Shadow play, also known as shadow play, lantern shadow play, paper shadow play. It is also called shadow play in Youxian folk. In 2006, Jiashan shadow play was identified as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage list items in Hunan Province. Youxian Jiashan shadow play was introduced from Xiangtan to Jiashan Township, Youxian in the late Qing Dynasty, and spread to Huangfeng Bridge and Baishi in the east of Youxian, Huangtuling, Gaojian, Shiping in the north, Yajiang Bridge and Daqiao in the west, Shiyangtang and Taoshui in the south, and neighboring Liling, Hengdong, Pingxiang and other places. Religion was prevalent in Youxian in the old days, and folk music, drama, dance, ancient folk stories and folk proverbs were rich and colorful. Among them, shadow play acrobatics has a certain history in the county and is a highlight in the history of Youxian folk culture. Shadow play evolved from storytelling in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty and belongs to puppet art. Song Meng Yuanlao's "Dongjing Menghualu" and Zhou Mi's "Wulin Jiushi" both have records. In the Song Dynasty, Naide Weng's "Capital Records" recorded that "all the skills of the theater" "all shadow plays were first carved with plain paper by the people of the capital, and then with colored leather. The story is quite similar to that of the historical books, and most of them are half true and half false. The loyal ones are carved with upright faces, and the evil ones are carved with ugly faces. It is probably also a play that praises and criticizes the vulgar." The shadow plays popular throughout the country are the inheritance and development of the Song Dynasty shadow plays. The shadow plays of You County are no exception. They are very close to the style of Hebei shadow plays. The character modeling is simple and rough without losing elegance. The characters are thick, with fingers that seem to stretch and grasp, abstract and simple, and are most loved by the people of You County. They are often performed at weddings and funerals, temple fairs, and ancestor worship ceremonies. The main representative of You County shadow plays is the Jiashan shadow play. The Jiashan shadow play troupe is generally composed of 4 to 5 people. There is no professional class to teach art, and the transmission of skills is mostly a form of father-to-son teaching and master-to-student learning. The earliest was the late artist Zeng Qiuhe and his second brother Zeng Donghe from Huangni Chong, Jiashan. In the 30th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1904), they learned from Ma Zonggui, the son of Qi Shiyu, a famous Xiangtan shadow puppet artist, and took over. As a result, shadow puppetry appeared in remote and isolated mountain villages, adding color to the folk culture of You County. Since Zeng Qiuhe and his brothers introduced shadow puppet art to Jiashan, they have taught hundreds of disciples in Jiashan and Yajiangqiao. Each village has established a shadow puppet art class with the Zeng family of Jiashan Township as the core. In the early years of the Republic of China, there were more than 8 shadow puppet classes in Jiashan, and the performances affected the entire county and neighboring counties, forming an unprecedented prosperity. Due to the charm of shadow puppet art, Jiashan Zeng's shadow puppetry has developed rapidly. In You County, wherever there is shadow puppet art, there are disciples of Jiashan Zeng's inheritance. During the heyday of shadow puppetry, most towns and villages in You County had shadow puppet troupes. The number of shadow puppet performance groups, led by Zeng's family in Jiashan, has grown to more than 30. Shadow puppetry is a kind of dramatic art that uses paper lining or cowhide to carve various characters and animals, and make each joint movable, install joysticks, and perform behind a white cloth screen controlled by actors, projected on the screen through lights, and accompanied by singing and music. Its repertoire and singing are mostly influenced by local operas. Shadow puppetry is composed of scripts, performances, directors, modeling, music and stage art. Jiashan shadow puppetry uses opera performance scripts, such as "Journey to the West", "Nantang Savior", "Investiture of the Gods", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and other series of plays, and "Water Flooding Jinshan", "Iron Forging" and other excerpts, as well as classical myths, fairy tales and fables, and folk story plays. Among them, work plays and martial arts plays are the majority, and many new and creative performances are presented in the fighting scenes, which can be said to be "plays in plays". The script selection of Jiashan shadow play has certain characteristics: since shadow play is a puppet show, its performance is mainly exaggerated and humorous. The actions of the characters can produce a comedic effect, but it is difficult to express tragic themes. In the treatment of themes, emphasis is placed on the image, avoiding rap plots, highlighting the use of stunts, and avoiding the limitations of opera programs. Shadow play has its own characteristics in portraying characters: first, in character modeling, personality characteristics are reflected; second, through specific plot arrangements, characters are vividly shaped and their personalities are expressed; third, characters are expressed through the manipulation of stunts by the actors; fourth, the shortcomings of the performance are compensated through human ventriloquism and the unique performance of the band. In this way, the dull shadow image becomes a flesh-and-blood