Shadow play is taken as an earliest ancestor of modern cinema; the unique artistic value makes it be reserved from the ancient time.
 
Performers control characters while singing the libretto to tell the story behind the screen. The character, or we can say silhouette, is made of hard paper, buffalo and donkey hide. The silhouette is projected on a white screen as the actor or actress in this play.
 
Many artistic factors are included in this play. Light, screen, music, singing and puppetry form this interesting art. The harmonious appliance among these factors wins people's high praise, and gets a name as "a magic, lighting-like art".

Legend
In China, shadow play appeared during the Western Han Dynasty some 2,000 years ago with its birthplace at today's Shaanxi Province.
 
Here's a legend that Emperor Wu (156B.C.-87B.C.) of Western Han Dynasty was depressed about the death of his beloved concubine Li. To help to get over the sadness, Minister Li made a shadow on the curtain of concubine Li by cotton and silk. Then Emperor began to believe that it was his lover's spirit. It developed into a mature play during the Tang Dynasty and reached its heyday during the Qing Dynasty in Hebei Province. Many China's local operas were evolved from shadow play. Known as the 'magic of the East' among Europeans, shadow play is regarded as a precursor of modern cinema and cartoon.

Characters
Just as its name implies, shadow play is a kind of drama in which silhouettes made of hard paper or animal skins are projected onto a white screen. The performer manipulates the characters behind the screen while singing the libretto to tell the story. The story-telling is accompanied by music. The shadow maker is usually made out of clean cowhide or donkey skin with hair removed and colored by five pure watercolors of red, yellow, green, pale green and black.
 
The skin should be translucent after chemical treatment. So the shadow can be endowed with magnificent transparent color on screen, which endows the play a great charm. Besides, the shadow makers are elaborately carved part by part. So the shadow maker can be regarded as the work of art itself.

Roles of shadow play
Same here, the roles of shadow play falls into five categories, which are Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo and Chou. The difference is that every 'player' consists of 11 parts including head, two body parts, two legs, two upper arms and lower arms as well as two hands. Drawn by the performers through controlling bars and threads, 'players' can do various kinds of vivid movements. Shadow play demands for high performing skills. Besides control three or four 'players' at a time, performers have to catch up with the tempo and musical accompany as well as pay attention to dialogue and singing. Hence, it is not an easy job to train a mature shadow play performer.

The Situation of Shadow Play
Due to modern audio-visual media, this form of performance can not be popular as the situation two decades ago. But the unique feature and historic color in this performance make this art as a high valuable cultural heritage in Chinese art field. And China is applying to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) for a certification as an intangible cultural heritage.