There are many schools of Mianyang shadow play, and their singing styles are also different. In the early days, they walked between villages, market towns, teahouses and restaurants. Due to different popular regions, Mianyang shadow play is divided into three types: upper, middle and lower. Artists used to call singing shadow play the upper shadow play and fishing drum shadow play the lower shadow play (in the order of the upper and lower reaches of Hanshui River). Shadow play in Miancheng, Guohe, Zhanggou, yanglinwei, Pengchang and other places is located between upper and lower shadow plays, which is called Middle Shadow Play.
On the way, we borrowed folk tunes such as grass cutting songs, fiddling songs and cockfighting songs, and interpreted Mianyang shadow play with melodious tunes, which is the original source of Mianyang fishing drum cavity.
According to Mianyang county records, there was a custom of singing shadow play in Mianyang in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Pipi and Pipi, the fishermen and drum artists who embroidered the dike in mian yang, were exiled for ten years, singing and begging along the street, but they didn't have enough to eat and wear warm clothes. Imitating foreign shadow play with cloth shoe shells and performing shadow play with the accompaniment of Mianyang fishing drum cavity initially formed the local characteristics of Mianyang shadow play. Later it became more and more popular. During the Tongzhi period of Qing Dynasty, a shadow play guild was established, and then it developed to Yingcheng area. The artists of Mianyang Yugu Shadow Play unanimously recognized the Pi brothers as the ancestors of Mianyang Shadow Play, and at the same time, like the folk opera troupe, they kept a respectful distance from the "Old Wolf King" and erected a monument to worship him.
The "fishing drum cavity" is named after the singing instrument "fishing drum tube". From the end of the Qing Dynasty (about 1900), the fishing drum cavity and shadow play in Mianyang were completely integrated into one, becoming a unique fishing drum cavity shadow play, and even replaced the singing shadow play in some areas. The singing of Mianyang fishing drum in shadow play can be divided into five categories: Pingqiang, Sadness, Fishbone (or Phoenix), Pipa and Miscellaneous. Singers use true and false voices, with large scale jump, wide range, beautiful timbre and high tone, which is euphemistic and vivid and very touching.
Mianyang fishing drum shadow play has experienced the evolution of shoe shell, paper shell, cowhide and donkey skin. Formally, Miyang's shadow play is about two feet, which is more realistic. Chu-Han Controversy, Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, etc. 100. Artists improvise according to the notes (outlines) in Dai's notebook. The language is composed of "five, five, seven and five" sentences, which rhymes with the simple board and is easy to understand. The last sentence of every lyric pays attention to "shaking the burden" Sometimes improvise with "good water words" or "big white". For example, "after singing for a while, there is no cup of tea. Although the tea of the owner is expensive, it can be simmered in the jar."
Features:
Shadow play imitates the facial makeup of the drama characters, with exquisite carving, health, beauty, purity, ugliness and complete trade; Rich in content (mostly from historical stories, biographies, etc. ), there are ups and downs and suspense; Singing with the tune of fishing drum, the language is humorous and full of strong local flavor, which is widely spread in Xiantao urban and rural areas and even Jianghan Plain.
Representative figures: Pi, Pi, Liu Bao, Chen Dahuan, Chen Dahai, etc.
Xiantao shadow play has been handed down from generation to generation, and the number of singers has been increasing since the founding of New China. Mianyang shadow play, beautifully carved and loud in singing, once brought a lot of laughter and glory to Xiantao people. 195 1 year, Xiantao established the first shadow play troupe in Hubei province. 1953 "Song Wu Da Hu" created and performed by shadow puppeteer Gong Benhuai won the first prize of the whole province and the Central South Bureau. During the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, four shadow puppeteers went to North Korea to express their condolences to Chinese people's Volunteer Army, encouraging soldiers to bravely kill the enemy and defend their country. 1March, 955, went to the provincial capital to perform, and Mianyang shadow play "Song Wu Da Hu" won the first prize; 1988, after watching the shadow play in Mianyang, the delegation of the West German national shadow play requested that two shadow plays be brought back to China and displayed in the National Museum. 198 1 In May, the leading comrades of the Central Ministry of Culture and the National Puppet Shadow Play Association went to Mianyang to watch the shadow play "Flame Mountain", and they greatly praised the singing skills of the play. The provincial TV station also filmed a documentary about Mianyang Shadow Play. For a time, the city's shadow play team has grown to more than 40, with more than 250 artists, forming a landscape of "shadow play in every village".