Category: Chinese Culture

The Buluotuo Scriptures(布洛陀经诗Bùluòtuó Jīngshī) is the primitive religious scriptures of the Zhuang ethnic group of China. It is also the creative epic(a long book, poem, or film, whose story extends over a long period of time or tells of great events) and folk literary work of the Zhuang ethnics in China. The scriptures are the five-word style poem that takes the language and form of poem to sing and praise the feat of creating the earth and the heaven, initiating all the things, arranging the orders of the universe and constituting ethic of Bulongtuo, the ancient god of the Zhuang people. The scriptures tell about the formation of the universe, the origination of human beings and various farm crops and domestic animals as well as the living customs of people in the primitive ages. They also enlighten people to pray, eliminate evils and pursue a happy life. The whole body of the scriptures is as long as ten thousand lines, which can generally be divided into three parts, i.e., creative myth, ethics and religious taboo. Since ancient times, Buluotuo Scriptures had been handed down by oral means. Later, while sang and transmitted among people, the scriptures were also conserved by the help of written language of the ancient Zhuang ethnics.

Shadow puppet play(皮影戏píyǐngxì), which also called "shadow play", is a drama form in which the player holds the human figures that are engraved(carve, cut, or etch into a material or surface) by the animal hides with colored paintings, and reflected on the curtain through the light, singing and dancing controlled by the player with the silk string, drums music and gongs, playing a series of stories. It is widely spread in most regions in China, except Tibet and Xinjiang, with different styles of shadow puppet play in different places. However, the characters shaping and performance skills are all quite exquisite, with play themes including the Chinese ancient magic, myths, religions, monarchs(the monarch of a country is the king, queen, emperor, or empress), legal cases, wars, as well as talented scholars and pretty ladies, the secular life.