During the Warring States Period, the ancestors of China once discovered an interesting optical story of pinhole imaging, which was mentioned in Mohist books, and another story was further related to movies. "Everything is done by Han Feizi, the foreign reserve says that the left is the best": "The guest painted pods for Zhou Jun for three years, and your opinion is contrary to that of the pod digger. Zhou Jun was furious, and the painter said,' Build a wall of ten pages, chisel eight feet, and observe it from the beginning.' Zhou Jun did so, and saw that everything was ready, such as dragons, snakes, beasts, cars and horses. Zhou Jun was overjoyed. "
What is the "pod" of the painted pod? The ancient use is still unknown, but the scenery of this pod still needs to be seen through the sun from an eight-foot window. It's wonderful. This is really a bit like a big scene in a shadow play.
"Biography of Han consorts" by Ban Gu in the Han Dynasty: "Li Furen is few and fleas die, and I think so. Alchemists and his men are few and can talk to their gods. Even at night, we set out curtains and let him live in the curtains. I saw a good woman Li Furen from a distance, but I still sat and walked, but I didn't dare to look. I am more and more homesick in this world. For poetry, I said: Watch it, it's late for He Shanshan! " ……"
The Li Furen image of the alchemist Shaoweng, reproduced by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, is vivid and hard to distinguish between true and false. The instruments used are candles and curtains, and Emperor Wu observed them and had to "live in their accounts". His image not only looks alike, but also walks. It seems that it may be made of leather or other flat materials. It has all the characteristics of today's shadow play, but the light and shadow performance at this time is only in the hands of folk alchemists, and the technology is still a relatively confidential performance organization.
Shaanxi folk shadow play artists say: "Han Fei plays in front of the baby, skillfully cuts tung leaves and shines on the window screen, runs the country and keeps the country safe, and enters the people's homes with rites and music." This means that there was a shadow play in the Han Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, Gao Cheng said in "Shadow Play in the Era of Events": "The original shadow play came from Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty." The History of Cheng in the Song Dynasty also said: "Qin Shihuang benefited from magic eye, rope walking, seeking fans, dancing wheels, making bowls and making movies ..."
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the paper-cut objects unearthed today can prove this skill of lettering on thin materials. Paper-cutting has always been associated with shadow play, and it is still called "paper storytelling" in Shaanxi, which reminds me of the "cockfighting" in Shandong window grilles, that is, a pair of pommel horses or cocks cut, assembled and connected by joints; It is hung on the window, and a thread is drawn from the inside out to form a thin piece of paper, which is blown by the wind and drives indoor characters or cocks to fight. In Xiaoyi County, Shanxi Province, there are still "paper window shadows" left over from the Qing Dynasty.
The folk activities of shadow play in Tang Dynasty are unknown. Buddhism, on the other hand, uses this form of folk performance to promote Buddhism with moving paper figures as explanatory images, which is called "paper shadow performance story". Another carved crown ornament unearthed in Xi 'an is very similar to today's shadow sculpture. Although it is not a transparent shadow, it can be seen that the carving process on leather is in a mature stage.
Shadow play in Song Dynasty has been renamed from various notes, describing the prosperity at that time. Meng Yuan's "Dream of Tokyo" records: "Ding Yi is thin and clever, and he plays clever ... He looks at people not by the wind and rain, but by the shed, every day." On holidays, "there is no music shed in each lane, and there are many small shadow play sheds."
"The Story of the Capital: Many Performers in Washer" written by Naideon: "Every movie ... was originally carved with plain paper and then covered with colored leather. Its story is very similar to that of a historian, almost half true and half false. "
Wu's "Liang Lumeng" records: "At the beginning of Bianjing in Yuan Dynasty, people used plain paper to carve the arrowheads, and later generations skillfully carved them with sheepskin and decorated them with colors so as not to damage them. Hang Cheng has Jia Silang, Wang Sheng and Wang Run Qing. , cooked benevolence cooked benevolence, no difference in words. Also, "loyal people carve straight shapes, wicked people carve ugly shapes, and the cover is also praised and derogated." "
Zhou Mi's Biography of the Old Wulin contains: "Artists of all colors, Jia Zhen, Jia Xiong, Black Niang." "Every time (the film) is shown, the children are screaming and screaming."
