Shadow theater is a wonderful flower of Chinese folk art. The history of Chinese theater - how it originated and developed India: the dancing gods

Introduction

A puppet theater is a special type of theatrical performance in which puppets act instead of actors (or along with actors).
The Chinese puppet theater always attracts the audience, because the puppets, led by the skillful hand of man, show the joys and sorrows of the human world. Dolls accompany mankind from the earliest times of its existence. However, in ancient times they were not yet used as an object of amusement or a child's toy. On the contrary, they belonged to the area of \u200b\u200bthe sacred world and were associated by people with the afterlife.
Puppet shows are staged not so much for the entertainment of the public as for expressing gratitude to the gods and expelling the forces of evil.
Since ancient times, colorful puppet shows in China have been the original and customary way of performing both actions of a purely ritual nature, and ordinary entertaining performances for the amusement of the respectable public.
Puppet theater in China is of great importance for the world puppet theater, since it is hardly in any other country that it has become so widespread.
The Chinese puppet theater has been little studied even for the present time, most of its descriptions were made relatively recently, mainly in the XX century. At the same time, the cultural layer of the Chinese civilization is vast and multifaceted, and it is impossible to overestimate its importance. But even for the Europeans of the XXI century. it remains largely enigmatic. one

Chapter 1. The emergence and development of puppet theaters

History of origin

The origin of the original tradition of the Chinese puppet theater is probably the ancient custom of burying with the deceased figurines of people called to serve him in the afterlife. In the earliest mentions of puppet shows, there is a connection between the latter and funeral rites: in the Han era, during feasts, noble people entertained themselves with the performances of some dolls. At the same time, funeral music was played. However, the later tradition connects the beginning of the puppet theater with a certain beautiful doll, which one of the most ancient commanders sent as a gift to his rival.
In the sources of the VI century. there is a report that in the park of the imperial palace there was a booth with three stages arranged in tiers. On the lower tier there was a puppet orchestra of seven musicians, in the middle tier, seven monks moved in a circle, bowing to the Buddha, and on the upper stage, Buddhist deities were flying among the clouds. All of these dolls were set in motion by water. At the same time, a traditional puppet character called "bald Go" appears in China. Puppet performances, and in particular puppet puppets, are gaining immense popularity among the upper classes of society and are often played out at the funerals of noble persons. In the following centuries, a traditional puppet theater was formed, which received the name "small tszatsui". 2
In the XIII century. a Hangzhou resident cites the names of 71 puppet theater plays, many of which had analogues among the jiangju plays. Chinese puppeteers of that time most willingly used stories from a folk tale. Naturally, the element of fantasy and grotesque was expressed in the puppet theater especially strongly, and legends about saints, mythical heroes, ambassadors from distant countries presenting fabulous treasures to the ruler of the Middle Empire, etc. "Much fiction, little truth ", - said a contemporary of that era about the puppet shows. The "bald Guo" still enjoyed the love of the audience, to which was now added his constant partner - "venerable Bao", who apparently performed the duties of the presenter. In Fujian by the end of the XIII century. there were about 300 troupes performing performances with the participation of "bald go". At the same time, traditions of musical accompaniment to puppet pieces were formed, usually played to the accompaniment of a drum and flute.
In the Song era, "floating dolls" were known - the descendants of the mechanical dolls of antiquity. According to tradition, the performances of water puppets were arranged in special booth boats, but they were controlled by puppeteers. Along with plot pieces such as zajuyi, the program of these performances included circus performances, various fantastic scenes, such as "the transformation of a fish into a dragon." There were also so-called body dolls, the appearance of which is not entirely clear. According to one version, people played in the theater of "bodily puppets", according to another - that was the name of the glove puppets. There are reports of dolls powered by gunpowder. In the following centuries, three types of dolls were received in China: puppets, glove puppets and reed puppets. The most popular puppet theater - mainly glove puppets - was enjoyed in Fuijian and Taiwan, where until recently there were more than a thousand puppet companies. 3
Traditional Chinese puppet theater is of two types: puppet theater and, in the true sense, shadow theater. And of the two arts, the first has a longer history and is more famous in the country. Since ancient times, colorful puppet shows in China have been the original and customary way of performing both actions of a purely ritual nature, and ordinary entertaining performances for the amusement of the respectable public. No later than the 10th century, in the era of the Sung dynasty, when other stage genres had yet to acquire complete forms, the performing skills of puppeteers had already reached a high professional level. From those ancient times to the present day, puppet shows and performances with live actors - these two main branches of traditional Chinese theatrical art - actively exert mutual creative influence on each other. The peculiar historical and cultural conditions in which the formation of the puppet theater in China took place explain why it gained an established reputation as a spectacle of great emotional and spiritual charge, not some second-rate craft or child's play. four

Chapter 2. Archaic types of puppet theaters
2.1 Theater of flat images

The theatrical art of China, like that of other peoples of the world, goes back to the archaic-religious tradition - to ritual actions of various cult and regional affiliation. These are, firstly, the mysteries-carnivals (of the type included in the script of the cleansing ritual "Great Exile"), which included a procession of mummers dressed in animal skins and with zoomorphic masks. Secondly, dramatized mysteries that reproduce episodes of the life of divine characters. Such performances, reconstructed on the basis of the Chu stanzas, belonged to the Chu religious tradition. They were performed by local clergymen on the basis of a specific scenario and included dialogue (recitative-improvisation) and choral (choral accompaniment) parts. Thirdly, court theatrical performances, such as the Zhou Big Warrior Dance, which, according to written sources, was a massive stage embodiment of the conquest of the Yin state by the Zhou people. five
This form of folk art is born at the intersection of visual, verbal and musical art. This gives the performances of static pictures with theatrical art in common.
If we establish links between this form of folk theater and puppetry, then it can be considered as an embryonic stage in the development of the artistic language of puppet theater. Displaying pictures hidden in a drawer was a common street entertainment in China. Inside the box, the pictures were moved with the help of a rope device. Sometimes the pictures were made by the street actors themselves, but more often they bought cheap printed ones. The paintings have always been painted.
Pictures were grouped according to some plot, often borrowed from Chinese folk drama, only hours-long pieces were reduced to a few minutes. It is clear that these street performances had nothing to do with religion. As a rule, they were purely entertainment and commercial in nature.
The actor sang arias, composed dialogues, changing his voice in accordance with the character of the characters, while the pictures changed. The owner of the box with pictures was accompanied by musicians and an assistant - a son or a student. The boy collected money from passers-by, helped to carry equipment.
With all the limitations of the material about the theater of flat images, we can conclude that the main element of the artistic language was music. It was she who conveyed emotions, created the basis for words, delimited episodes and marked the beginning and end of the performance. The presentation of static pictures is something like the initial phase of a puppet theater, in which all other elements are already present except for the main one - movement.

2.2 Other archaic forms of puppet theater

In one of the ancient books, a classification of puppet theaters is given. There are gunpowder dolls, floating dolls and "living dolls". Very little is known about these types of dolls.
Powder dolls do not exist now, just as there is no description of their device. Probably, they were not powered by living actors and were mechanical, and explosions of gunpowder served as a dynamic force, something like a modern internal combustion engine. In this case, these dolls can be called pyrotechnic.
There is a little more information about floating dolls, but also not enough to imagine the idea itself. These dolls depicted a man up to the waist and were fixed on wooden circles or crosspieces, allowing the dolls to float on the water of the park ponds.
As for the "living dolls", the performances are characteristic only of the Song era. "Living dolls" are costumed children sitting on the shoulders of adults and imitating the play of dolls with their movements.

Chapter 3. Types of puppet theaters
3.1 Shadow theater

Chinese shadow theater is one of the types of theatrical puppet art, the ancestor of Chinese drama. Shadow theater has a 2000-year history and was one of the most popular theater genres among the people.
It is believed that shadow theater borrowed entirely from the form of traditional live theater. Others consider the shadow theater to be the ancestor. In any case, the relationship is obvious.
There is an opinion that his birth belongs to the Tang era, that is, to the seventh-ninth centuries, or somewhat later, to the period of five dynasties, and the final formation - to the eleventh century.
According to legend, the theater of shadows owes its origin to the imperial grief. In time immemorial, when Emperor Han Wudi's wife died, he was so sad that he even left the government for a while. It was then, having watched how children play in the street with shadows, his dignitary invented the theater of shadows. The very first performance depicted the emperor's wife. Seeing as if the shadow of his beloved wife had come to life, the emperor was a little consoled.
By the end of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), shadow theater was already developing in several directions. Only in one province, Hebei, there were two main directions. They are the western school, which was popular in the area around Beijing and was called the Beijing shadow theater, and the eastern school, which is called the Tangshan shadow theater, as it is popular in the Tangshan area (Hebei Province). We can say that the Tangshan shadow theater is the most famous and influential in the country. In this area, even in such a small circumference of less than 100 li (1 li \u003d 0.5 km), a county such as Letin, there were more than 30 theater companies.
A large translucent white screen and flat colored puppets operated on thin sticks are used for the performance. The puppets lean against the back of the screen and become visible. The name Shadow Theater is not entirely correct - on the other side of a cloth or paper screen, flat figures are illuminated by a lamp, and the viewer sees not shadows, but colored figures of puppets.
The doll is first cut out of paper. The paper is thin, because the doll is fragile and needs to be given strength. For this, exactly the same figure is cut out of tanned lamb, horse or donkey skin, which is fastened to the first, paper one. Since the material for most of the dolls is donkey skin, the people call the shadow theater “donkey skin puppet theater”. The technique of cutting figures is borrowed from the art of folk paper cutting. The figures are as if they were alive. The height of the doll is most often 30 centimeters, but there are also large ones, 70 centimeters. Figures are movable at the articulation of the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. It is controlled by three iron spokes. The main needle is attached to the neck, and it turns out that the doll seems to hang on it. The other two are attached to the wrists. The needles are inserted into thin reed sticks.
The basics of the plots of shadow theater performances are usually taken from popular novels, tales, musical tales, legends, fairy tales, and traditions that are interesting and understandable to ordinary Chinese spectators, especially peasants.
Today, with the advent of new forms of entertainment, shadow theater, like many other types of traditional folk art, are threatened with extinction. In China, they are already talking about the need to apply for the inclusion of shadow theater in the UNESCO World Heritage List in order to avoid the disappearance of this type of oriental art.
Fortunately, while modern cinema and television compete with each other for the viewer, an impressive group of Chinese folk artists continues to remain in China, who annually plant new flowers of creativity on the stage of shadow theater in order to develop and preserve this wonderful ancient Chinese art that never ceases for posterity. be modern and new.
Now, when there are very few area performances left, shadow theater is becoming a chamber art. In China, theater reviews and competitions are held throughout the country, there are troupes that speak on contemporary themes in the language of traditional theater. However, from time to time there is talk that the ancient art is threatened with extinction, that the theater of shadows needs development and support. 6

