Fifth Issue

The Shadow Theatre in China
The Shadow Theatre in China is a form of popular artistic expression that reflects the
unique historical and cultural environment in which it was born and developed.
Noticeably, it is about an agricultural environment; as such, it mirrors the ethical values
of an agricultural community and “speaks” the language of the people. Presentation itself
is directly connected to agricultural activities, because the Shadow Theatre in North
China performed three times a year was the sole form of entertainment for the farmers
after the harvest of wheat on the fifth lunar month (June or July), the autumn harvest and
during the Chinese new year (end of January- beginning of February).
The people who engaged with the shadow theatre were either professionals or, more
commonly, farmers, who after the completion of their agricultural duties, moved from
village to village, usually in harsh conditions, to present their improvised performances.
Their arrival, usually in groups of two to five people, was a big event. They would place
their rough, small theatre at temples or outdoor spaces and entertain the young and the
old with adventures of heroes and the artistic forms of their puppets.
Long before the commencement of the performance, children and elders, men and
women and even friends from neighboring villages, each with their chair, would gather
around, eagerly waiting for the show to begin. It was the only way of escaping the life in
a closed and traditional community, where labor regularly was a fight with nature’s
elements and life equaled fight for survival.
Undoubtedly, the fact that the show was an opportunity for all to watch, even for
high class women, usually excluded from any other form of social interaction, limited to
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