Jimu News reporter Li Bo
Correspondent Zhu Yingcheng Lai Yuling
htmlOn July 22, music was bursting by the Shennong Creek in Duhe Town, Badong County, Hubei Province. 58-year-old Li Houyuan picked a shadow puppet with his forehand, sometimes singing loudly, sometimes bending his bow and stringing... ...The various forms of living beings in "Gold Hidden in Mail" were performed in a small space, and the audience was shocked.
The shadow puppets on the screen are vividly sitting, lying and playing. As the protagonist behind this shadow puppet show, Li Houyuan completed the nearly 30-minute performance by himself. At the end of the curtain call, he was sweating profusely when he was over fifty years old.
It is understood that the Badong shadow puppet show is mainly based on the Badong dialect, and is known among the people as "Pi Gu" or "Pi shadow". The dialogues are humorous, very colloquial, and the performances are easy to understand. During the performance, you need to participate in the dialogue, rapping and singing of the storyline according to the needs of the plot.
Affected by geographical location and cultural environment factors, Badong shadow puppetry is different from Jianghan original shadow puppetry in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The most significant difference lies in the singing and tunes. The singing style of Badong Shadow Puppetry not only absorbs local folk songs, grass-cut gongs and drums and other music, but also reflects the characteristics of Badong regional culture in terms of artistry and performance style.
"When we were young, whenever we heard about a shadow puppet show, we would go to see it. We would work during the day and go to the theater at night..." Talking about the shadow puppet show, Li Houyuan said with great interest that in the past, in rural areas, as long as the host invited, Or wherever there is any happy event or important event, there will be a performance by the shadow puppet troupe.
Because there are only a few troupes and the cost of hiring singers is not high, shadow puppetry is very popular in rural areas. Every time he watched a play, Li Houyuan would be shocked by the shadow puppet show. When he was young, he determined to pass on this folk art. Since there was no script at the time, he could only rely on his brain to memorize the arias and lyrics.
"I have never systematically learned shadow puppetry before. It was very difficult to learn at the beginning. Not only did I have to learn singing and lyrics, but I also had to learn how to play gongs and drums..." Talking about the process of learning shadow puppetry, Li Houyuan said with emotion that he started by learning to sing festival operas. , it was not until the age of 42 that he sang the entire script.
Li Houyuan has been associated with shadow puppets for most of his life. Over the past 38 years, he has been making and singing shadow puppets, always adhering to the inheritance, from shallow to deep, from the outside to the inside, and gradually grew into a qualified craftsman.
In 2020, Li Houyuan was recognized by the Badong County Culture and Tourism Bureau as the representative inheritor of Shadow Puppetry (Badong Shadow Puppetry), a project on the Badong County-level intangible cultural heritage list. The three words "inheriter" are full of Li Houyuan's true feelings and hard work in inheriting shadow puppetry for more than 30 years. He can complete all the skills involved in shadow puppetry.
"The scenes and objects represented by shadow puppets serve the plot of the shadow play. When carving shadow puppets, every process must not be sloppy. Only in this way can the shadow puppets be more realistic and more vivid." Li Houyuan introduced, after his There are not only a thousand but also eight hundred hand-carved shadow puppets. Each shadow puppet can "come alive" after passing through his hands.
"Older people like to watch shadow puppet shows, but young people like to watch shadow puppet shows less, and there are fewer and fewer folk artists who can play shadow puppets." In Li Houyuan's view, the inheritance and development of shadow puppet shows are urgently needed With more young reserves, he is committed to cultivating a new generation of shadow puppet inheritors, hoping to let more people experience the charm of shadow puppetry.
Nowadays, Li Houyuan, who is over fifty years old, practices and performs on the stage almost every day. Sometimes he also guides children to understand and perform shadow puppetry. The small curtain has become a big stage for him to inherit shadow puppetry.
"I have loved acting and singing all my life. As long as someone likes shadow puppetry, I will stick to it and give life to the shadow puppets with every tone and move." Facing the pieces of kraft paper, Li Houyuan said that he wanted to pass With your own hands, the ancient and simple art of Badong can go further.
(Source: Jimu News)
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