Chinese traditional culture: Shadow puppetry

The lights are on. On a white cloth, a market appears. Peddlers holler. People run around and enjoy themselves. Drums and gongs churn out deafening sounds. As the light flicks on, the show is over.

If you look behind the cloth, you’ll see a person holding several shadow puppets. Beneath his feet is a drum and a gong. All the exciting acts are performed by just one person. This is the famous shadow puppetry of China.

What is a shadow puppet? Animal leather is painted with various images, and sticks are utilized to control different segments of the leather figures for movements. A performer controls the shadow puppets behind a white curtain and through the illuminated cloth, audiences could enjoy shadow movements.

Performers speak, sing and kick the gong and drum without stop. It takes a long time to master all the necessary skills to produce a romantic shadow puppet show.

The traditional art started more than 2,000 years ago. An emperor missed his deceased empress so much that he lost his appetite. A minister painted the empress’ image on the cloth and used sticks to control the figurine’s movement. That evening, the emperor was excited to observe his deceased wife behind the cloth.

Sadly, only a few people nowadays have the skills of shadow puppetmaking and performing.