皮影戏，又称“灯影戏”、“提影戏”、“挑皮影”或“影戏”等，是广泛流传于我国民间的一种造型艺术与戏曲艺术相互影响、并行发展的综合性艺术。皮影戏起源很早，学者考证认为，早在周代宫廷里就开始白天演傀儡、夜晚唱皮影的娱乐。这种艺术不断成熟，在全国发展为河南、山西、陕西、唐山四大流派。其中，河南皮影戏以罗山皮影戏为代表。
    
    据明清时期编修的罗山县志记载，明嘉靖时期皮影戏传入罗山，距今已有400余年的历史。清代河北滦川的皮影戏又到罗山演出，罗山皮影便大量吸收了滦川皮影的艺术套路、制作方法、表演艺术，积累了419个剧目，经常演出的有231出，大多是《封神演义》、《隋唐演义》的“一国之戏”，其音乐唱腔属于综合体，以板腔体为主，又保留着一部分曲牌体。
       
    罗山皮影具有鲜明的特点：
    
    1．影人造型考究，形象逼真，脸谱规范，制作用料精良，刀工精细；
    
    2．具有鲜明的地方特色，语言有不少豫南的民间口语、方言，音乐唱腔多豫南的民歌、民间小调，很受当地民众喜爱；
    
    3．艺术语言丰富，唱腔有32个板式，能够反映复杂的情感和社会生活，能够表现各类大戏，更善于表现激烈的打斗场面，让观者有千军万马之感；
    
    4．影人、帐幕较小，适宜于上山下乡演出。由于这些特点，加上其丰富的剧目，它是豫南地区珍贵的艺术文化资源。但是，近些年来，不少艺人外出打工或下海，年轻人不愿从艺，后继乏人，剧目流失，现从事演出者大都年逾古稀，亟需加强保护。
        
    2006年，罗山皮影被确定为河南省第一批民间文化遗产抢救项目。2008年，罗山皮影戏被列入国家级非物质文化遗产名录扩展项目名录。

 
 

Shadow Play
   
 

    Shadow Play, also called Galanty Play in ancient times, is a storytelling folk drama which uses flat articulated figures (shadow puppets) to create the impression of moving humans. When playing, the players stand behind the white screen controlling the puppets at the same time singing out the story with local drama tone, besides, combining with several percussion instruments and stringed instruments, which makes these plays full of local flavor. This kind of Han People's folk art is widely welcomed in rural areas in Henan and Shanxi province. In ancient times, when movies and TV sets had not created, this shadow play was a very popular folk entertainment.
     
    Shadow Play is a historic traditional folk art of Han nationality, which is called Donkey Shadow Play by ancient people in Beijing. It has been passed on by many generations and has brought so much pleasure to people. It's not only a puppet art nut also an authentic artware. It has elaborate making processes like curving, coloring, sewing, painting and so on with the skins of donkey, horse as materials. The feature of the puppets are different influenced by the different outside environment and the quality of materials, but the same characteristic is that they are all interesting, lovely and vivid.