drama character. Most of the shadow performance art of Jiashan is based on opera programs, but due to its artistic characteristics, the performance art has its own characteristics: first, speed. Shadow puppets have no life and no emotions, so the performance rhythm must be fast and vivid, and each body movement must be quickly connected together, and it is not suitable to be still in the middle. Secondly, exaggeration is an important feature of shadow puppetry. It gives characters a sense of humor through mechanical and exaggerated movements, which is very ornamental. At the same time, some scenes that are difficult to perform in stage plays, such as the killing scene of "heads falling to the ground", can be performed easily in shadow puppetry. The performance of Jiashan shadow puppetry is very skillful. The performance of the characters in the shadow puppetry mainly depends on mastering the joystick. The pole should be level, the steps should be stable, the movements should be flexible, delicate and fascinated, the band should cooperate, the performers should be versatile, and the female voices are all sung by male artists. Modeling occupies an important position in shadow puppetry art, and the development of shadow puppetry is closely related to it. Jiashan shadow puppetry often innovates in modeling. What kind of play is performed, what kind of shadow puppet is created. Peking opera is Peking opera, and Huagu opera is Huagu opera. It has the folk color and local flavor of where it is, and it has the special flavor of where it is. For example, the shadow play "Legend of Chen Zhipi" is based on the story of Chen Zhipi, a talented man from You County during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. This play has a strong local style. Its costumes, colors, and patterns also change with the changes in the content, making people sigh: Shadow puppets are a kind of living sculpture and a handicraft toy. The music of Jiashan shadow play is determined by the type of play being performed. If you sing Peking opera or Hunan opera, you should sing in the style of Peking opera and Hunan opera, and if you sing Hunan flower drum opera, you should sing in the style of Hunan flower drum opera. In terms of instrument performance, one person can play two or even three instruments, and also help sing. In short, the cooperation is tacit, and the sound and shadow are coordinated. The instruments used in Jiashan shadow play include one large tube, one Beijing fiddle, one small suona, two large suonas, one 8-inch hall drum, two pairs of large banknotes, one medium tiger sound gong, one small gong, one pair of high and low pitch boards, and some use large bamboo stumps in the mountains that are about three inches long (must have a bamboo joint) instead of class drums. The performance stage of Jiashan shadow play is simple and easy to assemble, disassemble and carry. It is usually made of 8 1.25-meter-long small square sticks and two 1.3-meter-long small pillar sticks; in front is a 1.2-meter-by-2-meter white cloth screen, with a 1-meter-by-2-meter-high cloth on each side, a 0.2-meter-high eaves cloth on the white screen cloth, and a 0.6-meter-by-2-meter bottom cloth under the screen. For easy assembly and disassembly, the screen cloth, curtain eaves cloth, surrounding cloth and bottom cloth are usually sewn into a whole piece. The tabletop is generally four square tables commonly used at home (sometimes two square tables are also acceptable). There is a rectangular stool for percussionists and two stools on the stage, and a 200W light bulb or fluorescent tube above the back of the screen. The scenery is based on size and color depth to reflect the distance of the environment. The scenery combines virtuality and reality, the colors are transparent, and the lighting does not change. The Jiashan shadow play is carved from cow and sheep skin or gasket paper. It is divided into the facial makeup and body of various characters, including Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou. The joints of their hands and feet are flexible. There are also various props required in the play (such as tables, chairs, knives, guns, etc.) and birds and beasts, etc., whose forms are vivid. Jiashan shadow play has been passed down to this day and still has a long-lasting vitality among the people of You County. Although it is impacted by modern high technology and diversified cultural and artistic content and forms, shadow play is still loved and favored by many people. You County shadow play is the traditional way of life of the people of You County. It is a spiritual bond to communicate the hometown and the people's sentiments, and has a strong emotional connection and radiation. At the same time, Jiashan shadow play art has high artistic and aesthetic value. Whether it is the production of shadow play, the structure of the stage, or the way of performance, it is unique and ingenious. It uses the shadow of the shadow play operated by people on the cloth screen combined with singing, acting, reciting and beating to express the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness in human life, and also reflects the wisdom and pursuit of cultural life of the ancient Chinese people. Youxian Jiashan Shadow Play has a very high academic research value and practical value for cultural anthropology, folklore and even cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. In 2006, Jiashan Shadow Play was identified as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage list items in Hunan Province. Youxian Cultural Bureau is the main body of protection of this project.