Shadow play (Tongbai shadow play)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Shadow Play (Tongbai shadow play)

Applicant: Tongbai County, Henan Province

Project No.: 235

Project No.: Ⅳ - 91

Time of publication: 2011 (the third batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Henan Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Tongbai County, Henan Province

Protection unit: Tongbai people's Cultural Center

Introduction to shadow play (Tongbai shadow play)

Applicant: Tongbai County, Henan Province

Tongbai shadow play belongs to the West Road School of shadow play in southern Henan. It is a comprehensive folk culture and art form integrating painting, sculpture, classical literature, folk music, singing and folk culture. Compared with other shadow puppets, Tongbai shadow puppets are exquisite in production, bold and rough in carving lines, simple and unsophisticated in character modeling, and have a strong southern Henan Folk art style. There are more than 100 plays handed down in the past dynasties, and the reserved ones are Yang Jiajiang, romance of Sui and Tang Dynasties, male and female swords, etc. Folk proverbs, jokes, slang and allegorical sayings in southern Henan are common in libretto, which are humorous and catchy, reflecting the precious value of folk oral literature. Tongbai shadow puppet products are studied and collected by international friends in Japan, South Korea and Singapore. Influenced by many factors, Tongbai shadow play, which flourished for a time, now has only three classes. The audience is decreasing day by day, and the prospect is worrying.