Links

I’ll post what websites and links I have as I meet people – however, the majority of traditional Chinese artists aren’t online yet.  I’ve tried to post mostly English versions of the websites, but where there is none, I’ve posted what they have.  Please contact me if you would like more information ~ I’m more than happy to point you in the right direction.  Enjoy~

GENERAL INFO:

History, regional aesthetics, artist profiles, videos and a DIY tab to satisfy all your shadow puppet making desires! (Shameless plug for my own website, launched in 2012 with the help of USCPFA-MN and The Chinese Heritage Foundation.)

www.chineseshadowpuppetry.com

VISUAL RESOURCES:

Princeton’s Online Catalogue of their Gest Collection of Chinese Shadow Puppet pieces (mostly Northeastern region): http://gest.princeton.edu/shadowfigures.php

INDIVIDUAL SITES:

UNIMA (An International Puppeteers Association): China

http://www.apac-unima.com/thread-1-115.html

Beijing:

Liu Lao Shi and students @ The YuanMingYuan Company & School :

https://www.weibo.com/longzaitianpiying

The Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe: http://www.bjpiyingjutuan.blog.sohu.com/

Shichahai Beijing Shadow Art Boutique Hotel: https://www.shadowartboutique.com

Hong Kong:

Mingri Puppet and Educational Theatre, run by the infallible Simon Wong, http://www.mingri.org.hk/

Shaanxi Province:

Zhang Laoshi’s incredible website of his Shaanxi Puppetry collection: I had trouble opening the website while on an American VPN, but it certainly works in China.  http://www.leather-silhouette.com/

Muslim Quarter Performers at 144 Beiyuanmen – Open 9am-11pm: http://blog.sina.com.cn/piyingxi140

Hebei Province:

http://blog.sina.com.cn/lufuzeng  – Blog, in Chinese, about Tangshan shadow puppetry.  Focused on my future cutting master there.

http://piyingxi.wordpress.com/  – Blog by my friend TianXiang Lu (in English) about his father and shadow puppetry in Tangshan.

Hubei Province:

Blog of Master Qin Ligang in Yunmeng, Hubei:   http://piyingqin.bokee.com/

ONLINE VIDEO LINKS:

Shaanxi style:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjkzOTUy.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjgyOTc4MDk2.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjM3MTU5NTQ0.html

Tangshan Style:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzg5MzI4NDQ=.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjk0OTY0NDQ=.html

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNzE1NDc1ODQ=.html

WHERE TO PURCHASE CHINESE SHADOW PUPPETS

Please refer to my page on how to distinguish handmade from machine made puppets before you buy.

Xi’an
Muslim Quarter – 99% machine made (all handmade puppets are now sold in smaller towns or

Nanmen (Xi’an City Wall South Gate) Shopping Area – a variety, more handmade choices

Beijing

Liulichang Market – more handmade, higher end pieces

Pan Jiayuan Flea Market, Chaoyang District – more handmade, higher end pieces – watch out for the fake antiques.

Chengdu

Jin Li Street (a newly built replica of an old style street/market) – mostly machine made puppets

Shanghai

Shops around Yuyuan Gardens – mostly lower and higher quality machine made puppets

Gansu SHADOW PUPPET DOCUMENTARY:

Pan Records produced a great film about a rural troupe in Gansu province: Link and description below:

http://panrecords.nl/content/index.php/catalogue/dvds.html

9607 Chinese Shadows

The amazing world of shadow puppetry in rural northwest China

We follow shadow puppet performers on their jouney with a donkey from one village to the next, and doing shows in cave dwellings and temples. We record the disappointment and sadness of these men over the gradual decline of a truly superb theatrical art. But the singing and music making during the shows is still amazingly passionate and energetic.

The contrast may come as a shock: on the one hand there are the finely carved and delicate shadow puppets, on the other hand the almost brutal force and wild shouting with which they are cast against the screen.The narrative figures, cut from animal hide, are hardly any less fantastic and capricious than the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch or Hokusai.

UPC 713958960790.

FULBRIGHT INFORMATIONAL SIGHTS:

http://fulbright.state.gov/

http://www.iie.org/fulbright