Every land has its folk arts, now often descending into desuetude, but ever ready to be revived for an ancient festival or even for purposes of tourism. One of these ancient arts, which come back strong in February's celebration of the Chinese or lunar new year, is the shadow play, a form of entertainment that still defies the competition of electronic gadgets.
Traditionally, Pi Ying Shi, or the leather shadow show, is a traveling performance to be viewed by small groups. Figures cut from thin animal skin are silhouetted on a screen of some 3 to 5 feet. Characters as well as settings are semi-transparent. Though amazingly like a cartoon movie, the shadow show is actually more like a puppet performance.
As of today, shadow shows of Taiwan are seen mostly in villages and small towns. The only performing group is the Tung Hua (Eastern China) Shadow Show based in Kaohsiung and carrying on a fight for survival.
Tung Hua, under the leadership of shadow play veteran Chang Teh-cheng, has a history of more than 300 years and was the first on the island. The group is said to have brought shadow shows to Taiwan in the wake of the troops of Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga), who drove out the Dutch in 1661. The claim seems plausible. The shadow plays of Taiwan closely resemble those of Chuanchow in Fukien province on the mainland side of the Taiwan Straits.
Many competing groups once existed on the Chinese mainland, each dominant in a particular region. The most famous was that of Luanchow near Peiping. Luanchow shadow puppets were made of mule skin and were quite large. Local variations could be found in nearly every province. Owing to different motifs, names varied. "Monkey" and "tiger" shows were common. Another was the "paper shadow over a bamboo window." In this version, figures were cut out from cardboard and cast on a paper screen framed by bamboo in the shape of a window. The paper was oiled into a hazy transparency. Later, tanned animal hide replaced the cardboard for better effects and greater durability—but the old name was retained.
Form of Therapy
The shadow play is 20 centuries old. In the Han dynasty, passionate King Wu (140-87 B.C.) fell ill because of the death of his favorite concubine, Lee Fu Jen. He was confind to bed and could neither sleep nor eat. A Taoist priest devised the cure. The shadow of a girl comparable to Lee Fu Jen in face and figure was cast on a screen. Her performance revived the King, and out of this primitive psychotherapy the art of the shadow play was born.
Mention of shadow drama is found in the Sung dynasty (960-1278 A.D.). Under Emperor Jen Tseng, the Tale of The Three Kingdoms was performed on shadow screens as a sort of variety performance. It became a folk art in approximately its present form during the Yuan dynasty and flourished thereafter.
Before the turn of the century, Pi Ying Shi was popular throughout the country. It was easy to stage and inexpensive. Shadow performances provided a ritual homage to the deities. But the stories were addressed to flesh-and-blood audiences, which were quickly captivated by the phantoms of the small screen.
Shadow plays also are found in Thailand and Indonesia, apparently having been exported by China about the 15th century. French Catholic missionaries carried Pi Ying Shi to Europe during the Ming dynasty (1368-1628). It was imitated by the Europeans and supposedly exerted an influence on development of marionette plays.
In the last years of the Manchus, just before birth of the Republic, an American resident in Peiping, Miss Pauline Penton, learned the art from Li Tu-chen, a shadow picture master who performed at the Imperial Palace. She purchased a set of equipment and presented shadow shows in a New York theater. Success prompted her to return to China for new stories. She wrote a play, "Elephant Gay", and took up Pi Ying Shi as a career. She performed in Canada, California, and even the Bahamas.
Shadow show stories include comedy, satire, and historical pieces already popular in the legitimate theater. As with Chinese opera, the repertoire draws heavily on such old novels as the Tale of The Three Kingdoms, All Men Are Brothers, Shi Yui Chi (the Story of Monk Hsuan Chuang's Pilgrimage to the Western Land), Feng Sheng Pang (Fable of Heavenly Gods), and the Story of the White Snake. An addition in Taiwan is the Dutch surrender to Koxinga. Invariably the plays promote the traditional Chinese virtues of loyalty and filial piety.
On the average, a play lasts only an hour, but some are serialized and continue for a couple of weeks. The stories are packed with drama, excitement, and pathos. Played on a misty, mystic evening, they can be emotion-provoking and fascinating in an out-this-world way. The physical excitement of the theater may be lacking, but no perceptive audience can be immune to the dramatic appeal.
Portable Stage
The stage is portable and has the facade of a Chinese palace. The oiled cloth screen is built in. The only modern innovation is the use of an electric bulb as the source of light. The silhouetted figures are manipulated by two or three operators. Puppet-like cutouts have movable mouths and arms. Sets may be boats, houses, and mountains, and include furniture and all essential properties. Scenes change as in ordinary drama.
A single battle may involve as many as a dozen characters at a time. In addition to doing the animation, shadow play operators must voice the parts, sing the operatic verses, and provide the sound effects. Scripts are used.
Plays are accompanied by an orchestra of seven or eight pieces: Drums, gongs, cymbals, fiddles, and flutes—instruments typical of Chinese opera. Today a brass band, also popular at weddings and funerals, may be substituted for the orchestra.
As in Chinese opera, characters are categorized as Sheng, Tan, Ching, and Chou, Sheng are scholars, statesmen, soldiers, and the like. Tan are the female roles. Ching are robust, militant characters such as warriors, bandits, evil ministers, gods, and other supernatural entities. Chou are the comics or clowns. All roles are enacted according to established convention.
Figures appear only in profile—facing right or left. They can move only across the screen, without sense of depth. Gesture is restricted to head and arms, unlike the popular puppets and marionettes of China.
Realistic Props
Compared with Chinese opera, the shadow show is more realistic. Props include boats, horses, and all manner of objects. The silhouetted dragon is far more real than the mythical creature itself.
Skillful lighting provides the effects of semi-transparency, sharpness, vagueness, and even color. Forest fire and clashing swords are easily visualized—with realistic accompanying sound.
Usually the leather of Pi Ying Shi comes from the mule or sheep, tanned extremely thin. Then it is soaked in tung oil until it becomes soft and translucent. Movable head and arms are cut out separately, joined with brass clips, and moved with wires or threads concealed behind the figure. The figures are attached to slender sticks. Sets may be hung close to the screen.
In olden days, brightly painted shadow show figures were favorite toys and souvenirs, readily available at street stalls around holiday time. Now they are hard to find or obtainable. However, they may be special ordered.
Family Troupes
Performers are trained from childhood as the art is handed down from generation to generation, usually in a single family. To this day, signs are posted at the "stage entrance" to keep away uninvited visitors. Backstage photographs are strictly prohibited.
The Tung Hua, custodians of the art on Taiwan, are of the Chang family. Chief performers are Chang Teh-cheng and his son. About a dozen others are employed as assistants, musicians, and stage hands. The troupe ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence playing in rural towns. Occasionally it is called upon to entertain diplomats or U.S. military advisory personnel. In March of 1958, Tung Hua gave three months of performances at a Philippine trade fair.
Pi Ying Shi is slowly vanishing. Unless measures are taken to adapt it to modern times, it will not last much longer. The Association of Taiwan Theatrical Plays has been studying reform of the shadow show and ways to revive popular interest. Invasion of TV may make this difficult, and perhaps impossible. Yet shadows are among the world's first thespians and will not die easily. After all, the cinema and the video are shadows, too. And as John Locke said, "the picture of a shadow is a positive thing."