Over the past millennia, shadow play, a unique performance form, has been shining like a star in the sky of Chinese folk art. But since the start of the 20th century, the development of modern entertainment especially TV and movies has lead to the decay of the art. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and the Czech Republic, we have selected a number of shadow play works and provided an opportunity for the Czech people to appreciate the appeal of China’s ancient shadow play art.

Shadow play dates back from the Zhou Dynasty according to scholarly research. While based on historical records, during the reign of Emperor Wudi in the Han Dynasty, maids in the imperial palace cut candlenut leaves for entertainment, and such activity was regarded as the embryo of the art. In the Tang Dynasty, artists used the articulated figures to make speeches for publicizing the Buddhism. Plenty of records made in the Song Dynasty suggest that shadow play was popular then. Shadow play was originally made of paper and then the leather with stained colors. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties when shadow play developed to its peak, the art had abundant items and delicate craftsmanship, and mainly used oxhide and sheepskin. The country has established two major systems of the southern and the northern schools as well as three centers, namely, western region (Huaying and Huaxian in Shaanxi Province), northern region (Luanzhou in Hebei Province) and southern region (Huige society in Lin’an). Since the Southern Song Dynasty, as friendly envoy to different countries and regions including the South Asian islands, Egypt, Turkey and Germany during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art has played an important role in cultural exchanges. It is even regarded as “the forerunner of the movie” by the movie historians.

Fine works shadow on display are featured by the style of Eastern school of Shaanxi Province (eastern school in Shaanxi Province) and Western school of Shaanxi Province (western school in Shaanxi Province), Gansu, Qinghai, Shanxi, Liaoning, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Yunan provinces and Beijing municipality. The period spans from the Ming Dynasty to modern times, especially the Qing Dynasty.

Shadow play, as an ancient Chinese type of drama, boasts good combination of different arts including carving, painting, music and drama as well as rich cultural connotation. The articulated figures, regarded as performance property and independent artistic works, is the fruit of folk artists of different generations. The wonderful Chinese art is expected to bring the strong visual impact and aesthetic pleasure to the Czech people.