But when, where, by whom and by what means was Lingyuan shadow play introduced? Which studio or artist would you send it to first? At present, it has not been confirmed by data.
1994, the "Baren Laoye" shadow play class in Gan 'an County, Hebei Province, and Guo Yongshan (Han Zhuo's record), a famous shadow play artist in Daoerdeng Township, Lingyuan, always performed around the Great Wall inside and outside Shanhaiguan, so they were called "City Protection Class" by everyone. The artists in the class are exquisite in art and have a certain cultural level. The main artists in this category are:
Tang Man (who plays Sanxian, and is called a half-table soup in the customs), Zhang Xiufeng (drumming), Wang Antai (palm player), Ren Qinglong (Yao Xian, drumming and singing) and Deng Chunlin (Deng Laolin, palm player). After the performance, the artists carefully tempered their books, discussed the performing arts, and insisted on perennial activities, which were very popular and famous at home and abroad. During the period of 1928, the "City Protection Class" was invited by Wan Li, the monitor of the Shadow Play Class in Sandaoliangzi Village, Lingyuan, to perform at Erdeng and Sandaoliangzi in Lingyuan. 1933, Guo Yongshan lived in the Wenpuzhai class in Daoerdeng, and invited artists from both inside and outside Shanhaiguan, such as Deng Chunlin, Ren Qinglong, Wang and Liu Chaoqing, from the original shadow play class to gather with the Wenpuzhai class in Lingyuan to perform on the same stage, learn from each other's strong points and improve together. This is an example of a shadow play troupe and artists in Hebei province who walked out of Qian 'an and flowed to Lingyuan, Liaoning Province through Qinglong during the Republic of China.
1937, Tong Nationality, a shadow play artist in Wangzidian Township, Qinglong County, Hebei Province, came to Lingyuan to take refuge and escape. Grandfather Tong, nicknamed Tong Laobu, sang about the children on the palm line, and his father Tong Fengzhou played drums and sang loudly. Tong Min was born at the door. 12 years old, engaged in film art. He learned to take, paste, play and sing, and he was proficient in everything. This sculptor is more famous at home and abroad. When I first came to Lingyuan, three generations of grandparents and grandchildren sang movies in class to make a living. 1949, Lingyuan Shadow Play Club was established with artists. 1957, Lingyuan County established a shadow play troupe, and Tong Min became a recognized artistic backbone. 1959, Lou Yongchang, a Tianjin Baodi shadow play artist, worked in Lingyuan Shadow Play Troupe as the lead singer. His voice is sweet and rich, and he taught Xu Zilin of Lingyuan until the Cultural Revolution. On the surface, artists sing shadow play in class to make a living, but in essence they are also spreading the art of shadow play.
The inheritance of folk shadow play art, whether it is a shadow sculptor, or taking, playing, pulling and singing, is based on teachers or holding special classes to train talents. Before liberation, if you accepted a teacher as an apprentice, you could conclude a life-and-death contract through the introduction of an intermediary-"You should jump into the river to find a well, which has nothing to do with the teacher ...", and you could move with the class, learn and sing while working for Master for three years before the end of your studies, so as to make a living. In professional courses, students learn art while performing, and the film price is slightly lower than that in adult classes. All the income goes to the master, or several students leave class together in two or three years, so that the art of shadow play can be passed down from generation to generation and developed from generation to generation. After liberation, the old rules were abolished, but the way of inheritance was slightly the same.