Puppetry comes to a revival as artists add modern elements to the ancient art form. Liu Lu reports.

 

The Hollywood animated comedy Kung Fu Panda 2 showcased a treasure trove of Chinese culture: beautiful music; lion dancing; tasty Sichuan snacks and comical philosophical dialogue. But perhaps one of the movie's most memorable moments was the shadow play sequence at the start of the film.

 

The shadow play, or piying xi, is one of the oldest forms of Chinese traditional arts and has been experiencing a revival in recent years.

 

Known as the precursor of the modern movie, shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment, which can be traced back to the Northwest China's Shaanxi province during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24).

 

Puppeteers held delicately carved figures, which were made of cow's leather or donkey hide, up to an illuminated backdrop to create images while singing the story.

 

The artists set themselves up behind the screen and manipulated the puppets by controlling sticks fastened to the characters creating an illusion of real life moving images.

 

Dong Youmin, the director of the Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe, says traditional shadow plays can fire the imagination of an audience and language is never a barrier.

 

"It doesn't matter if you cannot understand Chinese because the puppet show has no speaking parts. There is only music," says Dong explaining that the stories he performs are mostly Chinese folktales that are easy to understand.

 

Like many practioners of traditional arts, Dong is concerned about preserving this cultural legacy.

 

"China's rapid economic development has greatly diversified people's recreational options," he says.

 

"And coupled with the growing influence of modern audio-visual media, such as television, film and other multimedia platforms, traditional entertainment may gradually fade away from the life of city folks if we don't adapt them with modern elements."

 

In order to rekindle interest, the Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe is taking traditional stories and giving them a modern twist. The group is also creating a series of new plays.

 

"The development of traditional art must meet the demand of modern social needs, or there is no room for their further development," Dong says.

 

The makeover is paying off. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Dong's troupe was invited to give shadow play performances to athletes at the Olympic Village.

The following year, the troupe was also invited to stage performances at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijng.

 

"Those grand events have greatly boosted our reputation and enabled more people, especially the young and foreigners, to better appreciate our puppet shows," Dong says.

 

The government has also stepped up its effort to support traditional arts. In 2008, the Beijing shadow play was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage and for the past three years Dong's troupe has been received 300,000 yuan ($46,000) from authorities. "Although the money is not enough to improve our operating conditions, the government's supportive attitude is great morale booster for us," Dong says.

 

Dong intends to further promote his Beijing shadow play to overseas markets. For three decades, the Beijing Shadow Play Troupe has toured the world and staged many performances in more than a dozen foreign countries. Dong says overseas audiences, especially Europeans, marvel at the "magic of the East".

"In Austria the audience swarmed to the stage after the show, eager to understand the 'story behind the screen'," he says. "They even built a Chinese shadow puppet museum to inform local people the history and development of shadow play."

 

Shadow puppet shows are not unique to China, and more than 20 countries have a history of performing shadow plays. The art form spread to Europe in the mid-18th century through French missionaries, and Dong says shadow puppet performances played an important role in the development of modern film.

 

Dong plans to start cooperation with travel agencies this year to introduce shadow plays to more foreign travelers in Beijing.

 

He also plans to develop some puppet-shaped souvenirs to promote the art. "I believe shadow play figures will be very popular with overseas travelers and most of them are willing to buy them to add some Asian touches at home," Dong says.

In addition to professional artists, amateurs are joining the show.

 

Established in 2009, the Beijing Xinghua Yingyi Shadow Play Troupe, a self-organized performance group composed by 20 people with the average age of 23, is one of these grassroots communities.

 

Troupe organizer, Li Ming, 34, wants to reach more children and her group has given a popular Chinese animated television series, Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, a shadow play spin.

 

Dong says young people have a special affection toward shadow plays, compared to animation.

 

"Shadow plays allow them to feel closer to those animated figures," Dong says, adding that more than half of the plays performed by his troupe are adapted from child fables and popular TV dramas for young people.

 

Li says the wonder of the shadow play lies in its focus on culture rather than fancy stage settings.

 

"It offers an easier way to educate kids life philosophies through performing puppet plays adapted from famous anecdotes," she says.

 

Li has mapped up an even bigger plan to promote the art.

 

This year she plans to open a shadow play research institute in Beijing and will invite well-known artists across China to exchange performing experiences, create new scripts, as well as train newcomers.

 

"Over time, I am confident this traditional performing art will become more popular thanks to the concerted efforts of shadow play artists and fans, together with the birth of new puppet show scripts catering to modern tastes," she says.

 

(Source: China Daily)