Foreign Apprentices
The award-winning film To Live brought Huaxian Shadow Play into the international spotlight. As a result Wei has been invited to several international arts festivals and cultural exchange programs.
In 2001 he attended the Asia-Pacific cultural week in Berlin. Jean Luc Penso, manager of a Paris troupe, was a spectator at one of his shows. On returning to France he called Wei, expressing his desire to visit the artist’s hometown and see Shadow Play again. He made it, and shot a video of the play to bring home. Jean Luc Penso had learned glove puppetry in Taiwan for five years, and was interested in its cousin in Huaxian. He offered to learn the art from Wei so that he could later promote it in France and globally.
Penso’s good mastery of the Chinese language made the proposed apprenticeship possible. Over the decade starting in 2001 he visited Wei almost every year, and stayed in his home to learn shadow play. “During his first stay he learnt Hou Yi Shooting the Sun, a Chinese folk tale, and begged me to make him a set of puppets. In 2004 he brought along two friends,” Wei recalled. “He can do the singing part, but in French. The local dialect is still a tall order for him.” Wei was invited to perform in France in 2004, and later made two more trips there for cultural exchanges.
Jean Luc Penso is not the only foreign student Wei has taken on. The shadow play veteran has offered free courses to people from the U.S., Italy, Japan and Germany, and is ready to open his door to anyone with the desire to learn more about the ancient art. “They come to China particularly to learn Huaxian Shadow Play. This is recognition of the value of this art,” he explained.
Cultivating New Inheritors
Although devoted to Shadow Play, Wei Jinquan admits the antique performance art is in decline, struggling to meet modern demands and adapt to changing tastes. Reform is necessary in both content and format of the play to make it fit into today’s market, but this is no easy mission. “There are fewer than 20 performers in Huaxian County, with an average age above 60. At this age and with their educational level and mindset, these artists are not in a position to revive Shadow Play. We need young people to join,” Wei said.
The local government has thrown its weight behind the revival of Huaxian Shadow Play. According to Ran Sijuan, chief of the county’s intangible cultural heritage preservation center, the local government has enacted multiple programs to support shadow play, such as granting RMB 1,500-2,000 to the teacher for every student he/she takes on. However, they show limited effects in recruiting young learners.
Wei himself is active in nurturing the next generation Shadow Play performers. But few of his students, some of whom learnt for years, choose it as a career. “To be frank, performing Shadow Play used to offer a living for the players and their families, but not so any longer. So there is no motivation to learn it.”
Wei has tried many ways to attract the public, including leading his troupe into kindergartens, elderly care homes and PLA garrisons. He also experimented in bringing modern elements like audio, video and lighting technologies to the stage and writing new plays more relevant to present day life, but the results failed to meet his expectations. Wei doesn’t lose hope, as he witnessed the affection of foreign audiences for his art during his international tours. “Many foreigners love traditional Chinese culture, and make the long journey to China to learn it. In contrast, my fellow countrymen give it a cold shoulder,” Wei is appalled at this thought.
He believes the fate of Shadow Play lies with the younger generation, whose broader vision and better education can lead to innovations that make the ancient art more viable in the new era.
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