Zhang Lai's Ming Dow Magazine recorded: "There are rich children in the capital ... and this child is very good at movies. Every time he beheaded Guan Yu, he cried for it and told those who did it to slow down. "
Gao Cheng's "Things are in the Original" records: "When Song Renzong was in China, people in the city could speak the Three Kingdoms or decorate them with words; The filmmaker started with a portrait of Wei Shuwu's three-point battle. "
China's shadow play developed from Shaanxi and first spread along the Yellow River valley ... In the first year of Jingkang (1 126), the nomads attacked Kaifeng. In April of Jingkang, more than 3,000 people, including Emperor Qin Hui, his empresses, princes, imperial daughters and imperial clan nobles, went north, including geisha who advocated Excellence, such as' shadow play'. (Jiang Yuxiang's China Film) Emperor Gaozong went south safely, and the cinema went south with the refugees. First in Lin 'an (Hangzhou), then planted in southern areas such as Hu, Guang, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiang. The migration of Song Dynasty made Shaanxi shadow play "north to south" and expanded the territory of "East-West Flowing" in the Yellow River Basin. For example, the shadow play in northern Sichuan is called "the shadow of Shaanxi lanterns" and "the shadow of Weinan in northern Sichuan" by Sichuanese. The ancient "Weinan" generally refers to the vast area from Tongguan to Lishan in the south of Weishui, and the ancient system includes xinfeng County, Dali County, hua county County and Tongguan County, which is the Dongfu area in Xi 'an, China. "Weinan Shadow Play" actually refers to "Xi Andong House Shadow Play". That is to say: the world film originated in China-China film originated in Shaanxi-Shaanxi film originated in xi 'an Anton House!
Where did China's shadow play originate? Some people say it's Shaanxi and some people say it's Henan, which has been discussed for many years.
Personally, I tend to say Shaanxi. Gu Jiegang, a modern historian, thinks in A Brief History and Present Situation of China: "The birthplace of China films is Shaanxi, and it flourished from Qin and Han Dynasties to Sui and Tang Dynasties." Qi Rushan also said in the "Hundred Drama Tests in the Old Capital": "According to this drama, it certainly started in Shaanxi. Because for hundreds of years, Xi 'an Andu and Xuanzong loved to advocate art, and there were many people who had raised various technologies from Shaanxi, so the shadow play began here and attracted attention. "He also said:" Bianjing's shadow play came from Xi 'an, which is very reasonable, because the distance between the two places is not too far, the traffic is as frequent as possible, and they are both capitals, and all kinds of skills are indispensable. Since the capital is from Xi 'an to Bianjing, shadow play should follow. "In addition, the old shadow puppet troupe in Shaanxi worships the idol of the founder of the pear garden, namely Li Longji, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty who started the pear garden. From the Zhou and Qin Dynasties to the Han and Tang Dynasties, thirteen dynasties in Shaanxi established their capitals here, so it is natural that shadow play first prevailed among Shaanxi people.
Of course, it is unscientific to attribute the origin of things to a person or a place. Various phenomena in China folk culture are mostly the result of the wisdom and wisdom discovered and created by laborers in their production and life. China's shadow play art was gradually formed after a long period of brewing, and the mature and perfect things did not suddenly appear in one day. If "A Guest Draws a Pod for Zhou Jun" is the first discovery stage related to shadow play, then Qi Fang Shi Shaoweng's demonstration of Li Furen's image for Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty is the second creation stage, the paper shadow play story in Tang Dynasty is the third development stage, and the shadow play in Song Dynasty is the fourth mature and prosperous stage.
Of course, no one in history can record the activities of shadow play art in Shan Ye, countryside and fields. We can only look for the shadow of the shadow play art created by laborers in the long river of history through the activity records of courts and streets.