Chinese shadow puppetry survives 2,000 years, now vying for young audiences

Wayang bayang di Xiaoyi, Shanxi, China, menunjukkan kalau seni lama tidak selalu kalah oleh zaman. Menurut laporan China Daily yang dikutip Jumat, 17 April, para perajin di kota itu masih membuat boneka wayang sepenuhnya dengan tangan, dari memilih kulit, menggambar pola, mengukir, mewarnai, hingga menjahit tiap bagian.

Shadow puppetry is a shadow performance art that uses leather puppets behind the screen. At first glance, its shape is similar to the Indonesian shadow puppetry, especially in terms of materials and techniques of playing shadows, although the tradition, stories, and music are different.

The stage is still simple. As reported by China Daily, the performance still uses paper screens on wooden frames and the light of oil lamps, without electricity, as used since the Qing Dynasty. Behind the screen, old stories come to life through the movements of thin sticks and fingers of the players.

Guo Weiwei, a 39-year-old shadow puppet craftsman and performer, said Xiaoyi's shadow puppetry has a firm, simple style, and is based on strong lines. He added a modern aesthetic touch to the traditional doll design, then developed it into a bookmark, decorative lamp, and wedding gift box. Through a short video, Guo also shows the process of turning raw cowhide into a living puppet figure.

Shadow puppetry was included in the first list of China's National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. But recognition alone is not enough. The challenge now is to find new audiences.

At that point, Hou Jianchuan's name stood out. This eighth-generation heir to the shadow puppetry of Xiaoyi grew up with folk performances that used to be present at temple night markets, weddings, and harvest festivals.

Hou's life changes when he meets Wu Haitang, an old shadow puppet maestro, who lives in a nearly collapsed cave house. Wu's precious puppets are stored in a broken box and covered in thick dust. The scene encourages Hou to study with Wu and switch from a regional opera player to a backstage puppeteer.

In addition to preserving old scripts and techniques, Hou also created new performances. In one project, he collaborated with the Yungang Research Institute to transform the digital image of Buddha statues in the Yungang caves into a shadow puppet show. The production then became a permanent performance at the location for 15 years.

"To reach a global audience, we cannot abandon our traditional local singing style and our artistic core. At the same time, we can use music as a universal language," said Hou.

Sanggar Hou has trained more than 300 students. In 2016, Hou took the Xiaoyi shadow puppet to San Jose, USA. To bring the love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai or The Butterfly Lovers, he used the music of Romeo and Juliet as an accompaniment and closed the show with a waltz. The form remains traditional, but is open to a wider audience.