Donghua Shadow Play Introduction
The Donghua Shadow Play Troupe has a history of two hundred years and was originally named "Dexing Ban." It is the most famous local cultural asset of the original Dazhu Township. The fifth-generation successor, Zhang Decheng (deceased), was elected as one of the first National Folk Art Masters along with Li Tianlu in 1989, enjoying the prestigious honor of a national treasure. The older generation in the Dazhu community is quite familiar with "Pishi Zhang" Zhang's residence on Sanmin Road, which has a legacy that can be traced back through generations starting from Zhang Chuan, followed by Zhang Jiao and Zhang Decheng, affirming the artistic talent of the Zhang family. In the era before television, shadow puppetry was the most popular form of folk entertainment; adults and children would gather together to watch shadow puppet shows, listen to folk legends, and enjoy the unique light and sound effects of the performances. The Donghua Shadow Play Troupe flourished under the leadership of Zhang Decheng, and during the 1950s, it toured across Taiwan, creating a sensation, and even performed in the United States, the Philippines, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and other places, greatly contributing to national diplomacy. Zhang Decheng passed away in 1995, and his third son, Zhang Kuo-guo, inherited his father's legacy of "transmitting history through art" and has collaborated with local cultural centers in recent years to promote the cultural heritage of shadow puppetry. Shadow puppets and inheritance: Over two thousand years ago, Emperor Wu of Han mourned the death of his beloved consort and instructed a Taoist priest to use sorcery to summon her spirit. The Taoist set up a large curtain in the palace and used smoke and dim lighting to create silhouettes on the curtain, suggesting that the spirit had appeared, which comforted Emperor Wu. Accompanied by this beautiful legend, shadow puppetry has been passed down in China to this day. Chinese shadow puppetry is one of the earliest forms of performance art that uses "light" and "shadow" effects combined with rich dreamlike themes and incorporates painting, sculpture, music, and drama. According to existing records, its performance style had matured by the Northern Song Dynasty at the latest. After the Song Dynasty, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, shadow puppetry continued to thrive and was loved by the people. Shadow puppetry is a flat art form, and each puppet design often presents various perspectives through sculptural techniques. When manipulated by performers, along with accompaniment from songs, spoken dialogue, and percussion music, it cleverly transforms in a two-dimensional space, creating a seemingly real and fantastical puppet world. The Donghua Shadow Play Troupe, passed down through generations within a family, is the longest-standing shadow play troupe in Taiwan. Its uniqueness lies in its adaptability; it does not merely limit itself to performing ancient traditional techniques but has made various improvements, such as enlarging the viewing windows, increasing the puppet sizes, making colors more vibrant, ensuring smooth joint manipulation, and creating intricate special effects with lighting. The Donghua Shadow Play Troupe is well-known in southern Taiwan; from the 1950s to the mid-1960s, it was the only troupe in the shadow play industry that could attract audiences at all theaters across the island. It has been invited to perform in Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, the United States, and elsewhere. Due to the significant contributions of the fifth-generation leader Zhang Decheng to shadow play, he was awarded the first National Folk Art Inheritance Award in 1985 and elected as the first important National Folk Art Master in 1989. Currently, the sixth-generation leaders, Zhang Kuo-guo and Zhang Yi-guo, have succeeded to the artistic leadership since 1987 and continue to make every effort to preserve and promote Taiwanese shadow puppetry. In addition to maintaining tradition, they also incorporate creativity, winning widespread acclaim from audiences with their flexible and rhythmically engaging performances. They have received the Outstanding Artistic Inheritance Golden Lion Award, the National Top Ten Outstanding Youth Inheritance Award, and are recognized as the first graduates of the Ministry of Education's important National Folk Art shadow puppetry program.
