3. Chen Fan Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, China.
關鍵詞
puppets; exorcism witchcraft; Daoism way of expelling evil spirits; Buddhist belief; drama
摘要
Puppets, a kind of wooden figure whose movements are manipulated by artists, were frequently used in ancient Chinese singing and dancing activities and dramas. The uniqueness of substituting human beings for puppets has drawn tremendous attention from scholars. However, despite previous research on the long development process of puppet dramas, a considerable number of details remain neglected, and behind these details lies an abundance of complicated religious factors. Therefore, this paper uses several fragments as entry points in terms of puppet dramas’ modeling, materials, craft, rites, function, artists, organization, and other aspects to comprehensively analyze the influence of witchcraft, Daoism, and Buddhism on China’s puppet dramas. This research first unveils that a ferocious appearance and mahogany as a material, both used in puppets, are outer manifestations to reveal the magical power of witchcraft. Next, the rites performed in Li Yuan Jiao using ritual puppets were characterized by mystery in their implication and ambiguity in their religious sect, which was related to the attempt to hide their notorious identities as wizards on the part of the artists. Third, general puppet artists enjoyed a fairly high social status, conferred by their semi-religionist identity and the puppet dramas’ historical status. Finally, the improvement in the puppet-making process and the emergence of skeleton-style puppets embody the secularization of the spread of Buddhism.
目次
Abstract 1 Keywords 1 1. Introduction 1 2. Witchcraft Puppet Dramas with the Concept of “Expelling Evil with Evil” (Yi Xiong Zhi Xiong 以凶制凶) 4 3. Li Yuan Jiao 梨園教: Puppet Dramas in Daoist Activities 6 4. “Head of Dramas” (Baixi Zhi Shou 百戲之首): Puppet Artists’ Social Status 8 5. Eastward Spread of Buddhism: The Improvement in Puppet Manufacturing and the Spread of the Buddhist Void 10 5.1. Dissemination of Woodworking Techniques 11 5.2. Transmission of Buddhist Ideology 12 6. Conclusions 14 Author Contributions 16 Funding 16 Conflicts of Interest 16 Notes 16 References 17
