Haicheng shadow play

It is a specialty of Haicheng, Anshan, Liaoning. Haicheng shadow play is commonly known as donkey shadow play. It is a drama in which the figures carved from donkey skins are illuminated by lights to show the story. The shadow puppeteer manipulated while singing, accompanied by music. In the past, it was deeply loved by the people of Haicheng in a certain historical period. Haicheng Shadow Play belongs to Luanzhou Shadow Play in Hebei Province. It was introduced to Niuzhuang in Haicheng during Jiaqing period of Qing Dynasty. During Daoguang period, Wu Laoxiu and other shadow play artists were very active, and their disciples were active in Dashiqiao, Gaixian and Fuxian, forming a shadow play in southern Liaoning. In the early years of the Republic of China, Wu Zhidian of Shanxi came to Yantai Village in Nantai, Haicheng, and taught Liu Yuanbang, Su Letian and other six people to sing shadow play, known as the "six generals". They learned from Shanxi sheepskin opera and Luanzhou shadow play and developed it, and created Haicheng shadow play. The unique style of singing comes from the board cavity music, which has a full range of plates, including the original board, allegro and band board. The business of shadow play in Haicheng can be divided into raw, fresh, clean and ugly. The script of the performance is called "shadow volume", and each shadow volume has about six to ten copies, and one can be sung in each performance. Besides everyone singing, the actors who take part in the performance also have one person to take the shadow, one person to take the shadow, one person to play the drum, one person to play the main string, two people to attach the string and one person to play the gong in the middle building, which is all the staff of the troupe. Its singing method is close to that of Beijing opera, and all the actors sing operas in a small voice. Accompaniment instruments include Sihu, Banhu, Sanxian and percussion instruments. Generally, a troupe of five to six people performs along the village. Haicheng shadow play has a long history, mostly based on historical themes, showing the joys and sorrows of emperors, princes, talented people and beautiful women. The story is vivid and the plot is tortuous. In addition, the figurative performance of characters and beautiful musical vocals have won the love of the general public and have important historical and cultural value. At the same time, it has played a role in propaganda and education in spreading cultural knowledge, preserving and inheriting folk valuable historical legends, customs and customs.
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