The Legend of Ancient Chinese Shadow Puppets
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The Legend of Ancient Chinese
Shadow Puppets
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Everyone wanted to help the emperor, but nothing seemed to work. One day, a priest in the palace passed some children playing with
dolls. The dolls made shadows on the floor, shadows that seemed to dance
as the children played. The dancing shadows gave the priest an idea. He
hurried away to work on his idea. First, he made a puppet from cotton balls. He painted the puppet to
look somewhat like the emperor's wife. When his puppet was ready, he
invited the emperor to a special puppet show. The emperor appreciated all the things his court had done to cheer him
up, but really, all the emperor wanted was to be left alone. He knew the
priest would be insistent. The priest was a old friend. With a sigh, a
very deep sigh, the emperor agreed to attend the show. That evening, the priest placed a light behind a curtain, along with
himself and his puppet. As he moved the puppet behind the curtain, it cast
a dancing shadow. The priest told stories of the emperor's wife. They were
wonderful stories, wonderful memories. Even though the priest was there,
and the puppet was there, it seemed as if the shadow was telling the
story. The emperor was delighted. He clapped his hands in joy. Every night,
after a busy day of taking care of the business of being emperor, the
emperor looked forward to hearing "shadow stories" about his
wife, and her day, and of their life together. And that, according to legend, is how shadow puppets were born. Legend
says ..... Once upon a time, a long time ago, in Han times,
the favorite wife of the emperor became ill and died. Her husband, the
emperor, loved his wife very much. He missed her company. He missed
hearing stories about her day. He missed hearing stories of their life
together. Everyone in the land thought time would heal his heavy heart.
But as time went on, the emperor cared less and less about the activities
of the court and of his people.
Playing with Shadows - Shadow Puppetry
How to make Shadow Hand Puppets - Horse and Snake
The History, Design, and Politics of Chinese Shadow Puppets
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