3.2 Puppets on fingers (glove)

There are very few detailed descriptions; almost all of them were made relatively recently, mainly in the 20th century. The earliest mention of a three-dimensional puppet theater appears in the Tang era (618-907). In the literature of the Song era (960-1279), Chinese researchers discovered the term, pushed by some of them as "doll on hand", "glove doll". But this cannot be considered indisputable. The deep past of the glove dolls remains unclear today. There are also several legends about glove puppets.
The first legend tells that the emperor once thought that the dolls were winking at his wives and dignitaries. The ruler ordered to kill the creator of the dolls, but before the executioner could approach the puppeteer, he quickly cut his actors with a knife in order to prove that they were made of wood and leather. The emperor calmed down and allowed the master to continue his performances, but so that there would be no more misunderstandings in the future, he forbade the women to watch the performances.
The following legend tells about the origin of the first doll. This legend was recorded in the Tang Dynasty era of Duan An-tsze in his book "Records of Folk Songs". This legend tells how the leader of a nomadic tribe, Khan Modo, laid siege to the city of Pingcheng. The city was saved by one of the emperor's close associates. Knowing that the khan's wife was very jealous, he ordered to make a beautiful doll and with the help of some devices made her dance on the city stage.
The wife, seeing the dancing doll, took her for a living woman, was afraid that, having captured the city, the khan would make the beauty his concubine. In this case, both the khan's love and the khan's favor would have been lost. The danger was so great and real that the frightened khansha persuaded her husband to lift the siege from the city.
Naturally, none of the legends reveals the origins of the Chinese puppet theater, but the very existence of these legends suggests that already in those days, the puppet theater was an everyday phenomenon, constant, part of the public life of the people, one of the elements of folk shows.
The action in this theater takes place in a bright frame against a colorful background. As a rule, there are no decorations, but there may be one or two chairs on the stage, in which the characters conduct a dialogue or pronounce a monologue (more precisely, they sing arias). In some plays, these are not armchairs, but a couch. Since the scenery is absent, the place of what is happening is determined by the word. The curtain doors leading from the back of the stage to the front also play an important role. There are definitely two of them, in the southern tradition there are three. If the scene of the action changes, then the character exits through the door to the left, from the viewer. If the episode ends, then he leaves the scene through the right door.
Glove puppets are small in size. Some dolls are additionally mechanized: their eyes rotate, their mouths open. They also have their fingers moving. Their joints are movable. If the hand is turned with the palm up, then all the fingers are equally extended, but as soon as this hand changes position and turn the palm down, the fingers bend under their own weight. They are also capable of holding objects with one hand. For this, the doll's hand is made in the form of fingers clenched into a fist. A hole is made inside, and, when necessary, a sword, a bow, a rocker are inserted into it.
It should be noted the thoroughness and subtlety of the decoration of the sculptural details and clothing. Their heads and dress very accurately imitate the makeup and costume of the actors of the Chinese national drama. The puppets are not made by the puppeteers themselves, but by professional sculptors. We can say that the face and make-up of the dolls create a symbolic description of the physical, moral qualities and even reflect the biography of the character. The traditional glove puppet show lasted no more than half an hour, while its short plays and numbers took only a few minutes. It took place on the street, among a crowd of passers-by, or in the courtyard of a private house, where the actor was invited, having agreed in advance about the play and payment.
In Beijing, puppeteers worked alone, not in the south, often paired with an assistant and with a group of musicians of four or five people. In China, the concepts of puppeteer and storyteller are not separated. The actor controls the dolls and speaks for them. The puppeteer always works inside the screen, creating the illusion of independence for the dolls.
The type of character is expressed by voice, overall appearance, head shape, face painting.
But the main means of expression is plastic. The plasticity of China's glove puppets is very "eloquent", as in pantomime. The characters have different gaits, they can fence, juggle, wear a rocker, dance, after hard work or battle, they breathe quickly, in a dream they snore, if it's hot, they wipe off sweat, etc. the doll tiger can scratch, catch a flea on the back paw. If the commander develops a battle plan, then he walks with his hands behind his back.
Thanks to the "classic" content and high culture of performance, this theater was able to serve the most varied segments of the population - from sophisticated intellectual families to ordinary peasants. 7

3.3 Dolls on a stick

A three-dimensional doll on a stick is widespread in China. This was especially popular in the south. The most developed form has developed in Guangdong province. The two traditions of this theater are best known: northern (Beijing) and southern (Cantonese).
The performances of small puppets have been preserved in the form of one actor's street theater. This theater was intended mostly for street performances, in contrast to the shadow theater, which played in private houses by special invitation.
Stylistic features of northern street dolls on a stick:
- Small size (same size as glove dolls, even smaller heads);
- Long stick to control the head and body (limits the mobility of the doll);
- A conventional image of the hand - and the sleeve is a spiral twisted wire.
Much more is known about the southern performances of the doll on a stick, especially the famous Guangdong performances. Local puppeteers attribute its appearance to the Tang era. There is a legend about the origin of this type of puppet theater. It says that at the court of the emperor, who ruled in 712-756, performances were played in which the emperor himself and his entourage took part. One of the sovereign's ministers was from Guangdong. Leaving the service and returning to his homeland, he decided to stage performances like those in the capital. However, he could not attract anyone to participate. And then he ordered to make dolls for dancing, controlled by sticks. From them came the custom of showing puppet shows.
It is believed that initially the dolls danced on a stick and performed short scenes without singing. The repertoire of musical dramas was copied later. Over time, the Peking drama began to penetrate into the South Chinese performance tradition. In modern puppet theaters, borrowings from Peking and Cantonese operas are closely intertwined, in different troupes only one or another influence prevails. The repertoire of the Guangdong puppeteers differs little from the repertoire of traditional musical drama. Each doll consists of several parts that are assembled before the presentation and disassembled after.
The main element of the doll is the head. It is carved out of wood along with a stick-handle. The heads are large, up to 20 cm in height. The core is hollowed out from above, then it is covered with hair. Parts of the face can be mobile: dolls can roll their eyes, close their eyelids, open their mouths, move their nose.
The troupe includes from 35 to 60 heads. They differ in shape and color. There are eight types of goals:
- the type of young heroine;
- type of young scientist;
- a type of man of mature age with sharper facial features;
- the type of a young warrior with an almost square face;
- type of clown - a large nose that can move, a laughing mouth, eyes are mobile, the tongue sticks out;
- type of pimp (comic female character) - caricatured facial features;
- a type of mature man with even sharper facial features;
- a type of rebellious and barbaric kings - similar to the previous ones, but with extremely sharp facial features.
In addition to these heads, the heads of a horse, a tiger are carved.
The puppeteer profession was mostly hereditary. But it happened that poor families sold boys to the owner of the troupe. The boy became a student. the students were treated harshly: they were forced to do all the dirty work, they were punished with whips for the slightest duty, they were set aside without food. The training lasted for years.
The Cantonese troupes employed at least six people. They performed with musicians who were not considered members of the troupe, but were simply invited to the season.
Guangdong's puppet companies operated by invitation only.
Previously, up to the Second World War, performances lasted all night. Perhaps this custom has ancient religious roots, but later the duration was determined by everyday reasons: people were afraid to return home along the dark streets and preferred to wait for dawn in the theater.
All puppet pieces are musical. Events on the stage are accompanied by certain melodies. The main characters sing arias. The state of the heroes is expressed not only in a vocal way, but also in the instrumental performance of melodies. The puppeteers adopted all the musical accompaniment from the performers of the musical drama, and ideally they should be good opera singers.
The puppeteers are hidden from the viewer by a screen. It looks like the doll has a life of its own on stage. Each doll has its own puppeteer. In his left hand he holds both sticks of his hands, in his right - a stick of the head. The hardest part here is to control the dolls' hands. The puppeteer holds the cane of one hand between the index and thumb, and holds the other with the rest of the fingers. The middle finger can move from one cane to another. The difficulty lies in the fact that sometimes the doll's arms must move in different directions, and the canes are bent in the direction of the contour of the doll's clothes. Creating the right gesture takes years of experience and a lot of skill.
Conventions of the Chinese theater of a doll on a stick obey general Chinese national traditions, the rules of the Chinese theatrical language, but have some specific features. These deviations are associated with the nature of puppet theater in general, and in this case - with the nature of the puppet, controlled from behind the screen with a stick in combination with walking sticks.
Distinctive features of a stick puppet theater in southern China:
- the pupil is always hidden from the viewer by a screen;
- an illusory way of showing;
-the actual absence of hands and bodies in dolls; lack of legs;
-mobility of the details of the face;
-direct connection with the repertoire of the traditional theater of live actors (performance of the same plays).

