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[23 Jul 2009 | 2 Comments | 13,382 views]
Chinese Opera – Top Five of Its Colorful Faces

Chinese opera is known as one of three ancient theatres in the world. The other two are ancient Greek tragicomedy, and Indian Sanskrit play. Chinese opera has a long history that dates back to as early as the third century. During thousands of years of development, it has now become a rich system of drama and musical theatre with more than 360 regional branches.

Today, I will introduce you the top 5 most popular regional branches of Chinese opera.

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[30 Jun 2009 | Comments Off on Paper Cut: Art Happens When Paper Meets Scissors | 6,991 views]
Paper Cut: Art Happens When Paper Meets Scissors

Easiest and most popular folk art
Since paper was invented by Cai Lun in Han Dynasty, no wonder paper cutting was also originated in China around 2000 years ago. The oldest surviving paper cut out is a symmetrical circle from the 6th century found in Xinjiang, China.
Paper cutting is probably the most popular Chinese folk art because of its simple material, low cost, immediate production, broad adaptation, variety of design and vivid presentation. One can very easily get access to a piece of paper and try one’s own creativity with …

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[10 Jun 2009 | Comments Off on Dragon and Lion Dance: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Sports, and more | 14,734 views]
Dragon and Lion Dance: Art, Culture, Entertainment, Sports, and more

@flickr: Synchroni | M. Fang | C. Chan | young_einstein
Dragon/Lion Dance: a Symbol of Chinese culture
China is the birthplace of dragon dance and lion dance. Since their inception around 2000 years ago, dragon/lion dance, has been loved by people of many ethnic groups. It is an extremely brilliant performance art and the symbol of Chinese culture among the Chinese communities worldwide.
Dragon/Lion Dance: A Rich Culture Within
Dragon/lion dance was originally a spontaneous, entertaining, arbitrary traditional cultural and sports activity. After more than two thousand years of development, its form and style …

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[17 May 2009 | One Comment | 2,999 views]
Shadow Puppetry: the Oldest Motion Picture Storytelling

China’s shadow puppetry is the “forerunner of film.” — French film historian Georges Sadoul, General History of the Cinema (Histoire générale du cinéma)
History: more than 2000 years old
Originated in China more than 2000 years ago in Qin Dynasty, shadow puppetry is known to be the oldest motion picture storytelling.
Once upon a time in Han dynasty, Emperor Wu was very unhappy when his mostly loved princess consort passed away. One of the most talented shadow puppetry performer went to the royal palace and played a dedicate shadow puppetry for him.
The …

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[13 Apr 2009 | 2 Comments | 4,790 views]
Chinese Shadow Puppetry: Revived at Longzaitian Theatre

Official Blog (Site) of Longzaitian Shadow Theatre (龙在天皮影)
http://blog.sina.com.cn/longzaitianpiying (In Chinese).
Longzaitian Shadow Theatre: the ONLY theatre in Beijing with regular performances.
Faded glory of Chinese shadow puppetry
Chinese shadow puppetry had its prime time during Qing Dynasty. Then after 1840, in the continuous turmoil of social and political instability, the ever-prosperous shadow puppetry was repressed hardly to almost extinction. A little portion was luckily saved as grass-root folk art.
After 1978, when political stability and economic order were re-established in China, both the government and the public started to revive this ancient art. It …