is easy to understand; The third is the singing method of choking; Fourthly, it has a unique singing style, such as Zhang Shengwu's Harbin accent.
Shadow play in southern Hebei
Shadow play in southern Hebei is mainly distributed in Feixiang County, Cheng 'an County, Cixian County, daming county, Linzhang County, Guangping County, wei county, Yongnian County, Guantao County, Wu 'an City and other places in Handan City, and it also spreads to north-central Hebei, northern Henan, southeastern Shanxi and western Shandong.
The basic characteristics of southern Hebei shadow play are as follows: 1. Southern Hebei shadow play is an important branch of Central Plains shadow play in Song Dynasty, which is closely related to Henan shadow play and Bangzi play in northern Henan. Second, the shape of the shadow play in southern Hebei is simple, the sculpture and painting are combined, and the modeling system is simple, which reflects the style of the early shadow play in China. Third, the shadow play in southern Hebei is rich in repertoire, singing without words, relying entirely on oral communication, humorous dialogue, very colloquial, easy to understand and distinctive local characteristics. Fourthly, the shadow play society and inheritance in southern Hebei still maintain traditional customs, which basically reflects the original ecological shadow play performance form.
The artistic value of the shadow play in southern Hebei: The shadow play in southern Hebei belongs to the direct line of the shadow play in the Central Plains of the Song Dynasty, which largely maintained the early appearance of Chinese shadow play. Compared with the shadow play in Shaanxi and Tangshan, it has very strong differences in modeling, script, singing and performance form, and has higher academic value and cultural connotation.
The shape of shadow play in southern Hebei is rough and simple, the lines are concise, and the sculpture and painting are combined, which fully embodies the modeling characteristics of ancient Central Plains shadow play and the early characteristics of Chinese shadow play. The singing of shadow play in southern Hebei has no words, and it is completely oral, with the characteristics of colloquialism and dialect.
The protection and research on the art of shadow play in southern Hebei is a thorough excavation, arrangement and comprehensive understanding of the history, spread and present situation of Chinese shadow play art. It is of great significance to carry forward Chinese traditional culture, rescue intangible cultural heritage and promote the prosperity and development of contemporary folk culture in China.
Endangered situation of shadow play in southern Hebei: Nowadays, the social foundation on which shadow play in southern Hebei depends for its survival and development has changed, and its traditional folk cultural connotation has gradually disappeared. At present, the shadow puppeteers in southern Hebei are very old, and most of them can't sing because of their age, but there are no successors. Traditional shadow play performance skills are difficult to inherit, and few young people want to learn this skill. Its singing, oral repertoire and carving methods are almost lost.