Puppet show (Shaoyang puppet show)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Puppet Show (Shaoyang puppet show)

Applicant: Shaoyang County, Hunan Province

Item No.: 236

Project No.: Ⅳ - 92

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: Traditional Drama

Region: Hunan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shaoyang County, Hunan Province

Protection unit: Shaoyang County Cultural Center

Brief introduction of puppet show (Shaoyang puppet show)

Applicant: Shaoyang County, Hunan Province

Puppet opera, known as "puppet opera" and "puppet", is a form of opera in which puppets perform stories by artists.

China's puppet opera rose in the Han Dynasty, to the Tang Dynasty has a new development and improvement, can use puppets to perform song and dance drama. Song Dynasty is an important period for the development of puppet show in China, and the puppet production technology and manipulation skills are further mature. With the development of social economy, the puppet show of Ming Dynasty has been popular all over the country, and the puppet show of the economically developed southern provinces and regions is more prosperous, so there is a saying of "good puppet in the South". After the Qing Dynasty, puppet show entered its heyday. It was not only popular in a wide range, but also showed more and more vocal performances. There appeared western Liaoning puppet show, Zhangzhou puppet show, Quanzhou string puppet show, Jinjiang puppet show, Shaoyang puppet show, Gaozhou puppet show, Chaozhou Tiezhi puppet show, North Sichuan puppet show, Shiqian puppet show, yangstring puppet show, Taishun YaoFa puppet show There are many branches such as opera, Lingao puppet show and so on. As far as the form of performance is concerned, it can be summarized as five kinds: string puppet, stick head puppet, bag puppet, iron branch puppet and medicine hair puppet.

The art of puppet is so beautiful that it's amazing. In addition to the wonderful performances of the artists, the perfect puppet plastic arts and operating equipment are also an important aspect to attract the audience. Plastic arts focus on the carving and design of puppets. Generally speaking, the modeling of string puppets is relatively high, mostly about 2.2 feet. Key parts are decorated with lifting lines, up to more than 30, at least more than 10, such as stunt performances also need to add a number of auxiliary lifting lines. The level of puppet performers' various dance movements and martial arts skills completely depends on the artist's operating skills, which is the key to the level of puppet performance art. The head of the staff puppet is higher than the string puppet. Generally, the height of the puppet is about 3 feet. It is equipped with three operating lines, two of which pull hands, and one dominates the head and body. The puppet with the smallest shape, only about 7 inches, relies on the artist's two hands to hold up the performance. The operation skill is special, which is different from the string and stick puppet.

Since the founding of the people's Republic of China, puppet shows have become more colorful. In addition to performing traditional opera programs, they also perform drama, song and dance drama, series, and even advertisements. At the same time, puppet show is also facing fierce competition with other art forms. Traditional puppet shows contain the ideology, morality and aesthetic consciousness of the people of all regions and nationalities, which should be supported and protected.

Yanwoling, the birthplace of Shaoyang puppet show, is located in jiugongqiao Town, Shaoyang County. According to Liu's genealogy, in order to avoid war in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, Shenggong, the ancestor of Liu's family, fled to Yanwoling to settle down with his family members carrying a puppet show. There are 18 generations of puppet opera from Shenggong to Yongzi.

Shaoyang puppet opera is oral and psychological. Its performance methods and skills are as follows: an artist is responsible for one play, regardless of big and small plays, literary and martial arts plays. The actors are pure and ugly, playing, playing, singing and playing, all relying on the artist's hands, feet, mouth and tongue. The main plays include "Fengshenbang", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "journey to the west", "Yang Xiaoda tiger" and so on, with martial arts play, ghost play and farce in the majority. The music is based on the singing of Qi opera, with fresh, simple and pure style.

Shaoyang puppet show integrates puppet skills, dramatic forms and performing skills, which is mysterious, exquisite, novel and simple. For more than 600 years, he has always maintained the performance skills, performance style and performance form of the initial stage, with unique historical and cultural heritage and high aesthetic taste and value orientation. In its heyday, there were more than 110 plays in Yanwoling, which went up to Yungui, down to Huguang and down to Zhejiang. In September 1956, artist Liu Henggui visited Czechoslovakia to perform the puppet play "three dozen white bones" and achieved great success. Since 2002, after being publicized by CCTV and other mainstream media, it has attracted attention at home and abroad. Especially in August 2005, the drama channel of CCTV broadcast the special program of Shaoyang puppet opera. Its unique artistic value and cultural value has attracted the attention of the relevant parties.