3.4 Puppet theater

The term kuilei, which in Chinese is called a wooden doll, often meaning a puppet, is first encountered in an ancient book written around 178, it in a broader sense - refers to the theater of puppets, and to the theater of actors in masks. So, most likely because both puppets and masks were carved from wood.
The existence of puppets in the 18th century is indisputable. This is evidenced by a poem by Emperor Minghuang, or Xuanzong (reigned 712-756), from the Tang Dynasty, in which he compares a person to a doll on threads that comes to life only for a certain period of time during a performance. In the Tang era, performances of puppets were called qiangsy - "theater of silk threads." In the Song era, puppet shows were very popular, however, no descriptions of puppets of that era are found in the literature, in any case, they have not been found. Plays do not differ from plays from traditional theater and from those used in other types of puppet theater. The puppeteers did not have the complete text of the plays. They knew, as a rule, their roles by heart. But usually the main actor kept the full text of the play.
In this way, the general Chinese theatrical repertoire was reproduced at the plot level of the presentation of Chinese puppets. There is no specifically special, peculiar only to this type of theater. The specificity of the content is revealed at a deep level, it is in the magical sense of the presentation, most often hidden (and sometimes forgotten) and associated with the ancient Chinese ideas about the magical properties of wooden puppets.
No other Chinese puppet theater has been as merged with magical ceremonies and religious practices as puppet theater. The main thing used to be in the magical power of dolls, associated with human life and capable of influencing it. In modern China, this practically does not exist anymore. But in Taiwan in the 70s, researcher J. Pampano found it well preserved.
etc.................

Flat, thin theatrical figures were first made of paper and sealed with donkey skin. The theater was sometimes called "Lu Pi-ying" - "figurines made of donkey skin."

For more than two millennia before the emergence of cinema in China, they already knew about the theater of shadows. It was the very first performance on the screen. Showing the plot, accompanied by music and a story, cute figures moved against a brightly lit white background. Flat, thin theatrical figures were usually made first from paper, then sealed with donkey skin. The theater was sometimes called "Lu Pi-ying" - "figurines made of donkey skin." These puppets, guided by wooden, bamboo or thin metal sticks, were the centerpiece of the theatrical performance, and were usually a work of art. They were not white, but rather painted so that the color of every detail could be discerned through the screen. Color often played a symbolic role, telling the viewer about the character and role of the character. It is interesting that usually a cunning, evil or vile person was depicted as colorless. The viewer examined the figures in small details, but the performance had to be not only watched, but also listened to, it was accompanied by the play of the orchestra and either died down in prose.
The orchestra consisted of traditional Chinese stringed instruments, and in some regions the performance was accompanied by rhythmic strikes of bamboo sticks. The repertoire of stories for theatrical performances made of shadow and light was very diverse: these are traditional plots like The Return of the Monkey King, stories about wanderings and interesting fairy tales, parables. For the performance, the troupe had to consist of at least five people. These were puppeteers and musicians, and the latter played many instruments and could control figures.
In China, shadow theater was of interest to people already in the 2nd millennium BC. e., it gradually spread throughout the East, was especially loved by the Turks. Europe, on the other hand, became acquainted with this ancient oriental art only in 1767, when the missionary Jules Alod told the French about it. The Europeans of those years appreciated the symbolic possibilities of the shadow theater. That, if not an illusion, the play of shadows and light, this whole world, as if the Chinese theater spoke to a European. Figures began to be made simply black, with an emphasis on their allegorical meaning.

Hello curious readers!

The history of Chinese theater is a very interesting topic that we are going to tell you about today. Pantomime, vocals, acrobatic performances and dances - all this, combined with a kind of music, can be seen and heard in one classical Chinese performance.

There are no props on the stage, but the actors play in magnificent costumes, they wear original masks. The action amazes the imagination of the guests of the Celestial Empire with its uniqueness.

The emergence of theatrical art

The origins of theater in ancient China arose about four thousand years ago in shamanic and religious rituals, performances at the court. Already in those days, court jesters, actors - chan-yu and comedians - pai-yu took part in the latter.

Folk rituals and festivals were also theatrical. This was manifested, in particular, in the cult of ancestor worship. In the "games of the dead" it was customary to depict the deceased's deeds and his glorious deeds in an imitative manner.

During the Han dynasty, wrestling, the so-called "butting" - jiaodisi, was a favorite popular pastime. It was accompanied by music and was later included in one hundred performances - baishi. In addition to the wrestlers, they were attended by:

• dancers,
• acrobats,
• sword swallowers,
• tightrope walkers,
• fencers.

Fencers used battle axes, tridents and picks - hammers with a striking part in the form of a beak in their duels.

Puppet show

In the same period, the puppet theater was born. Outside the theater, dolls were known long before this time. But then they were used ritually: they helped the deceased to go to another world.

Now they have moved to the stage. The dolls were presented:

• puppets
• characters made to perform on the water
• figurants made of leather.

The Song era is the golden age of puppetry. Especially unusual were the water performances: the actors were under water and controlled with the help of special machines dragons and huge fish, which disappeared and reappeared in the most unexpected way.

Despite the fact that the puppets invariably attracted the attention of the audience, among whom were ordinary actors, the puppet theater did not influence the traditions of classical Chinese theater as much as it did the Japanese kabuki actors.

By Chinese standards, a live actor had to be more emotional and mobile. Later theatrical requirements condemned the tightness of the actor and his static nature, making him look like a doll.

XII-XIII centuries

Chinese folk songs and dances in the Middle Ages contributed to the birth of a new type of art: musical and theatrical. During this period, opera and classical theater appeared here, the artistic principles of which have hardly changed to this day.

The true nationality of the Chinese theater was expressed in the fact that the performance did not have either a composer or a stage director, since it was created by a group of actors collectively.

Both the words of the actors and their dances were subordinated to music in classical theater. She determined the circle of characters and the techniques that the actors used in their play, emphasizing the mood of the character.

The rhythm and melodic features of the music performed, the composition of the instruments in the orchestra gave the action on the stage a special expressiveness. Percussion instruments were especially important, among them the drum.

He riveted the viewer's attention to certain scenes, emphasized the importance of what was happening, strengthened the acting.

The melodiousness of the theater of those times was drawn from folk songs. A long time ago, the peasants had a mass performance dedicated to the work of the farmer.

It was based on theatrical performances accompanied by music, which were ubiquitous and were called "yange". These performances influenced the formation of the traditions of Chinese folk theater.

The classical Chinese theater of our time, "jing-si", is the theater of the capital's plays. Over the three-hundred-year history of its existence, it has absorbed all the centuries-old experience in the development of theatrical art in the Celestial Empire.

The Peking Opera is a national treasure of the Chinese and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Peking Opera has toured Moscow and other major cities around the world.

An unusual sight

For a long time, the language barrier and the unique manner of acting prevented foreigners from understanding the content of ordinary performances. These problems did not arise when visiting the shadow theater.

Only this kind of theater has spread beyond the Chinese borders and became popular overseas:

• France,
• England,
• Germany,
• Turkey.

The legend of its origin is interesting. Two millennia ago, a beloved wife of one of the Chinese emperors suddenly died.

The ruler abandoned all state concerns and was depressed. One of the courtiers, in order to alleviate his suffering, decided to entertain the sovereign in an unusual way.

This man realized his idea after a walk, where a group of children met him on the way to the courtier. They came up with entertainment: they played in the shadows that appear on the dusty road.

Arriving back, the man cut out the face of the imperial wife from a piece of cloth, added paint to it and attached strings to the image. In the evening, he set up the screen and candlesticks with candles in such a way that the face cast a clear shadow on the white canvas and would move when the strings were pulled.

The goal was achieved, the ruler cheered up and again took up state affairs. Shadow games were often organized at court. And soon such performances became popular among the people.

But the formation of the shadow theater went on for quite a long time, only during the reign of the Song dynasty, nine centuries later, there are official references to this kind of theater.

The technique of execution included carving the necessary characters from different types of leather:

• goat,
• buffalo,
• horse,
• donkey.

The latter was considered the most successful for this purpose, and in many places the shadow theater was called Lü Piing, which meant “donkey skin shadows”.

The cut profiles were painted in five characteristic colors so that the viewer could understand what qualities this or that hero possessed:

• Red - honesty, openness, readiness for a feat.
• Yellow - possession of magic and sorcery.
• White - cunning, treachery, cunning.
• Black - exactingness, lack of mercy, objectivity.
• Green is courage and courage.

Russian Chinese Theater

At the court of Catherine II in the Rococo era in Russia, it was customary to get carried away with everything Chinese. According to the project of the architect A. Rinaldi, a summer Chinese theater was built in Tsarskoe Selo in 1778-79. In those days, it was called the Stone Opera.

Outside, the building had architectural features that were quite typical for Europe, only the curved upward corners of the roof and the colorful cornice reminded of China.

Inside, the audience was delighted with the luxurious orange silk curtain, which depicted scenes from the life of the Chinese and their national landscapes. The ceiling, stage and boxes included decorative elements such as:

• zodiac signs,
• dragons,
• figurines of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire,
• cardboard decorations lined with foil,
• bells
• multi-colored wooden pendants, painted with gold and silver.

