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Daily Tidbit: 皮影(pí yǐng) Shadow Puppetry

Shadow puppets have a long history in China. Initially, the puppets were made of paper, and later from the hides of donkeys or oxen. It explains why the Chinese name for shadow puppet is “皮影”(pí yǐng), which means shadows of hides. A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Translucent color is sometimes introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide a different look and different effects can be achieved by moving both the puppet and the light source. A talented puppeteer can make the figures walk, dance, fight, nod and laugh. You can also see Chinese shadow puppetry in the 1994 Zhang Yimou’s famous film “To Live.” Have you ever seen shadow puppetry? Do you like this kind of art? Let us know at ninhao