Shaanxi shadow play finds takers By Cheng Yuezhu | China Daily | Updated: 2021-01-14 10:13 Share CLOSE
Chang Zhi Gui, starring Wang Jinfa, is an experimental shadow play funded by a Tsinghua University s cultural-heritage project. The show is staged in a church in Yan an, Shaanxi province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
A Tsinghua University project is helping to preserve intangible culture in China, Cheng Yuezhu reports.
The lights go out and the show begins. Silhouettes of leather-made figurines are projected onto an illuminated screen, delineating stories with the accompaniment of musical instruments, opera-singing and storytelling.
Long before the invention of films, with the earliest text record dating to 1,900 years ago, the screen of shadow play provided a pioneering means of entertainment, its venues ranging from palaces to markets.