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Couple dedicates 15 years to shadow puppetry

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Via: buzz-of-the-orient • 5 years ago • 5 comments

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Couple dedicates 15 years to shadow puppetry

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Couple dedicates 15 years to shadow puppetry

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Guo Bao and his wife carry on the traditional shadow puppetry in Magusi village, Qian'an, North China's Hebei province, on Nov 11, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

A couple from Magusi village, Qian'an in North China's Hebei province, has dedicated more than 15 years of their lives to shadow puppetry. Guo Bao and his wife set up a shadow puppetry studio in 2003, where they taught local farmers the techniques of making the puppets. In 2014, Guo raised money for a cultural museum, so children could have free access to learning and trying out this unique art form.

Shadow puppetry is a Chinese folk art known for its unique storytelling techniques via figures made from cowhide and an illuminated backdrop that creates the illusion of moving images. The art dates back more than 2,000 years to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD).

Most Chinese people are reminded of their experience of watching the shadow play in some temple fairs during big festivals like the Chinese New Year. Among different regions in China, the style of performance varies in terms of music and sculpting methods.

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[Photo/Xinhua]

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[Photo/Xinhua]

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Professor Expert

1 seeder Buzz of the Orient 5 years ago

The first time I ever saw a shadow puppet show was not in China, it was in upstate New York in the late 1960s, at a Folk Music Festival called the Beers Family Folk Music Festival. A family performed the shadow puppet show to traditional American music.

Here in China, in the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'An, now known as Xi'An, where the terracotta warriors were recently uncovered by accident and are now a major tourist draw, I saw and photographed these:

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