Shadow Art Evolution Of Contemporary Urbanization Process

Chinese shadow play has a long history of integrated traditional folk art in China, which is chosen into the first batch of State-level intangible cultural heritage, and the following year expended the declaration of the project. The study of shadow play in Chinese modern significance began in the early 20th century, focusing on the origin, formation and evolution. Since 1980th, both horizontal and vertical research had made considerable progress, especially related to folklore, art history, and crafts. After entering the new century, many academic disciplines involve in the investigation of shadow play actively, but the thematic studies and case studies tend into the mainstream. So there is a lot of gaps in shadow play study, especially taking shadow play as a part of urban culture. Therefore, the author is willing to research the transformation of urban shadow play from the point of cultural features'changing, aiming to provide a new perspective to the research on cultural heritage.This paper based on field research and the results of previous studies, used version study, comparative research and depth interview method, also combined with folklore, folk arts, culture industry, etc, described the process of modern urbanization in shadow play. Introduction is told from the origin of the topics, research contents and current research. The first chapter briefly told about the history and the ups and downs of shadow play, which had been the product of farming culture in ancient China. The second chapter based on the history of the shadow play's social function, discussed the necessity of shadow play's transformation with the acceleration of urbanization process, which under the background of structural and the folk cultural change nowadays from the perspective of urban development and cultural features. The third chapter based on the fieldwork, seeking for the urbanization process in the development path, method and reason, and the cultural interpretation in Beijing and Shanghai shadow play for these years, then explore the art of shadow play from the rural areas, turn into towns and cities and finally show the new forms after combined with fashion urban culture, turn up the features which under the new cultural environment along with reformed different urban cultures. The fourth chapter re-examined the relationship between the non-material cultural heritage protection and city, and established the new position of shadow play in the urbanization process and future prospects in cities. Meanwhile focus on the role of urban in non-material cultural heritage protection to explore cultural industry under cultural market atmosphere nowadays. From that, could find out new living environment after the reasonable track of shadow play's development, and keep the cultural genetic lineage for new existence value, excavate the new social function by contemporary shadow play, furthermore bring out the way of survival practice cultural transformation of this function. Under the cultural industry policy in China, it should take full account of how to overcome the bottleneck of traditional cultural heritage, in order to further discuss how to step on the road of optimum transition in this serious decline of traditional art, then, stimulate the creative and reproduction of shadow play, and make new survival and development space under a modern language environment for shadow play.The main ideas expressed in this paper:the living environment of shadow play turn the farming community into a market economy, it is a very important historical period of urban transition now, its evolution has a historical inevitability, specific performance in its variation function, content improvement and forms of innovation. The relationship between evolution of shadow play and urbanization is mutual, and in the process the art of shadow play and the object which involved in can be a beneficial development. The road of contemporary shadow play evolution is the evolution of modernization, and the cultural industry is the effective measure which stimulate innovative and effective of cultural re-production capacity. Such changes and adjustments will satisfy and adapt to cultural needs of different times and different groups of people.