Traditional shadow play art shines anew in SW China's Sichuan

CHENGDU, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is a traditional Chinese folk art inscribed in UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2011. Wang's Shadow Play is a representative genre of Langzhong Shadow Play popular in northern Sichuan in southwest China, originated with artist Wang Yuansheng during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and has been passed on between generations since then.

Wang Biao, 60, a seventh-generation inheritor of Wang's Shadow Play, takes preserving and promoting the art as his life-time course.

Wang Biao started to learn the art from his grandfather in his early childhood, and he followed him to stage performances all over the country in the 1980s. He restarted his shadow play troupe in Chengdu despite a shrinking audience for this art in 2000, and started to give performances at local parks and schools.

In 2004, he led his troupe back to the ancient town of Langzhong where he created more innovative plays favored among his audience. Moreover, his troupe also went to more than 30 countries and regions to popularize the art. Members of the troupe also worked closely with drama schools and colleges to offer lectures on shadow play art.

In 2018, Wang made a further step to inaugurate a museum for the art, housing over 50,000 shadow play puppets and several hundred copies of ancient play scripts. The museum opens throughout the year, and has received tens of thousands of visitors.