The theater's repertoire included operas by D. Paisiello, who served as a composer at the court. After the death of the Empress, theatrical life came to a standstill for almost a hundred years. Only visiting artists sometimes gave performances on the local stage.

From the end of the 19th century until the beginning of the First World War, the theater experienced a rapid revival. Tolstoy and Schiller, Sophocles and Rostand were staged on its stage.

Artists, in addition to the troupe of the theater, were gymnasium students, officers and even Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich. The theater was reconstructed, which made it possible to stage performances not only in summer, but also all year round.

With the outbreak of the war, theatrical life came to a standstill, and only in the 30s the performances began to run again. But in 1941, when the city of Pushkin (formerly Tsarskoe Selo) came under fire, the theater burned down from the inside along with the roof. The remaining walls have not been reconstructed since then.

Chinese and Los Angeles

At the beginning of the 20th century, American businessman Sid Grauman decided to build a multifunctional cinema for more than a thousand viewers in Los Angeles Hollywood.

The building is designed in the style of a Chinese pagoda. There is a huge dragon in front of her. Together with him, the entrance is guarded by two watchdogs.

Grauman's Chinese Theater

In addition to staging dramatic performances, Hollywood premieres are regularly shown here.

The building was originally called Grauman's Chinese Theater. It then changed to Mann's Chinese Theater, after the businessman who bought it.

Five years ago, the building was named "TCL Chinese Theater" as a result of a commercial contract with a Chinese supplier of electronic equipment.

This story is remarkable. During the completion phase, the area around the theater was filled with fresh cement. The American movie star Norma Tolmadge, who came on business, stumbled by chance, and the imprint of her foot remained in the uncured cement.

This was the impetus for Grauman to come up with a brilliant idea: to create the Walk of Fame on the slabs in front of the entrance. They will preserve the prints of the palms and feet of celebrities and their signatures. Now there are about two hundred of them.

Conclusion

The basis of the national theater in China, like Kabuki in Japan, is truly folk. It reflects the vivid feelings of the Chinese people, their spiritual strength, aspirations, joy and sorrow.

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The first information about the existence of a shadow theater in China dates back to the beginning of the second millennium. The Chinese shadow theater drew its plots from a common source with drama and puppet theater - popular historical tales and legends. It is no wonder that it was the people of the East, inclined to deep observations of nature, contemplation, meditation and penetration into the holy of holies of the essence of things and phenomena, who were among the first to manage to comprehend the character

rubbed the shadows. Connoisseurs and creators of sophisticated forms of art, working with graceful images in poetry and painting, the Chinese appreciated the property of matter to cast a shadow - they saw the graceful in the rough.

Chinese shadow theater drew its plots from popular legends and ancient historical tales. Figures of characters for performances were made of leather (donkey, lamb, or, as in Fujian, monkey) or colored paper. Often they were decorated with colored silks, so that the Chinese theater with its colorful performances could be called color and shade.The dolls were controlled by three knitting needles attached to the figure's neck and wrists, and were mobile.

According to one version, the art of Chinese shadow theater goes back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-206 AD). The reigning emperor of Han Wudi at that time was saddened by the unexpected death of his beloved wife and therefore abandoned all the sovereign.

6 SHADOW THEATER

business affairs. The dignitary Li Shao-wen was walking through the streets and, thinking about how to get the emperor out of his painful state, drew attention to the children who were playing with their shadows on the ground. This led the dignitary to an original idea of \u200b\u200bhow to dispel the melancholy of his master. He returned home and depicted the deceased wife of the emperor (in profile) on a piece of dense material. Then he painted and cut out the image, and attached thin strings to his arms and legs. When it got dark, he pulled up a silk screen and placed the candles so that a shadow of the figure he had made would appear on the screen. The figure began to move as the strings were tugged.

He invited the emperor, disappeared behind the screen and showed the doll in motion, trying to imitate not only graceful manners, but even the intonations of the deceased's voice. Seeing the shadow of his late beloved wife, Emperor Han Wudi was greatly comforted, pulled himself together and returned to abandoned state affairs. Since then, the play of shadows has become one of the newest entertainments in the emperor's palace. Soon this palace fun grew into a massive folk hobby. This is how the shadow theater was born. But there is another, less romantic, version of the emergence of the shadow theater. According to this version, noble ladies in China were not allowed to watch "live" scenes, so for them

gave shadow performances, which at that time were extremely loved and popular. During the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), shadow theater was an entertainment for warriors who were away from populated areas. And during the invasion of Genghis Khan, the theater of shadows passed with the warriors from one place to another, which contributed to its rapid and widespread distribution. Soon, their own theaters of shadows appeared in Persia, the Arab and southeastern countries, their own theaters of shadows appeared. And in China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), many theatrical troupes appeared, the plots of the performances of which were inspired by ancient legends about the war between the Chu and Han principalities.

Over time, shadow theater, like any dramatic art, began to be modified and divided into several directions. Let's get acquainted with the most famous of them.

Oriental schoolshadow theater - the most famous and authoritative - originated in the Tanshan area.

Western schoolshadow theater, which is otherwise called the Beijing Shadow Theater.

Paiban Ping- the most musical and plastically perfect shadow theater, in the performances of which everything obeys the rhythm of the blows of bamboo sticks.

Lunxi Theater- the most graceful and picturesque, because the figurines, their outfits and decorative ornaments are very beautiful and fulfilling

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are painted in the traditional Chinese manner of painting.

Shaanxi theater- folklore, all the actions in the plots are based on fairy tales and legends about good wizards and journeys to the west.

Lu Piying- paper shadow theater, and Yang ping - goatskin shadow theater.

Craftsmanship and craftsmanship Manufacturing technique is a complex, time-tested process of material selection, search for a vivid image and its creation in the form of a shadow figure (silhouette), graphics and coloring.

During the Song Dynasty (960-1279) goatskin was used. Talented artists painted various images on paper and copied onto the surface of the unfolded leather, then cut out silhouettes and painted. Subsequently, they began to use the skin of buffaloes and donkeys. In some places, this type of theater is called Lü Pi-ying, which means "shadows made of donkey skin."

Craftsmen even put together sayings that clearly indicated all the key technological links. For example, they say that donkey skin is the most suitable for a shadow figure, since it is very soft, large in area and at the same time quite thin (with good workmanship, it even shines through), therefore it is suitable for depicting a character's head. Skin on

the back of a donkey is suitable for cutting out household items (tables and chairs, a screen, etc.). The skin on the neck is suitable for carving animals (such as horses, tigers) or carts, boats, etc. To this day, shadow theaters are famous that arose in the Tang-shan area of \u200b\u200bthe Hebei province, on the banks of the Luanhe River. Many silhouettes and decorations of the shadow theater are valuable exhibits in museums. Typical images of various characters usually had only a profile, i.e. the eyebrows, eye sockets, mouth and nose were cut out, and everything else was hollow. The heads of the figurines were traditionally painted in red, green, yellow, white and black. With the help of color, the characters of the heroes of the performance were indicated. For example, according to the plot of the ancient novel "Three Kingdom", the image of the popular hero Guan Yu always looks like this: a red face, thick black eyebrows, a keen gaze. With all his appearance, he expresses the characteristic features of an honest, straightforward and always ready for heroic deeds. Green is the hallmark of courage and courage. For example, in the performances of the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties, the image of the people's favorite Cheng Yaojin was always green. Black meant severity, disinterestedness, justice as the most important traits in the character of the characters. Images of people with magical powers were usually highlighted in yellow,

shave off the coat and dry the skin to a transparent state. After that, a sketch of the future figurine is applied to the prepared skin, which is cut out using knives and knives of different sizes and shapes, and then carefully painted. The color of the figure should not be monotonous, while the doll can be monotonous or very variegated. The key and most difficult element of manufacturing is ironing, which is done after cutting and painting the figure. At the end of the work, the individual parts are connected together, and the doll is completely ready. Fortunately, while modern cinema and television compete with each other for a mass audience, a group of folk artists continues to persist in China, who annually "plant" new flowers of creativity on the screen of the shadow theater in order to develop and preserve this wonderful ancient Chinese art that never ceases to be modern and surprisingly new.

and white - they marked the images of people cunning, treacherous, treacherous. Usually the theater troupe consisted of five to seven people. The orchestra consisted of stringed musical instruments (Chinese violin "erhu", "hu-qin", "yueqin" - a kind of lute); percussion musical instruments (small drums "byangu", "yungu", copper cymbals of various sizes); spiritual musical instruments (trumpet, sonna) and many others. But it should be noted that musicians usually played several instruments and in addition performed the roles of backup actors. An important place in the troupe was occupied by actors who deftly manipulated the figures with the help of bamboo sticks and made them perform various movements. Moreover, the movements were carried out exactly according to the plot: the actor synchronized the action, the text and the accompaniment of the music. Note: A thin string was attached to the end of the bamboo stick to connect the moving parts

figurines.

The shadow theater of eastern Gansu became widespread during the Ming and Qing dynasties in the XIV-XIX centuries. The shadow theater figurines in this area are especially beautiful and tasteful. The material for making shadow theater puppets here was the black skin of young buffaloes. Such leather is rather thin, but strong and flexible. In the process of preparing material for the future doll, it was necessary

SHADOW THEATER

India: the dancing gods

The art of shadow theater became popular in India in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Buda Reddy. Indian puppets are the largest in the theatrical world, and shadow theater performances often take place near the Shiva temple, the patron god of puppets. According to folklore, in those days when toys were traditionally carved in one piece from a single block of wood, there was a craftsman who made unusual dolls from separate parts. Once the god Shiva with his wife, the goddess Parvati, entered the shop of this master. Parvati, looking at the dolls, was so fascinated that she asked her husband to allow their spirits to move into the dolls so that they could dance.

