W150xH380mm, China
A warrior of the Hua county in the Shaan Xi province., it is said that Chinese shadow puppetry originated from this county. Shadow puppet theater started its form as a Taoist court ceremony where illusion, shadows, dreams and a bit of imagination formed the idea of after death for the ancient emperor. As time goes by, the religious ceremony took a form as entertainment for the emperor and thus shadow puppet theatre began. The fashion from the courts later was copied by the nobles and then the wealthy, and to the masses. The Hua school of shadow puppet are small and very finely made, it is believed that the tradition came from entertaining small party of the court.
Mountain Folkcraft 