Shadow play

     In China, shadow play, or shadow puppetry, which is originated from the Han Dynasty, has a history of more than 1000 years. It is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment using opaque, often articulated figures in front of an illuminated backdrop to create the illusion of moving images.
    It is popular in various cultures. At present, more than 20 countries are known to have shadow show troupes.
    Legend goes that, one of the concubines of Emperor Wu of Han died from an illness. The emperor was devastated, and he summoned his court officers to bring his beloved back to life. The officers 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. Emperor saw the figure on the curtain, felt that she was alive.
    Shadow theatre became quite popular as early as the Song Dynasty when holidays were marked by the presentation of many shadow plays. During the Ming Dynasty there were 40 to 50 shadow show troupes in the city of Beijing alone. In the 13th century, the shadow show became a regular recreation in the barracks of the Mongolian troops. It was spread by the conquering Mongols to distant countries like Persia, Arabia, and Turkey. Later, it was introduced to other Southeastern Asian countries. The storytellers generally used the art to tell events between various war kingdoms or stories of Buddhist sources. Today, puppets made of leather and moved on sticks are used to tell dramatic versions of traditional fairy tales and myths.
    The earliest shadow theatre screens were made of mulberry paper. The colors that usually use on puppetry are red, yellow, blue, green and black. Every figure of shadow puppetry is consisted of 11 parts. The performer controls the puppetry by 3 poles. Shadow play has high requirement on performers. They must be able to control 3-4 puppetries at one time, beside that, they have to take concerted action to the music, narration and singing. In addiction to the masters’ teaching, performers have to work hard to accumulate experiences. That’s why to form a shadow play troupe is so difficult. Shadow play troupes usually concentrate in rural areas, and that makes spread of shadow play difficult.
                                 皮影戏
    皮影戏，发源于我国西汉时期的陕西，距今已有一千多年的历史，它是一种古老的表演娱乐方式，利用灯光照射兽皮或纸质的不透明的人偶在幕布上投影以表现故事。
    皮影戏在许多国家都有，现今世界上有20多个国家有皮影戏剧团。
    传说，西汉时汉武帝的宠妃李夫人病故。汉武帝要他的巫师让李夫人“复生”。巫师将一张兽皮剪出李夫人生前的形象，用灯光照射到布帐上。皇帝看到幕布上李夫人的影子，仿佛她复生，感到很欣慰。
    皮影戏在宋代很盛行，逢年过节皮影戏的演出很多。在明代仅北京就有40—50家皮影戏剧团。13世纪，皮影戏成为蒙古军队经常性的娱乐。它随着蒙古军队的侵略传播到遥远的国家，如，伊朗、阿拉伯和土耳其。进而被传到东南亚国家。皮影戏艺人多数表演战国国家间的事或者佛教故事。如今，皮影戏更多的时候表演戏剧，传统故事，传奇。
    早期皮影戏幕布是用桑皮纸制成的。皮影戏人偶上色时主要使用红、黄、青、绿、黑五种颜料，每个人偶由11部分组成。表演者通过控制一根主竿和两根耍竿使人物做出各种动作。皮影戏对表演的技艺也有很高的要求，表演者必须能够一次控制3到4个人偶，除此之外，还要密切配合场上的配乐，兼顾旁白，唱腔。除了需要师傅言传身教，更加需要勤学苦练，积累大量的实际表演经验，因而要组成一个皮影戏剧团是十分不容易的。目前，皮影戏剧团多分布在边远地区，这种分布趋势让皮影戏的传播更不容易了。