Play With And Statues

Shadow play is a kind of puppet play in which performers play paper or leather made shadow puppets behind a curtain, with shadows of the puppet reflected on the curtain. In essence, shadow puppets are properties whose main function is to play roles in the shadow play. In order to achieve good performance results, artists who curve the shadow puppets have to shape the puppet such that their visual appearances vividly reveal status and personalities. In this light, the configuration of puppet is mainly the adoption of certain configuration elements&symbols to give a puppet age, personalities, status, etc., enabling it to be identified as different from others. As a result, it becomes a critical issue to choose proper and effective configuration symbols.As a legacy of shadow play of the Southern Song Dynasty, the configuration symbols of Haining shadow puppets have undergone a long history and absorbed configuration factors from Jiang Shi Hua Ben, drama in Song and Yuan Dynasty as well as configuration of the dramatic makeup in Ming and Qing Dynasty, adjusted appropriately per its own system and developed its own unique configuration expression system. Chapter1and2focus on a discussion regarding the above and explore the configuration effectiveness of Haining puppet in revealing different identities. Further, the two chapters attempt to analyze the relations between the configuration symbols of Haining shadow puppets and that of Jiang Shi Hua Ben, drama in Song and Yuan Dynasty as well as the configuration of the dramatic makeup in Ming and Qing Dynasty. They also try to reveal the cultural relation between Haining puppet and other artistic configuration including daily clothing&drama clothing of various dynasties.Shadow puppets generally exit as properties however, given specific custom or performance context, a shadow puppet can also function as statue of a god, but this function will have to take the folklore context where the shadow play generate from or a specific performance context as basis. Haining shadow play for example, due to local culture restrictions there is hardly any exclusively carved god puppet (which will be larger than ordinary puppet and is always accompanied with attachments such as auspicious cloud, lotus, etc.), while shadow play bearing rich folklore, such as Can Hua play, will present the show with god statue being played by mankind puppet. In such performance context, puppet will be both properties and god statue. They are given the function of god statue and become something that the ordinary worship. Chapter3and4will discuss the acquisition&withdrawal of such god statue function so as to clear up the internal relations between local culture and the performing system of Haining shadow play.Notwithstanding the above, the two functions, being properties and god statue, are inseparable. Puppet in its essence being properties, this makes it exist and last and the function being god statue really need to rely on the existence and continuity. Whether it is a fictional reality or the real reality that enables the performance context, it doesn’t change the fact that the puppet is a piece of properties in the first place. Given that, the god statue function can be obtained with appropriate context, depending on folklore context and performance context and being variable once the customs are changed.