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Articles tagged with: shadow puppetry

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[17 May 2009 | One Comment | 2,998 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 | 4,787 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 …