After the gods enjoyed the spectacle and were tired, they took their souls and left. The master, who watched with interest what was happening, wanted to make the dolls dance again. He tied up their parts and was able to manipulate the dolls with threads.

Shadow theater performances usually took place at night from dusk to dawn. The wide clearing was well tamped and a huge screen was placed on bamboo poles. A coconut shell fire was lit behind the screen. On the other side, somewhere under a mango tree, there were numerous spectators. The narrator sat in front of the screen, and the villagers, holding their breath, listened to his story about the life of the gods and the exploits of the heroes of the folk epic "Ramayana" and "Ma-habharata". During the story, a drum suddenly began to beat, then other musical instruments entered, and dolls appeared on the screen - the heroes of the story. It seemed that they were coming to people from another world. The shadow theater performance could go on for many nights in a row. Children were not allowed to see such spectacles. Moreover, men and women watched the performances separately.

Shadows have existed for thousands of years, and since ancient times, shadow magic has kept its secrets. The life of shadows, however, like any life, was born in the primary chaos. As soon as the light appeared, the shadows appeared. Shadows not only guarded the light, but also maintained its balance. The shadow has always been shrouded in a halo of mysticism. For a long time, people believed that the shadow is a reflection of the human soul.
The Slavs believed that an enemy who stepped on a shadow and uttered curses could harm its owner. It was believed that before death, the shadow leaves a person. And also in Russia on Christmas Eve the following fortune telling was popular. They went out into the street and looked at the shadows of those sitting at the table. If someone did not have a shadow, or the shadow was decapitated, this was considered a bad omen, portending death. When laying the house, the owner's shadow should not fall on the foundation, otherwise the person would die soon, the building would take his spirit. This belief was common in the north.
Belarusians still treat diseases by tracing a human shadow on the wall with threads or pinning them with pins. The thread should then be burned, and the pins should be placed on the threshold to drive out the ailment.
The inhabitants of Bulgaria believed that God created the devil from his shadow. That is why, in order to harm a sorcerer or a witch, you need to hit their shadow with an aspen stake, because they themselves, according to legends, do not feel pain.
Serbs do not allow children to play with their own shadow, because they believe that it can enter the head and cause madness. This superstition is also found among the Irish. To step on a human shadow is unfortunately.
Shadow magic is known to few, and those who are familiar with shadow magic keep their knowledge and pass it on only to the worthy. Any of the types of magic has its own training system, but in shadow magic this system is very conditional - here fantasy magic, the ability to translate ideas into reality, is more appreciated. But basic knowledge is still needed. And the first thing that a magician must understand is that there are shadows and their world. The main difference between Shadow magic is that shadows act both as an object of study and at the same time as a teacher. And this contact is very important, it is on it that training is based, largely depending on the conversation of the magician with the shadow.
Different light sources create different principles of shadow, but the absence of light does not mean that the object has no shadow either. The shadow is alive, and it has a variety of properties. There are no identical shadows, and a shadow is a single individual organism, and not just a display. Moreover, the Shadow possesses consciousness through the principle of fluidity, and knowing this is the practice of working with the Shadow.

Maybe it is precisely because of their mysticism and mystery that the shadows have become "actors" of shadow theaters.

The history of the emergence of shadow theater in different countries
Shadow theaters show fantastic stories from folklore or mythology, but these stories are very different in origin. Differences in the origins of the stories may be due to the fact that the styles and cultural characteristics of shadow performances differ from country to country. For example, Chinese shadow plays tend to depict historical events; Indian plays are of religious origin and are based on epics such as Mahabharata and Ramayana; while Turkish plays are mainly comedic performances.

China: the death of a beloved

Shadow theater has a 2000-year history and is the pioneer of drama in China. The first records of the existence of a Chinese version of these theatrical performances date back to 1000 AD, although researchers are sure that they existed much earlier.

Most scholars claim that the art of shadow theater has its roots in Han (漢朝) China (206 BC - 206 AD). According to legend, Emperor Wu Tu (140 BC - 87 BC) had many concubines, but he loved one more than anyone else. When she died, he was so devastated that he lost interest in life and neglected all his duties. His advisers tried their best to cheer up their ruler, but nothing could drown his pain and comfort him in grief. In the end, one of the best artists at court created a doll that looked like the beloved of the emperor, using donkey skin and colored fabric. He illuminated the silk screen, and thanks to the mobility of the doll, he depicted graceful movements, trying to imitate even the intonation of the girl's voice. Thanks to this "return" of his beloved, the emperor was comforted and returned to his duties, to the great relief of his advisers.
There is another, less romantic version of the emergence of shadow theater. It is said that the ladies in China were not allowed to watch live performances, so there were shadow performances for women, which were very popular.
The theater did not stand out as a separate art until the entry of the Zhao Dynasty (趙), which founded the Song (宋朝) Empire in 960. From northern China, where the theater was born, it spread throughout the country, then became famous in Central Asia. At that time, there were already three types of theaters: budaihsi - where hands or gloves are used, kueileihsi - puppets and the theater of shadows itself.
The first mention of the theater "Daoqing" (that is, "Taoist feelings"), which has survived to this day, dates back to the 13th century. Chinese shadow masters work miracles - their dolls move like in a cartoon, with unimaginable speed. Sometimes the doll is led by three actors, she can take objects, do somersaults and many more different tricks. The plot is often based on parables, fairy tales about animals with a deep philosophical meaning. In the 18th century, the shadow theater from China came to Europe and therefore received the name "Chinese shadows".

India: the dancing gods

By the second millennium, shadow theater was widely popular in China and India. With the troops of Genghis Khan, it spread to other regions of Asia. On the island of Java, shadow theater was one of the seven royal arts, which trained persons of royal blood. A cloth was pulled over a wooden frame, and by the light of torches the ceremonial performance of dolls made of waxed transparent paper on hinges painted in different colors began. Once upon a time, performances were intended for the gods, were part of religious ceremonies and rituals. To this day, before the performance of the traditional Indonesian theater of wayang-kuli, the dalang host of the performance lights incense sticks and makes an offering of gifts to local spirits.
The art of shadow theater became popular in India in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Buda Reddy. Indian dolls are the largest theater in the world, and performances by itinerant artists often take place near the temple of Shiva, the patron god of dolls, illuminated by the fire of lamps brought from the altar. According to folklore, at the time when toys were carved from a single piece of wood, there was a craftsman who made dolls from separate connected parts. One day, Shiva came to his store with his wife, the goddess Parvati. Looking at the dolls, Parvati was so fascinated that she asked her husband to allow their spirits to move into the dolls so that they could dance. After they got tired, they took their souls and left. The master, who was watching what was happening, wanted to make the dolls dance again. He tied up their parts and was able to control them thanks to the threads. The performances are accompanied by wonderful music - behind the screen, in addition to the main actor, there is a small orchestra. The movement of the lacy shadows of the dolls in the space of the screen with exquisite plastic resembles an ancient dance. All the inhabitants of the surrounding villages gather in a large clearing in front of the temple and, after sunset, enthusiastically watch the battles of the gods and heroes of the epic poem "Mahabharata", which is dear to the heart of every Hindu.

Turkey Comedy Shows

Shadow theater also exists in Turkish art. The highest form of shadow theater in Turkey reached in the 16th century. It was popular in the Ottoman Empire. Most of the performances are focused on the main character, after whom the folk theater was named - Karagiosis (Karagöze), that is, "black-eyed" - who is very similar to our Petrushka: just as funny, mischievous, touching. He also looks like Petrushka: as a rule, Karagöz is depicted as a small man with a large nose, hump and huge black eyes. Legend says that Karagöz and his friend Hajivat (Khazvidad) were workers on the construction of the mosque. However, instead of working, they fought constantly - and their argument was so funny that their colleagues stood and listened to them, forgetting about the construction. The Sultan, upon learning of this, was so angry that he ordered them to be executed. He later regretted his haste and instructed his viziers to create dolls similar to those of the workers for displaying ridiculous controversy and for the entertainment of the public.
There is a version that for the first time they heard about Karagöz (Karagozis) in Greece, where he held the position of a “comedic slave”, possessed natural humor, sharpness and observation (there is an opinion that such a character once appeared in ancient Greek comedies). Karagozis' funny performances sometimes bordered on acute topical satire, but he could calmly express his opinion about the imperfect world, fearing nothing but the rod of the owners. Until 1453, he regularly performed on the stage of the theater of Byzantium, but until Constantinople became the Turkish capital. The Turks had their own views on theatrical events, but shadow theater was new to them. This is how the former slave became a Turk, calling himself Karagöz. It was then that his comrade Khadzhivat appeared. The theater became more and more popular, and performances were regularly given in the Sultan's palace. There are also supporters of the version that the shadow theater came to Turkey from Egypt, and after that Turkish motives and characteristic features appeared in it. Finally, the Karagöz shadow theater was formed in the 17th century.
Nowadays, performances are played out in coffee houses, where visitors come in the evening to sit with a cup of coffee. And small viewers every day, before going to bed, meet with Karagez and Khadzhivat in the program "Good night, kids". By the way, the city of Bursa even hosts the annual World Shadow Theater Festival.
As for the shadow theater "Karagiosis", it was formed in Greece as a result of the assimilation and Hellenization of the Turkish theater "Karagoz" in the middle of the 19th century. The first well-known Greek theater puppeteer was J. Brahalis, who performed in the 1850s. The main merit in reforming karagiosis and turning it into a Greek folk theater of shadows belongs to the actor Mimaros (pseudonym of D. Sardunis), who performed in the 1890s. Further reform and creative development of Karagiosis was ensured by the puppeteers A. Mollas and S. Spafaris, under whom the Greek shadow theater reached its peak.

