The Chinese Shadow Theatre Today

Abstract

Having for seven years directed theYueh Lung Shadow Theatre of New York, in 1982 I went on a solitary mission to China, determined to ascertain the present status of the ancient but elusive performing art known as pi ying hsi (leather shadow show). For many centuries, long before the advent of film and television, Chinese audiences enjoyed the .colorful, translucent figures enacting their favorite stories on the shadow screen. Since the end of the Imperial regime audiences have been wooed away from the older traditions with the fascination of the· electric (motion pictures). The chaotic political situation that ensued also created an economic climate which did not foster the preservation of traditional folk arts. What little shadow theatre had managed to sur~ive was forced to cease operation completely during the Cultural Revolution. Many troupes were disbanded and their figures and stages destroyed. What then had survived? Where were these hardy performers to be seen? What kind of figures were they using now? Were any traditional pieces still being performed? And for whom did they perform? These were a few of the questions I hoped to answer as I arrived in China one sunny Saturday in November 1982. The perpetual haze of Peking's dust filtered the sun's rays, making everything appear slightly out of focus, much the way a fluorescent lamp diffuses the shadows of animal skin figures~ Luxingshe, the National Travel Association, was to m~ke arrangements for travel, lodging and connection with the National Theatre Association. The Theatre Association would then, supposedly, put me in touch with shadow troupes. I was prepared to spend up to a week in Peking. To my knowledge, no arrangements had been made prior to my arrival for I had received only one vague letter in response to many I had sent. By a series of happy coincidences ( which, I was told, never happen in China) I found figures, a shadow craftsman and finally performers. After a weekend of a little sightseeing, one or two personal contacts, and general orientation to my surroundings, I made my first real progress on Monday. In one of the gift shops at the Temple of Heaven, I found a shadow figure of much better quality than those I had seen at the Summer Palace the day before. My inquiries as to the maker of this figure brought no response until a kind professor from Shanghai stepped in to interpret for me. He had graduated from a college in the USA and spoke excellent English. Although he personally had not seen a shadow show since childhood and knew little of the art form, he