Shadow Puppet

The shadow puppetry, known as “shadow show” or “light shadow show” in the past, is a world intangible cultural heritage. It is a folk drama in which such light sources like the candle or burning alcohol shine the outline of figures made of animal hides or cardboard to perform a story. At the show, the performers sing the story with the local popular tune (in local dialect sometimes) while manipulating the figures in the drama behind the white curtain. Their performance is accompanied by the percussion music and string music, with a rustic edge. This simple form of folk art for the Han ethnic group is well received by people in the rural areas in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Tianshui in Gansu. 

 “Shadow Puppet” is a general term for the shadow puppetry and the figures in the story of shadow puppetry (including the scenes and props). In the shadow puppetry, the audience watches the light shadows performed by planar puppets through the white curtain. It is a form of drama to achieve the artistic effect in this way. The planar puppets and scenes are usually the products made of hides, which are carved by knife and painted by colors. So it is called Pi Ying (the two Chinese characters for hide and shadow). In the times people had no films or TV sets in their life, the shadow puppetry was once one of the most popular entertaining activities among the common people.

Xiagu Shadow Puppetry in Shennongjia Forestry District is a long-standing folk opera art popular in Xiaguping Tujia Town. It combines many kinds of art forms such as fine arts, music and literature. 

Xiagu Shadow Puppetry makes figures and props with the cow hide based on the paper-cut and carving technology. The figures are modeled by imitating the male characters, female characters, “painted face” characters, middle-aged male characters, and clowns in the traditional dramas. Five colors (red, yellow, green, black, and white) are painted on the figures. Those figures are made with exquisite carving skills and all their limbs are connected together in a proper way allowing flexible movement. 

The performance of Xiagu Shadow Puppetry requires a frame put up with bamboo poles, a window (the shadow curtain) and a lamp (light source) hung behind the curtain. The curtain serves as the stage of the show, and the actors perform behind the curtain. 

Xiagu Shadow Puppetry usually presents historical stories or impromptu witty skits. These contents are all about the daily life of ordinary people and told in the languages spoken by them. In Xiagu of Shennongjia, Badong County and Wushan County of Chongqing, villagers would invite the troupe to perform for them each year.