-PERFORMING ARTS- |
Theatre There are references to theatrical entertainments in
China as early as 1500 BCE during the Shang Dynasty; they often involved
music, clowning and acrobatic displays. The Tang Dynasty is sometimes known as 'The Age of 1000
Entertainments'. During this era, Emperor Xuanzong formed an acting school
known as the Children of the Pear Garden to produce a form of drama that was
primarily musical. During the Tang Dynasty, shadow puppetry first emerged
as a recognized form of theatre in China. There were two distinct forms of
shadow puppetry, Cantonese (southern) and Pekingese (northern). The two styles
were differentiated by the method of making the puppets and the positioning of
the rods on the puppets, as opposed to the type of play performed by the
puppets. Both styles generally performed plays depicting great adventure and
fantasy, rarely was this very stylized form of theatre used for political
propaganda. Cantonese shadow puppets were the larger of the two. They were
built using thick leather which created more substantial shadows. Symbolic
color was also very prevalent; a black face represented honesty, a red one
bravery. The rods used to control Cantonese puppets were attached
perpendicular to the puppets’ heads. Thus, they were not seen by the audience
when the shadow was created. Pekingese puppets were more delicate and smaller.
They were created out of thin, translucent leather (usually taken from the
belly of a donkey). They were painted with vibrant paints, thus they cast a
very colorful shadow. The thin rods which controlled their movements were
attached to a leather collar at the neck of the puppet. The rods ran parallel
to the bodies of the puppet then turned at a ninety degree angle to connect to
the neck. While these rods were visible when the shadow was cast, they laid
outside the shadow of the puppet; thus they did not interfere with the
appearance of the figure. The rods attached at the necks to facilitate the use
of multiple heads with one body. When the heads were not being used, they were
stored in a muslin book or fabric lined box. The heads were always removed at
night. This was in keeping with the old superstition that if left intact, the
puppets would come to life at night. Some puppeteers went so far as to store
the heads in one book and the bodies in another, to further reduce the
possibility of reanimating puppets. Shadow puppetry is said to have reached
its highest point of artistic development in the eleventh century before
becoming a tool of the government. In the Sung Dynasty, there were many popular plays
involving acrobatics and music. These developed in the Yuan Dynasty into a
more sophisticated form with a four or five act structure. Yuan drama spread across China and diversified into
numerous regional forms, the best known of which is Beijing Opera, which is
still popular today.
Entertainment :: Performing Arts
Theatre