皮影戏 Shadow Play

Shadow play or shadow puppetry is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment using opaque, often articulated figures in front of an illuminated backdro to create the illusion of moving images. Shadow play is a popular folk drama in ancient China, and it is the ancestor of world films. At that time, it brought people pleasure as modern movies and TVs do. In modern society, it’s very difficult to find the mysterious drama again.

What is shadow play then?
Shadow play is one of the oldest operas in China. It rooted in ancient Chang’an over2000 years ago, and prevailed in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Shadow play is also  called light shadow play, it’s a kind of national drama in China which performs stories by lighting silhouettes of dramatis personae made of beast hides or chipboards. Actors sing attended by music, and control shadow tools at the same time. The contents of those plays are more ab0ut traditional historical drama and fable stories. It combines some characters of drama, music and paintings, and is an integration of literators’writing, handicraftsmen’s carving and painting, and folk singing. It’s delightful, abundant, suiting both refined and popular tastes, and contains rich culture and art resources. Shadow play is the treasure in the world culture and art family

Working procedure of shadow images making：
A shadow image made with beast hide of high quality by 24 working procedures such as scraping, grinding, milling, washing, craving, coloring up and so on, and more than 3000 handcrafted sculpts.

皮影戏，又称“影子戏”或“灯影戏”，是一种以兽皮或纸板做成的人物剪影，在灯光照射下用隔亮布进行演戏，是我国民间广为流传的傀儡戏之一。表演 时，艺人们在白色幕布后面，一边操纵戏曲人物，一边用当地流行的曲调唱述故事，同时配以打击乐器和弦乐，有浓厚的乡土气息。皮影戏是中国汉族民间的一门古 老传统艺术，老北京人都叫它“驴皮影”。

“皮影”是对皮影戏和皮影戏人物（包括场面道具景物）制品的通用称谓。中国皮影艺术，是我国民间工艺美术与戏曲巧妙结合而成的独特艺术品种，是中华 民族艺术殿堂里不可或缺的一颗精巧的明珠。皮影戏是让观众通过白色布幕，观看一种平面偶人表演的灯影来达到艺术效果的戏剧形式；而皮影戏中的平面偶人以及 场面景物，通常是民间艺人用手工，刀雕彩绘而成的皮制品，故称之为皮影。

皮影的制作过程是：先将羊皮、驴皮或其他兽皮的毛、血去净，然后经药物处理，使皮革变薄，呈半透明，涂上桐油，然后把皮革镂刻成所需的人物形象。皮 人的头、四肢、躯干等各自独立，而又用线连成一体，分别以连杠由演员操纵，令其活动。皮人涂有各种颜色，表达人物的善恶美丑。雕刻时，一般都用阳刻，有也 用阴刻，雕工细致，刀法多变。绘画染色也有一定的讲究，女性发饰及衣饰多以花、草、云、凤等纹样为图案，男性则多用龙、虎、水、云等纹样为图案。