Chinese Shadow Play

Known as a precursor of modern movie, shadow play is a kind of drama in which silhouettes made of animal’s leather are projected onto a white screen. The performer manipulates the characters behind the screen while singing the libretto to tell the story. The story-telling is accompanied by music and it is also a culture of singing and talking.

The shadow puppets are made of buffalo and donkey’s leather and Chinese shadow artists first carve out the lines of the design and then dye them in bright colors. These transparent puppets become very lively and beautiful under the lamp light. The shadow puppet is the wisdom crystallization of Chinese artists, it is also a popular handiwork in northern cities of China.

The Shadow Play has a history of over 2000 years, which originated during the Han Dynasty (B.C202-A.D 220) when one of the concubines of Emperor Wu died. The emperor was so devastated that ignored the affairs of state, and he summoned his court officers to bring his beloved back to life. The officers got an idea and made a shape of the concubine using donkey leather. Her joints were animated using 11 separate pieces of the leather, and adorned with painted clothes. Using an oil lamp they made her shadow move, bringing her back to life. After seeing the shadow play, Emperor Wu began to recover. Then the love story was recorded in the book of “The History of the Han Dynasty”.

A balladry from Shaan Xi Province described what shadow play is iconically. That is:
Folk Shadow Play
Speaking behind paper partition screen,
Expressing variable feelings by shadows,
One shadow play actor can tell thousand years stories,
Both hands can operate millions of soldiers.

Recent years, in many areas, certain types of plays and the art of performance are actually nearing fading away. Fortunately, shadow play is alive and well-preserved in some places in China which reflects the increasing value of it.