Chinese, Indian and Turkish shadow representations are still very popular in over 20 countries around the world, including Indonesia, Malaysia and France. The styles and cultural backgrounds of these pieces may differ, but one thing is that they are similar - they provide hours of interesting performances for the audience.

Shadow theater in Europe

In 1767, the technique of shadow theater was brought from China to Europe by the French missionary Jules Alod. In 1776 she became famous in Great Britain. The great German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took an interest in this art, and in 1774 he staged a performance at his birthday party.
Two years later, in 1776, Seraphin opened a shadow theater at Versailles. The first and longest success in Seraphin's repertoire was the performance "Broken Bridge". In it, the destroyer of the bridge, mocking a nobleman who wants to cross the river, hummed: "And the ducks swam across, tra-la-la, tra-la-la." The stories of the Seraphin Theater commented on modernity, brought out heroes, the types of which were recognizable. The projected silhouettes in this theater supported not epic narratives or even fairy tales, but a kind of anecdotes. It was in guessing the prototypes of the "caricatured" heroes that, apparently, the pleasure of watching such a performance consisted. In 1790, during a fierce struggle between various factions within the "Constituent Assembly" for a constitution, Seraphin gave the play "National Federation" on the topic of the day; in 1793, after the execution of Louis XVI, - the play "An Apple for the Most Beautiful, or Overthrow of the Throne." The interest of educated Europeans in shadow theater with its specific form of narration based on laconic visual images was an integral part of the "salon" interest in folklore. The unpretentious show of Seraphin became boring for the courtiers in 2 years, and the theater moved to Paris. The Seraphin Theater existed until 1859, when its heirs replaced shadows with puppets.

Further development of shadow theater led to the emergence of photography and cinematography. However, it will be much later. In the meantime, in France, in which, thanks to the Great Revolution, a "new order" was established and a new spectator appeared - "mass" - who was used to having an opinion, expressing it and hoping that his opinion would be reckoned with, the autonomy of the "popular" culture, as written by Peter Burke in his article "The Revolution in Popular Culture." During the revolution, screen shows were staged in Paris by the Germans Philidor, Philipshol, Schroepfer, and the Frenchman Olivier.
But the most famous showman of the last years of the Republic was the Belgian Etienne Gaspard Robert, a colorful figure like Casanova or Count Cagliostro. Before arriving in Paris, he managed to work as an artist in his native Belgium, resign from his priesthood, and leave the post of physics teacher at the University of Liege. He came to Paris in search of support for his project of making giant incendiary glasses, with the help of which aeronauts from balloons were supposed to destroy the enemy English fleet, according to the inventor. It didn't work out with the fleet, and then the adventurer used his glasses to create illusions. Opening in 1797, two years before Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself a dictator and ended the revolutionary Republic, a show called "phantasmagoria" With a "collection of ghosts", the Belgian took on a stage name that changed his surname to the English manner: Robertson.
Over the five years of the existence of Robert's show, “all of Paris” has been in the ruins of the Capuchin monastery near Place Vendôme. The popularity of the show was due to Robert's wit in the use of optical effects, each of which was individually invented and tested by other authors. During the performance, the author “showed” to the public with the help of an improved “magic lantern” the “shadows of the dear dead”: Marat, Robespierre, Danton, Louis XVI and Lavoisier, as well as mythological characters: Hebe, Minerva, Medusa Gargon. Not the last place in the show was taken by Death with a scythe, the Wandering Monk, the character of the popular "Gothic novel" by MG Lewis, and other "macabre" characters. The shadows made a lasting impression on the audience. "Women fainted, brave men closed their eyes." Eyewitnesses who attended the show during its heyday, between 1799 and 1801, report that the basement was completely dark and eerie silence during the display of shadows. The feeling of darkness was enhanced by the black velvet upholstery. The demonstrator and his assistants, as well as all the necessary devices, were hidden from the audience by the screen: there was a feeling of a sudden appearance of an image or a shadow projected with the help of a lantern, which made the audience freeze in surprise. The image could grow rapidly, approaching the viewer, and then disappear as suddenly and without a trace as it appeared, sink into complete darkness. Smaller and more mobile shadows could dive from corners at lightning speed to the clothes and hairstyles of the spectators, causing indescribable horror. Some shadows streamed, wriggling and transforming. The faces of the characters on the show were twisted into grimaces. Shadows appeared in an ominous silence, which was sometimes broken by the death toll of bells, thunder and lightning, as well as mysterious music pouring from nowhere. The summoning of "ghosts" was accompanied by noise effects, which were widely used in the theater of the time. Robertson had machines at his disposal to create thunder and rain noise. The musical accompaniment of the show was created on a crystal harmonica, an instrument from which the musician produced sound by rubbing his fingers against the edges of 37 - 46 glass hemispheres set on a metal axis.
Here is what an eyewitness says about Roberston's performance: " Decemvir of the Republic said that the dead do not return, but go to a Robertson session and you will be convinced otherwise. At exactly seven o'clock I was in the Eshikye pavilion in the company of hundreds of fellow citizens, when a pale, thin man entered the room where we were sitting and, extinguishing the candles, said: “Citizens, I am not one of those charlatans who, like Calliostro, pretend to supernatural forces, and my experiments are exclusively scientific in nature. On the pages of newspapers I promised the public to revive the dead to life, and I will do it. Those of those present who would like to see the shadows of the dear and close to them the dead, have only to say a word, and I will fulfill their desire. " - After these words there was a terrible pause. It was broken by an impetuous man with loose hair and serious, sad eyes. Jumping up on the bench, he exclaimed: "Since the official newspapers refused to ask me to honor the memory of Marat, I would be glad to see at least his ghost." Robertson poured some essences on the fire of a brazier that was right there, threw in two issues of the Newspaper of Free People and one issue of the Friend of the People, and among the smoke of burning essences appeared a pale ghost of a man wearing a red Jacobin hat. The man, at whose request the ghost was summoned, apparently recognized him as Marat and rushed forward to embrace his beloved leader, but the ghost smiled sadly at him and disappeared. Famous people were also summoned - Voltaire, Mirabeau, Rousseau, Lavoisier; but most often - Robespierre, who rose from the grave and disappeared into the air with a flash of lightning".
Newspaper " Esprit de Lois»About Robertson's views:" Robertson pours two glasses of blood, a bottle of sulfuric acid, twelve drops of nitric acid onto a burning brazier, and tosses two copies of the Journal des Hom Libre there. Immediately, little by little, a small deathly-pale ghost in a red cap, armed with a dagger, begins to appear. This is the ghost of Marat; he grimaces terribly and disappears".
"Courier de performance": "Robespierre rises from the grave, wants to rise. Lightning incinerates him. The shadows of the dear departed soften the picture. Voltaire, Lavoisier, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Diogenes appear in turn, looking for a man with a lantern in his hand and, as it were, walking through the rows of spectators. Amidst the chaos, a sparkling star appears, in the center of which is written "18 Brumaire". Soon the clouds dissipate and we see the appeasement. He offers Minerva an olive branch. She takes it, makes a wreath out of it and places it on the forehead of the young French hero. Needless to say, this clever allegory is always delightful."
After the show was closed due to a scandal, he traveled to Europe, including spending more than 7 years in Russia, where he arrived at the invitation of the Academy of Sciences, set a record for the altitude of a balloon flight, and finally left a detailed memoir about his turbulent life.

As for the "terrible" images themselves, created by Robertson, they were so successful that they survived the show for a long time. During the Napoleonic Wars, the secret police used techniques and imagery to scare deserters when attempting to flee active units. They projected the head of Medusa and the Wandering Monk at night into the trees of the forest to scare the officers who were trying to leave the unit without permission. The Savoyards, who wandered from village to village with a portable magic lantern on their backs, showed the unassuming public images of "phantasmagoria" along with other intricate pictures simply on a white wall or on a sheet of paper. The Robertson show, reproduced many times thanks to the Savoyards and volunteer successors of his work, became a genre for a certain type of public entertainment, which was finally, although not completely forgotten, as the art of cinema was established and spread. The images of the “phantasmagoria” set the iconography of “macabre” pictures for the “home” magic lantern, which were produced without significant changes in significant numbers even at the beginning of the 20th century. The characters in the "macabre" series for the magic lantern inspired the founders of horror films. For this reason, Robertson is considered the ancestor of one of the main genres of modern entertainment cinema.

Silhouette animation of Lotte Reiniger
Lotte Reiniger (German Lotte Reiniger, June 2, 1899, Berlin - June 19, 1981, Dettenhausen) is a German animated film director who has gained worldwide fame for her silhouette films.

But shadow theaters have survived. And today they work in Greece, Czechoslovakia, and the USA. In Russia, shadow theater is used as an addition to production, to create a visual effect, and not as an independent theater. Now, with the advent of new forms of entertainment, shadow theater, like many other forms of traditional folk art, is threatened with extinction. In China, they talk about the need to apply for the inclusion of the shadow theater in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in order to avoid the disappearance of this type of art.

