Hand Shadow Puppets is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment.
Des marionnettes d'ombre à main ou un jeu d'ombre ou également connu sous le nom de marionnettes Shadow sont une ancienne forme de narration et de divertissement qui utilise des figures articulées plates (marionnettes d'ombre) pour créer des figures de découpe qui sont maintenues entre une source de lumière et un écran ou un scrimage translucide. The cut-out shapes of the puppets sometimes include translucent color or other types of detailing. Various effects can be achieved by moving both the puppets and the light source. A talented puppeteer can make the figures appear to walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh.
Shadow play is popular in various cultures; currently there are more than 20 countries known to have shadow show troupes. Shadow play is an old tradition and it has a long history in Southeast Asia; especially in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. It is also considered as an ancient art in other parts of Asia such as in China, India and Nepal. It is also known in the West from Turkey, Greece to France. It is a popular form of entertainment for both children and adults in many countries around the world.
Shadow puppetry originated during the Han Dynasty when one of the concubines of Emperor Wu of Han died from an illness. The emperor was devastated, and he summoned his court officers to bring his beloved back to life. The officers made a shape of the concubine using donkey leather. Her joints were animated using 11 separate pieces of the leather, and adorned with painted clothes. En utilisant une lampe à huile, ils ont fait bouger son ombre, la ramenant à la vie. During the Ming Dynasty there were 40 to 50 shadow show troupes in the city of Beijing alone. In the 13th century, the shadow show became a regular recreation in the barracks of the Mongolian troops. It was spread by the conquering Mongols to distant countries like Persia, Arabia, and Turkey. Later, it was introduced to other Southeastern Asian countries. The earliest shadow theatre screens were made of mulberry paper. The storytellers generally used the art to tell events between various war kingdoms or stories of Buddhist sources.[1] Today, puppets made of leather and moved on sticks are used to tell dramatic versions of traditional fairy tales and myths. In Gansu province, it is accompanied by Daoqing music, while in Jilin, accompanying Huanglong music forms some of the basis of modern opera.
The origins of Taiwan's shadow puppetry can be traced to the Chaochow school of shadow puppet theatre. Communément appelés émissions de singes en cuir ou spectacles en cuir, les jeux d'ombre étaient populaires à Tainan, Kaohsiung et Pingtung dès la dynastie Qing (1644-1911 après JC). Older puppeteers estimate that there were at least a hundred shadow puppet troupes in southern Taiwan in the closing years of the Qing. Traditionnellement, les figures de marionnettes de huit à 12 pouces, et les paysages de scène et les accessoires tels que les meubles, les paysages naturels, les pagodes, les salles et les plantes sont tous coupés de cuir. Comme Shadow Puppetry est basé sur la lumière pénétrant à travers une feuille de tissu translucide, les "ombres" sont en fait des silhouettes vues par le public dans le profil ou le visage. Les pièces d'ombre de Taiwan sont accompagnées de mélodies de chaochow qui sont souvent appelées «mélodies de prêtre» en raison de leur similitude avec la musique utilisée par les prêtres taoïstes lors des funérailles. Un grand répertoire de quelque 300 scripts de la Southern School of Drama utilisé dans l'ombre de marionnettes et datant des XIVe et XVe siècles a été conservé à Taïwan et est considéré comme un atout culturel inestimable.
A number of terms are used to describe the different forms.
-a shadow theatre using leather puppets. The figures are usually moved behind a thin screen and is not entirely a show of shadows as it is more of a silhouette shadow. This gives the figures some color, and is not 100% black and white.
-paper shadow theatre.
-Chinese shadow theatre.
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