Sunday, October 4, 2009

Chinese Shadow Puppets

I was assigned to the group Puppets Around the Globe. As a group we decided to each research a different country and how they use puppets in there culture. And then combine our findings and relate it to who it has meshed together in American Society. We used the four key points in our text book as guidelines in our research. History, Ritual, Popular Voice, and Today.

I chose to research Chinese Puppetry. In china many different types of puppetry is used, but I feel that the most unique form is Shadow Puppetry. Now both India and China claim to be the creators of Shadow Puppetry, but it is a documented art for centuries in China. Chinese Shadow Puppetry dates back to the song dynasty , 960-1279. "For 2,000 years, the puppets have brought to life Peking opera, Chinese folk tales and fantasies of Old China. Both young and old, rich and poor enjoyed watching this popular folk art." (Exhibits)

When you hear someone say "Shadow Puppets" you may think of someone making a rabbit on the wall using their hand a flashlight, but Chinese Shadow puppets are a very artistically advanced. Chinese Shadow Puppets are crafted from translucent parchment. They are painted or stained multi-color, which create colored hues and shades in the shadows. Their bodies usually consist of eleven parts - the head, the upper body, the lower body, two hands, two feet, two upper arms, and two forearms. The head is usually portrayed in profile. The puppets are illuminated by light, which casts a shadow onto a screen of mulberry paper or white cloth. (Exhibits) Each region of China has a distinct style, identified by the intricacy of the cut designs and the size of the puppets. (Photo: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/211/454396838_3600782838.jpg)


Traditionally, scenery and props, such as furniture, pagodas, halls and plants are made of leather. There are three to five artists manipulating the 8-12 inch tall puppets, but although the puppets are small, the productions are anything but short of operatic, with musical scores, detailed backdrops, and highly involved-plot lines. (Okada)

In my research I have not been able to find anything that would suggest Shadow Puppetry being used in a form of ritual. But like what was stated above the stories portrayed are often on Chines Folk Tales and "fantasies" of old China. In some cases the story is based off of religious parables, but who is to say whether it could be a "ritual"? I feel it is just another form of entertainment.
(Photo: http://www1.chinaculture.org/created/att/20051202/xin_1812020215469862438630.jpg)

In the past, shadow puppet theater was a form of popular entertainment in busy night markets, where crowds of merchants, peasants and travelers would gather to see performances based on myths, local legends and religious parables. But today having developed tremendously over the years, Chinese Shadow puppetry has combined artistic expressions with detailed handicrafts, traditional Chinese Opera movements and music, well-engineered mechanical puppet parts and western technology to tell stories. And since the 1950s, Chinese puppet-show troupes, with government support, have toured Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. In the early 1980s, the China Society of Shadow Plays and Puppetry Shows was founded, followed by the launch of a national week of puppet shows. (Okada)

Here are two video demostrating Chinese Shadow Puppetry. The first is what the audience sees and the second is behind the scenes showing the puppet operator and the light that creates the shadow effect.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Arrf8i_wkPY&feature=related

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g1qNHfkHwI&feature=related

Work Cited:
1. "Exhibits: Chinese Shadow Puppetry." www.sdchm.org. March 2004. San Diego Chinese
Historical Museum, Web. 4 Oct 2009.
2. Okada, Kyle, and Susan Olivier-Hirasawa. "The Art of Chinese Shadow Puppet Theater." Arts &
Activities Magazine January 2002: n. pag. Web. 4 Oct 2009.
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