More than 2000 years ago,a favorite concubine of Wu Emperor of the Han Dynasty died of illness；the emperor missed her so much that he lost his desire to reign. One day, a minister happened to see children playing with dolls where the shadows on the floor were vivid. Inspired by this scene,the smart minister hit upon an idea. He made a cotton puppet of the concubine and painted it. As night fell, he invited the emperor to watch a rear-illuminated puppet show behind a curtain. The emperor was delighted and took to it from then on. This story recorded in the official history book is believed to be the origin of shadow puppetry.

Shadow puppets were first made of paper sculpture, later from the hides of donkeys or oxen. That’s why the Chinese name for shadow puppet is pi ying,which means shadows of hides. Shadow puppetry was very popular during the Tang and Song Dynasties in many parts of China.