China News Service, Xining, March 9th: Title: Interweaving of light and shadow: Xining Huangzhong non-heritage inheritors use shadow puppets to "bring out" the youth of women

  Author Liu Yang

  In the mountain village on a March day, deep, simple and rough singing came from the flickering lights.

Wang Changlong, a 60-year-old veteran artist, controls the shadow puppets and roars to his heart's content.

  On the occasion of the 114th International Women's Day, Wang Yiyuan, the provincial representative inheritor of Hehuang shadow puppet making skills, and veteran artist Wang Changlong were at the Hehuang Shadow Puppet Making Skills Training Base in Hongling Village, Huangzhong District, Xining City, Qinghai Province. The team is performing a shadow puppet show about the changing image of women in the new rural areas.

The picture shows an old artist singing a shadow play about the changing image of women in the new rural areas.

Photo by Liu Yang

  As a traditional drama in Qinghai Province, Hehuang Shadow Play has a unique charm, integrating local dialects, customs, and aesthetic concepts in Qinghai, forming a profound, simple, and rugged artistic style.

In 2008, Shadow Puppetry (Hehuang Shadow Puppetry) was included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

  "Dang——" Accompanied by the sound of gongs, Wang Changlong danced the exquisitely carved shadow puppets to the sonorous rhythms of gongs and drums and the melody of the erhu. The light passed through the white cloth and shadow puppets, and the lifelike and brightly colored characters, flowers, birds, and trees were performing. The center moves flexibly.

  "I rehearsed this shadow puppet temporarily to reflect how rural women honor their parents, run a household, and educate their children." Wang Yiyuan, a native of Hongling Village, Tumenguan Township, told in a strong Qinghai dialect that from the past to the present, rural women The change.

He said, "Women have gradually taken on responsibilities and brought new atmosphere and new development to our countryside."

The picture shows a finely carved and lifelike shadow puppet work.

Photo by Liu Yang

  55-year-old Ma Xiuping listened attentively, "I grew up listening to shadow puppets." She said that during the singing, the rough and powerful music on the stage seemed to bring her back to her childhood.

  "In the past, I was exposed to wind and sun from farm work every day, and my skin was dry and dark. I didn't have any extra money to dress up. Even if I had money, I would be reluctant to spend it. Now my daughter can focus on dressing up, and her living standard has improved. Ma Xiuping said.

  In the hour-long performance that day, Wang Changlong performed all the singing and blanking with great emotion and emotion.

"The changes in singing about rural areas are also the changes in singing about rural women." Wang Changlong said.

  "In the past, Hongling Village, where I grew up, has undergone great changes from the end of the 1990s to the end of the poverty alleviation campaign, and now it has become a 'shadow puppet base' and a 'hometown of shadow puppets.'" Wang Yiyuan said, now the new In rural areas, roads have been widened, squares have been built, and the women around us are educating their children better and better, and the villages have a new look.

The picture shows veteran artist Wang Changlong dancing shadow puppets.

Photo by Liu Yang

  "One mouth tells the story of the past, and the hands dance millions of soldiers. The shadow puppets sing not only the drama, but also the things around them." Wang Yiyuan said that he was born in a shadow puppet family, and he has been exposed to it since he was a child, and he has also heard a lot about Shili. The stories of eight townships and fellow villagers.

Developed and passed down for more than 300 years, Hehuang shadow puppetry has become a form for local people to express their feelings and enrich their lives.

  After the simple and rough singing, the accompaniment of the old shadow puppet artists took advantage of the excitement and sang in harmony with the tune while playing drums and pianos. On the occasion of Women's Day, the female stories sung were more vivid and intuitive. express one's intention.

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