Today shadows have become not only actors but also works of art. Japanese artist Kumi Yamashita, who came to the United States in 1984 on a student exchange program, lives in Mahattan and works in her tiny studio on Long Island, creates stunning visual effects using light, shadow and the simplest forms, such as like letters of the alphabet. In her installation Origami (2005), Kumi Yamashita squeezed and folded square sheets of aluminum in such a way that when they were hung on the wall and illuminated from the side, they cast shadows of human profiles. Likewise, objects of different shapes, when properly lit, create shadows in the form of faces and shapes. Or here's another: a piece of fabric, from which the artist drew certain threads, magically turns into a portrait of her mother. And carnations, driven into a white board and wrapped in black thread, suddenly form a portrait of a man. Its representative is the Kent Gallery, where the artist's works are exhibited and sold at prices ranging from $ 5,000 to $ 20,000.

Kumi Yamashita is not alone in her style of work - she also has colleagues who play with light - these are British artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster, who have been collaborating for 20 years. It's just amazing how you can make amazing beauty out of a heap of garbage. You just need - no, not thoroughly rummaging in the trash, but look at the piles of rubbish at the right angle and in the appropriate lighting. However, in order to calculate the size and shape of the shadow on the wall, the authors themselves had to dig a lot in the trash. But the result is worth it. At the very first exhibition of garbage installations casting shadows, their work was noticed by Charles Saatchi, co-founder of the famous advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. And not only noticed, but also acquired two of the three exhibits on display.

Looking at these witty works, one involuntarily recalls Plato's cave. People living in it see only shadows on the walls - faint reflections of everything that is beautiful in the real world. But what if instead of a beautiful cave beyond the threshold there is just a huge pile of rubbish? And the shadows move only due to the fact that the wind shakes the flame of the fire?
And further. If the famous groundhog Phil (or any of its local analogs) is sent to a garbage installation by British authors for permanent residence, he will always see his own shadow and predict a cold snap.

New York-based photographers Russ and Reyn also did not ignore the "shadow" project and decided to have fun with the mysterious actress, presenting an unusual photo performance called "Shadow hands". Photo duet Russ and Reyn decided to indulge in the most favorite children's activity - shadow theater performances at a more creative and high level. The shadow hand played its role in an interesting way, which consisted in punishing, frightening and fooling around with the girl model, who, in turn, also did not disappoint in the masterful performance of the shadow performance.

Our hands are not for boredom

How to cast a shadow over the fence? It turns out that everything is not so difficult.

carivna

A lamp and a wall are all you need to play with living shadows. Well, maybe more scissors and some cardboard, but you can do it with your hands. If there is dark wallpaper on the wall, pin a piece of white paper or a sheet. Sit between the lamp and the wall and show the shadows.

The lamp should be low - at the height of your hands. Choose any animal, any bird. Learn to fold your fingers, as shown in the pictures, and on a white screen you will get the shadow of a bunny, a goat, a pig, a wolf, a rooster, a man.

If you keep your hand closer to the lamp, the shadow will be larger; if you keep your hand farther from the lamp, closer to the screen, the shadow is clearer, blacker and smaller. This is great to use.

Train and you will succeed. Add a little imagination and magic shadows come to life on the screen. And as once in childhood, you will open a secret door to the mysterious world of shadows.

Shadows dance on glass
Compose dances
Shadows lying on the table
Drive away the gloss
Shadows roam in my head
Living firmly
Shadows run in the grass
In her, green, juicy
Shadows speak softly
About corners and haze
About strangled kittens
Do you hear this rustle?
Shadows write on glass
Viscous haze signs
Shadows bark in the corner
By the throat of a dog
Shadows shine a lantern
In the face. And at night
The three are celebrating the shadows ...
Shadows - SHELLS !!!
and finally about the magic of the shadow

The secret knowledge of antiquity
The properties of the shadow, its features and capabilities have been studied for several millennia by one of the most ancient branches of witchcraft - shadow magic. This section of magic, hidden from ordinary people by adepts initiated into secret knowledge, is not as harmless as it seems at first, inexperienced, glance.
One of the directions of shadow magic is the magic of submission, using which the sorcerer is able to directly influence not only the will of a person, but also his fate. Reading thoughts, predicting the future, full or partial submission, love spell magic, personality change, damage - this is not a complete list of shadow magic rituals.
Aware of the secret possibilities of shadow magic, the rulers, under pain of death, forbade their subjects to step on their crowned shadow, and village healers expelled corruption from a person, conducting a magic ritual with the shadow of the healed.
The Taoist monks are also familiar with shadow magic firsthand, with the help of prolonged meditation and their own shadow, opening the gates for transition to another, parallel, world of shadows.

Remember that the Shadow is your ally and close creature. She protects you and your being. But do not try to be weaker than your shadow, otherwise it will begin to control your actions. And it depends only on you whether your shadow will become your friend and ally. In general, shadows are very cunning, but if you can make friends with them, then you will learn a lot. There are many techniques for working with shadows, and here is one of them:
Get to know the shadow. Sit in a place where you will not be disturbed, turn off the artificial light, and light a candle. Subsequently, you can work with artificial lighting, but a candle is still better for a start. Place the candle so that there is a clear shadow in front of you, sit back and start dating. To start, just notice your Shadow as if it were a stranger. Consider her, getting to know her and gradually changing your attitude towards her, as if gradually the Shadow becomes your closest friend. At the same time, you can even talk to her out loud and touch her. Making movements, pay attention to how she relates to this and what she experiences. Try to experience it yourself. At the same time, it is not recommended to touch upon sad moments. Then begin to pay attention to how your shadow accompanies you everywhere and everywhere, on what and how it falls. See how it changes in different situations, how it reacts to your joy or sadness. Just don't make it an obsession. Play with your shadow and gradually add your own interaction practices. Gradually, having studied the behavior of your shadow in a given situation, you can use it to anticipate events and consult with it. You will be able to experience something new. Usually people call this feeling intuition, but are they right?

Defend against sorcerers

Opinions about the shadow are quite different - some teachings consider the shadow to be the better half of a person, others - the antipode of his personality, but the magical properties of the shadow are recognized by all schools of esotericism.
The shadow cast by people living on Earth is one of the hallmarks of belonging to our world. That is why the absence of a shadow in vampires is considered indisputable proof of their otherworldly origin.
The shadow is a constant companion of light, has its own personality and energy, but is very strongly attached to its master, which is what warlocks and magicians use.
In order not to become a victim of negative magical influences, you must follow simple precautions.
● Never, under any circumstances, allow other people to deliberately step on your shadow, slap it with their hands, circle it with chalk, pencils or wax, pin with needles, pins, pour water, sewage, spit, or throw garbage.
● It is extremely unfavorable if the shadow falls on broken glass and traces of blood for a long time.
● Be careful when communicating with others: if suddenly during a conversation you suddenly feel weak, interrupt the conversation and leave the room, or at least change your location so that your shadow does not fall on the interlocutor and heavy objects.

Useful properties of the shadow

Like everything in our world, shadow magic also has positive aspects: with the right approach, it can bring a lot of benefits. A person who knows the secrets of shadow magic can use it to protect himself from enemies, become attractive to the opposite sex.
Prophetic dreams, predicting further developments, the so-called "deja vu" - the shadow is also responsible for all these human abilities. The familiar phrase “hide in the shadows” has a hidden meaning - using secret knowledge, you can completely merge with the shadow, becoming invisible to others.
A magical ritual will help make the shadow your ally, sharpening intuition and uniting the essence of the shadow and the person.

Magic ritual "Merge with the shadow"

The ritual can be performed at any time of the day, but for beginners, the most optimal time is night. You will need a light source - it is better if it is not a candle, but an ordinary flashlight.
To perform the magic ritual, sit on the bed, holding the source of light in front of you at arm's length. Then you need to slowly lie down on your shadow, smoothly folding your outstretched arms over your chest.
Try to feel the living essence of the shadow with your body, close your eyes, merge with it, throwing away the boundaries of your consciousness. When the shadow accepts you, for a few moments you will be able to feel your connection and joint infinity extending into the Universe.
Sometimes this condition can be accompanied by mild nausea and feelings of loss and loneliness. Do not be intimidated by these new sensations for yourself: after all, you are not alone on this journey. It is at these moments that your open energy channels, like a sponge, will absorb the magic of the shadow, expanding the horizons of your abilities.

Divination by the shadows.

Divination by shadows originates in Ancient Egypt and is successfully used today. Since ancient times, shadows have been identified with a mystery, a riddle. The world of shadows is the world of the supernatural. Shadows personified the souls of dead people. There are cases when, during a spiritualistic session, the shadow of the deceased being called was displayed on the wall. Many are skeptical about the occult sciences. But can a thing, false in its essence, pass through the centuries and still be widely used in the modern world? Can a mediocre pop artist win the recognition of listeners and keep it for many years? Can a false statement remain valid for a long time if we are talking about an activity such as fortune telling, where the truth of the theory is easy enough to verify?
Fortune telling is based on the transmission of information from your information field and, thus, is a kind of "reading", scanning. From time immemorial, it was believed that the flame has magical, cleansing power. They found various uses for it.

