China News Service, Weinan, Shaanxi, August 2 (Yang Yingqi) "Since ancient times, shadow puppetry has actually been on the road of innovation." Xue Hongquan, a representative inheritor of shadow puppet production skills in Huaxian County, an intangible cultural heritage project in Shaanxi Province, said on the 1st that contacting shadow puppet four In the past ten years, I have become more and more convinced that "the protection and inheritance of traditional art cannot only be kept in the old fashion, but the development and innovation of keeping pace with the times can retain the hearts of the audience."
Huaxian shadow puppetry, popular in Weinan area of Shaanxi Province, commonly known as "Dengying Opera", originated more than 1,500 years ago.
Huaxian shadow puppetry performances only need one bright lamp, two square tables, and a few wooden boards to set up the stage.
In 2006, Huaxian Shadow Play was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.
In 2011, Chinese shadow play was announced by UNESCO to be included in the "Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage", and Huaxian shadow play was selected as a sub-project.
The picture shows people experiencing the Huaxian shadow puppet performance.
Photo by Yang Yingqi
In 2015, Xue Hongquan founded the Huazhou Innovation Shadow Puppet Troupe. In order to meet the aesthetic needs of modern people, the team, on the basis of inheriting the traditional shadow puppet art, innovated in the aspects of shadow figure design, music production, lighting application, stage presentation, etc. Real people are simulated, the performances are close to life, and a series of new plays such as shadow puppet ballets and fairy tales are arranged, which improves the viewing value of shadow puppetry.
Xue Hongquan told a reporter from Chinanews.com that traditional filmmakers have less joint decomposition and perform "freehand" movements.
"Our team made shadow puppets by imitating the skeletal structure of real people, and strived to make their performances more delicate."
At the same time, Xue Hongquan and his team made full use of modern technology and combined it with traditional art to create a more flexible performance.
"On the set, we use multimedia tools to switch scenes, and the effect can almost reach the scene switching similar to a movie, which is very smooth and realistic."
The picture shows the traditional art of Weinan in Shaanxi - Heyang puppet show.
Photo by Yang Yingqi
In recent years, Xue Hongquan has led the team to go abroad for many times to exchange performances in Austria, Kazakhstan, Singapore and other countries.
Due to the need to bring their own stage facilities such as sets when performing abroad, and the traditional "stage" is too bulky and difficult to carry, Xue Hongquan drew and designed by himself, and made a new type of shadow puppet performance stage mainly made of carbon fiber.
"This 'stage' is much lighter, and a 'stage' that is easier to carry is also more conducive to our traditional art 'going' to the world." Xue Hongquan said with a smile.
As one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation, Weinan's long history and civilization have left a rich intangible cultural heritage for it.
This year, Weinan City implemented the intangible cultural heritage protection policy of "protection first, rescue first, rational use, inheritance and development", and insisted on living inheritance. The city's intangible cultural heritage projects continued to increase and its cultural influence continued to increase.
Consistent with Xue Hongquan's wish, Weinan's legacy is gradually going abroad and going global.
(Finish)