Research On The Shadow Play Of Houma Wan WanQiang

The Wan Wan shadow puppet show in Houma has been well-received for its unique artistic expression,improvisation and abundant artistic imagination being popular generation after generation.Its exquisite workmanship,exaggerated performance techniques,and interaction between performers and the masses bring us a multi-level aesthetic experience.Over the past 200 years since the leather-silhouette show was introduced to Houma from Shaanxi,it has gradually come into being with characteristics of the south of Shanxi province by combining with local folk customs,updating and the oral transmission of generations of shadow play artists.In 2006,it was chosen as provincial intangible cultural heritage as a representative cultural product.From the perspective of ethnomusicology,the full text expounds the source and development,basic form and characteristics,the developmental process and law as well as attached cultural information of the Wan Wan shadow puppet show in Houma.The article is mainly divided into four parts.The first part focuses on the developmental history of the Wan Wan shadow puppet show,introducing the basic morphological characteristics of shadow puppet show,and briefly listing the shadow puppet drama and its preservation status.The second part develops its basic musical composition in a detailed way.The sentence patterns of every structure will be organized and the characteristics including musical points,drumbeats and sentence patterns will be shown.Besides,the vocal music and spoken parts are analyzed in the specific repertoire.The third part puts its emphasis on the analysis of the development and changes of the Wan Wan shadow puppet show.On the one hand,some adaptations of traditional drama are analyzed,for instance,different versions of the famous arias in “Marvel-horses Begging” and “Marvel-horses Glaring” are selected for converting dynamic music into sheet music in order to have a more deep feeling of the changes in music.The developmental process of the Wan Wan shadow puppet show will be analyzed in terms of lyric,aria,sentence pattern,performance form,and conveying ideas of every sentence.On the other hand,selecting some new works to have an artistic analysis,for example,the 2015 award-winning work “The Monkey King thrice Beats” will be chosen and analyzed to summarize its artistic characteristics.The fourth part is concerned with the development of the Wan Wan shadow puppet show in the light of field investigations and some suggestions on innovation,collaborative development and talent training will be put forward.In the end,the author believes that the Wan Wan shadow puppet theater in Houma is still in the doldrums.To return to a prosperous state,one should not rely on external conditions to provide favorable conditions,but need to make adaptive adjustments.