All you need for fortune-telling is a one-color small plate, without drawings and decorations; a sheet of white paper, the size of which will directly depend on your data. If you have light hair, it is desirable that the plate be white, if dark - calm blue or greenish, if bright (red, red, etc.) - pink. If there is no white wall where you are going to guess, get an ironed white sheet so that you can hang the wall with it. Make sure that there are no drafts or air currents in the room that could disturb the burning of the flame and cause the fabric to vibrate. Make sure there are no mirrors in the room. Acting as reflectors, they are capable of distorting information, especially if there are several of them and they stand opposite each other. Try to keep the room as dark as possible: if there is still a lot of daylight, curtain the windows. All lights must be turned off. Turn all the photos in the room away from you: there are cases when the information field was read from the photo and information about the photographed person appeared, and not about the fortuneteller. Remove all hairpins, elastic bands, jewelry, watches, belt and any objects that restrict movement. Disconnect all phones. Never wash yourself before divination. You should be alone in the room. If there are several people, the reading will still occur, but from whom it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to determine.
To correctly determine the size and shape of a sheet of paper, you will need some information about the fortuneteller.
1. Place of birth of the fortuneteller. For example, this is the city of Perm. The number of letters in the word "Perm" \u003d 5.
2. The full name of the fortuneteller. For example, Ivan. Number of letters \u003d 4.
3. Patronymic of the fortuneteller. Suppose Ivanovich. Number of letters \u003d 8.
4. Surname. For example, Ivanov. Number of letters \u003d 9.
5. Date of birth in dd.mm.yyyy format. For example, 01.01.2001 The sum of digits \u003d 0 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1 \u003d 5.
6. Date of divination in the same format as the date of birth. For example, 06/26/2014. Sum of digits \u003d 2 + 6 + 0 + 6 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 4 \u003d 21.
7. Try to formulate the question that interests you as accurately as possible, but briefly. For example, "What dangers can I expect from the upcoming expedition?" Total number of letters \u003d 46.
Bottom line: We have the following numerical indicators: 4, 5, 5, 6, 8, 21, 49.

We take a wire and bend a polygon from it with seven sides, which should be correlated as the obtained numerical indicators. Any value can be taken as a unit, but the larger it is (for example, a centimeter), the longer the leaf will burn, and the more information you will receive. Then we put a polygon on a blank sheet of paper and outline it from the inside, after which we cut out the paper along the resulting line. This is the sheet you need. After that, take the sheet in your hands and focus on your inner feeling for the time you need, so that you can detach from everything and immerse yourself in yourself (while all other attributes must be ready: the sheet is hung out, the plate is prepared, etc., so how, after concentration, the direct process of divination begins).
When you feel ready, squeeze the sheet, putting all the power of your thought into it. Be very careful. At this stage, maximum concentration is required! Then move the plate closer to the wall, place the sheet on its convex side and light it. From this point on, start keeping a close eye on all the shadow images displayed on the wall. Try to capture not every detail separately, but lay out a chain of events from them and reveal a connection. Observe as closely as possible, memorize all the images that you saw. Do not be distracted by the interpretation of these images, do not turn to the Interpretation, just catch them and fix them in your memory. As a rule, images change at lightning speed, literally chasing one after another. Many, in the process of the appearance of symbols, recognize a recent, very significant event for them: severe mental wounds or very vivid impressions leave a deep mark, which is often found when reading. Some people begin to hear intermittent sounds or a growing noise in their heads. As a rule, the overall coloration is felt immediately. The fortuneteller feels negative or positive energy on himself. The whole process lasts from several seconds to several minutes, depending on the size of the leaf. It is important that the moment of leaf burning occurs directly at the transition of the day. Once the leaf has burned out, notice the shape of the ash. The outlines drawn by ash can also be interpreted as shadows, but, as a rule, ash denotes a very distant future.
In a situation where any part of the sheet has simply not burned out, there is no need to reignite. Of course, for such fortune-telling, you only need a one-color plate of small size, without any drawings and decorations; in addition, everyone advises a sheet of white paper, and its size will depend on the data of the fortuneteller. If a person has blond hair, it is necessary that the plate itself be with a white tint, but if it is dark, then calm greenish or blue, but if it is bright (red, red, etc.), then pink. In addition, if the room does not have a white wall, you need to get a white sheet, and with it you can simply hang the wall. Of course, it is necessary to ensure that there are no air currents or drafts in this room that can disrupt the combustion of the flame itself or simply cause the fabric itself to vibrate. An important condition in the room should be no mirrors. After all, they are able to distort the information taught during fortune-telling, especially if there are several of them in the room. It is necessary to try to make this room darker: you may need to curtain the windows. Of course. all lights must be turned off. Also, all the photos that are in the room must be turned away from oneself: after all, there are cases when an information field with a photo was shown and information was shown about a certain person photographed, and not about the fortuneteller himself. You also need to remove all hairpins from your hair, watches, elastic bands, jewelry, belts and other items that impede movement. It is also advisable to turn off all phones. And you don't need to wash yourself before the fortune-telling itself, because there will be no correct meaning of fortune-telling. You need to be alone in this room. Yes, of course, if there are a couple of people in the room itself, then the reading will take place, but from whom it will be quite difficult to determine, and in some situations it is impossible. And yet, do not start fortune-telling again on the same day, even if you are not satisfied with the result.
Now you can relax and start exploring the symbols you saw. When interpreting symbols, first of all, pay attention to how clearly this symbol appears and how easy it is to recognize. Clearly marked, easily recognizable outlines indicate that such a symbol needs to be given increased attention. In the priority table, he will occupy one of the leading places. As a rule, the description of this symbol is of the greatest importance. For example, if it is a cautionary symbol, then you should clearly remember this caution, as it is likely to be very significant to you. If this is a foreshadowing symbol, then you can be sure that the event will be very vivid and memorable.
The next most important indicator is the time the symbol is displayed on the wall. Sometimes it happens that one symbol "freezes" for a sufficiently long time within the time of divination. This is also a kind of indicator of the "stability" of this event. If the clarity of the forms is a sign of the qualitative characteristic of the event, then the time indicator reflects the time that this event affects you. For example, if you clearly recognize the symbol "BEETLE", then this will mean that what is hidden will be really very important and unexpected news for you, and if the beetle also lingers on the wall for a long time, this means that the news will be hidden very long before you can recognize her. Try to memorize the sequence of characters and also pay attention to the color characteristic. Thick, black shadows take precedence over gray, subtle ones.
Among the signs there are such varieties as warning signs (about any danger, trouble), foreshadowing signs (a joyful event, good luck) and leading signs (when it is known that there is a certain danger, but it is not clear from whom or what it comes from). It should also be remembered that symbols with a negative name do not always have the same meaning.
If your own subconscious mind does not suggest the correct interpretation of the meaning of fortune-telling by shadows, then, quite, you can turn to dream books or find out the meaning of a shadow by fortune-telling on coffee grounds. Traditionally, there are figures carrying the well-known symbolism: a boat or a sailing ship - travel, a human figure - a friend or lover, a raven - bad news or trouble ... By connecting your fantasy, you can understand whether a good or evil omen promises you fortune-telling from the shadow of the paper. If you cannot find the interpretation of the desired image, try to paraphrase, for example: Cat - Cat, Dog - Dog, Carrier - Coachman, Colonel - Officer, etc.

For instance.
If a wad of paper that has not been fired gives, for example, the shadow of a seated person, this means that you are trying to solve a problem that is beyond your power.
Set fire to paper. The drawing has taken on the shape of a house - the solution must be sought in your home, without outside help.
The drawing resembles a horse - expect gossip from a person you know.
The last drawing is a dog. So a friend will help you.

By the way! Do you know why the hour hand moves from top to right and not vice versa? This is due to the fact that before the advent of mechanical clocks, people used solar clocks, which in fact were a pole dug into the ground, the shadow of which moved in exactly this way. True, there were also horizontal clocks located on the walls. With them, the situation was the other way around, the shadow in such hours went from top to left. By analogy with these clocks, several mechanical ones were also created, the most famous of which is the German clock at the Munster Cathedral.

By the way, you can make such a clock yourself (they can come in handy, for example, for a summer cottage). When calculating hours, you do not need to invent a bicycle and calculate complex formulas. Everything has already been invented for us. Therefore, I recommend downloading the program shadows , for calculating the sundial. In the free version of this program, you can calculate horizontal, vertical and equatorial hours.

First you need to select the country and city where the sundial will be installed

Choose the type of clock: horizontal, equatorial or vertical.

After that, you will be provided with a dial on which you can additionally apply hour sectors of 30 minutes, 15 minutes and 5 minutes. The place of installation of the gnomon is indicated by the letters A and B.

The dimensions of the gnomon (arrows) are also indicated, you can cut it to size or print it at a scale of 1: 1.

The finished device must be oriented to the north by the compass. Only if you use a cheap Chinese compass, it does not always show the correct direction due to metal objects that are nearby. Therefore, if you have set the clock and it does not show correctly, try reorienting it.

Have you practiced on paper? Now you can make a sundial from wood, metal or stone, and so on. And already, depending on how beautifully your sundial will turn out, you can even think about opening your own business;)

And the last thing. Do you know how much does your shadow weigh?

Let's remember Peter Pan first, they say he had a living shadow, but it was so insignificant that it seemed to weigh no more than cigarette smoke. Peter Pan was, of course, a fictional character, although on a quantum level it might not matter, and besides, its creator, J.M. Barry didn't have enough scientific knowledge. Let's now turn to the hypotheses of scientists. 400 years ago, astronomer Johannes Kepler noticed that comet tails are always facing away from the Sun, and concluded that the sun's rays exert pressure that carries particles away. And at the end of the 19th century, physicist James Clerk Maxwell formulated an equation for calculating the pressure of light, which was experimentally confirmed in 1903. Thus, we can conclude that our shadows actually weigh less than nothing.