Lu's shadow puppet carving technique (selected into the second batch of Tangshan city-level intangible cultural heritage list in 2011) Tangshan shadow puppet carving is divided into two major categories, east and west. With the Luan River as the boundary, the east is represented by Leting shadow puppets, and the west is represented by Luanzhou shadow puppets. Lu's shadow puppets inherited the characteristics of Tangshan West Road shadow puppets. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Tangshan shadow puppetry flourished, and shadow puppet carving also developed with it. So the saying "East Li West Ruan" circulated in the shadow puppet world. That is, the shadow puppet carving of the East Road is Li Youlin, with beautiful shapes and delicate carvings; the shadow puppet carving of the West Road is Ruan Guizhong, with rough carvings and strong and powerful. Lu Fuzeng, the representative inheritor of Lu's shadow puppets, was born in 1948. He began to perform shadow puppets on stage at the age of 13. Childhood was the heyday of shadow puppets, and making shadow puppets was a popular hobby for children at that time. I would make some by myself in my spare time to entertain myself. After adulthood, because of his love for shadow puppets, Wang Weitang in the village happened to be carving shadow puppets and was looking for people, so he became his apprentice and started his five-year artistic life. During this period, he made shadow puppet props for hundreds of shadow puppet groups in Jidong. This also laid the foundation for his future art. In more than 40 years of shadow puppet carving life, he has accumulated a certain amount of shadow puppet knowledge and shadow puppet carving skills and passed on his own craftsmanship. The production of Lu's shadow puppets is divided into the following steps: Step 1: Scrape the donkey skin in a porcelain jar and soak it for three to five days to make the fur thoroughly soaked and separated from the epidermis. Then stretch the skin on a quadrilateral frame, wait until it is dried, and then use a special scraper to scrape the skin inside and outside. After drying, cut the skin off and roll it up. Step 2: Carve Draw a draft on the selected leather and fix it on a wax board. Use a special tool for carving. The characteristics of Tangshan shadow puppet carving are: the intention is to use the knife first, the knife goes to the center, and the knife is used vertically. There is only one carving technique for Tangshan shadow puppets, that is, pushing the knife, with the blade forward, and moving the knife up and down. It is similar to the traditional - technique. Its advantage is that it can see the whole picture when carving, and the knife moves powerfully, which is particularly bright when carving thick leather. The knives are divided into three types: large, medium and small, and all the shapes are displayed when these three blades are used. Step 3: Coloring Tangshan shadow puppets are double-sided, which is different from Shaanxi shadow puppets. There are also particularities in the selection of pigments. In the past, food color was used, and now it is professional transparent water color. The color transition should be natural and full. Step 4: Paint the shadow puppet. After the color is applied, a layer of varnish should be applied to protect the color and make the work more beautiful. Step 5: Binding After the shadow puppet paint is dry, use thread to bind it. It should be more solid for performances, and the neck should be processed again to facilitate performances. For handicrafts, the complete unity of the shape of each joint should be paid attention to. In the summer of 2005, Lu Fuzeng went to Xiaoyi, Shanxi with Qi Yongheng, a national first-class actor of Chinese performing artists, to carve a complete set of modern shadow puppets "Liu Hulan", and won the second prize in the "Tangshan International Shadow Art Exhibition". In 2009, the "Yang Guifei" created won the "Title of Hebei Province Second-Class Arts and Crafts Master" in the "Second Hebei Province Arts and Crafts Master Selection". In 2010, Wang Shusheng, a teacher engaged in shadow puppet research at the Municipal Art Museum, visited and collected materials for the publication of shadow puppet books. Works such as "Wang Mao Wusha", "Mu Guiying" and "Tang Minghuang" were selected for the book "On the Modeling and Color of Tangshan Shadow Puppets". Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government