Ancient Chinese art of shadow puppet theatre struggling to survive in the modern era

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A popular form of entertainment for more than 2,000 years, Chinese shadow puppetry is now an endangered craft. For the past few decades, traditional shadow theatres have been struggling to attract audiences and the master puppeteers of the old generation are worried the art form will die with them.
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[@Neyobe]

I always hate/feel bad when I see videos of history slowly vanishing

[@Neyobe]

Teddy Papa yep. But there’s not much we can do

[@viridianacortes9642]

It’ll survive as long as they adapt and record down their knowledge. They are performing at schools, that’s not a bad idea. That’s what early Japanese animation did, and it’s doing very well.

[@christinenayshsuarez6046]

Same... :'(

[@xyoopridex]

thankfully we have the internet at least, so we can keep this videos running online no matter how many years pass lol.

[@wilbert2678]

Yams Ondeck yeah. Nothing is permanent

[@kukuandkookie]

Idk why this made me so emotional. I grew up in the west and have never seen a shadow puppet performance live, but I guess it still hurts to see a culture vanishing. I also grew up watching The Calabash Brothers among other Chinese cartoons, and The Calabash Brothers were clearly inspired by shadow puppets. I hope the craft is able to survive and eventually thrive. It’s such an intricate and admirable art.

[@snowymuffin]

Me too, this video made me emotional

[@deepanshisrivastava]

They should make a youtube channel and some out of the city or country shows. I am sure it will be loved outside the country.

[@shinobi650]

😲 I am awe struck ! let us preserve our heritage, our culture !

[@blert]

Everything has its time and place. Everything eventually fades away That's just reality

[@rinhao5433]

Going back to ancient theater. Yea this better than mobile phone.

[@shiryuusama6725]

Depend on the government , can manage as tourist attraction or a must see for school.

[@ab-ul1yz]

This is so important that in Italy everybody knows the expression "ombre cinesi", that means "Chinese shadows": kids often play with their hands to make the shadow of a wolf or other things. Bring one of those shows to Italy if you can, for the Chinese people living here and for everyone

[@MinttMeringue]

I think kids make shadow puppet animals with their hands in many places - but it is interesting that you guys call it Chinese shadows! I wonder when it started to be called that?

[@ab-ul1yz]

Strawberry Cupcake I don't really know, but you know the game "paper-scissor-rock" where paper beats rock, rock beats scissor and scissor beats paper? We call it "morra cinese", "Chinese morra" (I don't know what's "morra" in English) and this game, we call it Shanghai www.goutdujeu.fr/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/mikado_produit_ouvert.jpg

[@MinttMeringue]

@@ab-ul1yz huh. Wouldn't have guessed. I know that morra is it's own game (like with your fingers and guessing the sum?) so I guess rock paper scissors is kinda similar. And yeah, I know the game you're talking about- I forgot the name, but I think it's just "sticks" or "straws" usually

[@mercykino717]

The puppet shadow play should also be a part of class schedule in their fun time

[@tacogamer2557]

I remember that in Karate kid

[@sa5m225]

me too, that part was my favorite. I hope the history of China Shadow theatre don't vanish.

[@irritatedanglosaxon1705]

Also in 3 kingdoms starring andy lau

[@reikunator9066]

We had a project about this..we were untrained..So..We just moved puppets around and rolled them around and i started wheezing at the end, It looked like a mortal combat between a deer and a man with a stick (it was suppose to be a knife but it just looked like a stick XD)

[@Weeping-Angel]

I remember I had a project about this to when I was little around third grade. We spent so much time making the puppets and creating a storyline.

[@najwanorizam12]

Everything will slowly fade away by the time you know it

[@bravequeen77]

Going back to ancient time theatre. I feel ancient.

[@polish_filipino]

I'm sure if we forget we could somehow figure it out through old movies... and stuff... idk

[@arbaz79]

One day I will travel to China just to see these shadow puppet theaters❤.I always wanted to see one with my own eyes.Love from PK💚

[@i_haz_no_comments4775]

@@StephenMortimer go away dont ruin somebody positivity when ur negativity ur a pain.

[@yiasminathefangirl]

we have this tradition in Cyprus too, i remember when we went for a school trip in elementary school to watch a show..that was the last time i had seen one of these plays😐 now i wonder if they are starting to vanish here too🤔 would be sad if so

[@BankruptMonkey]

I've never seen one performed in the West, it would be so cool if some troupes could go on tour and get global fans

[@ulerkadut8582]

when this young soul havent being tainted by modern gadget... but... how long will it last... till the modern gadget tainted them...

[@HawkinaBox]

I think it's already happened

[@spot5384]

ToyStory's penguin dude: Lets face it, where only here until there.

[@HG-lf3ek]

Reminds me of Wayang kulit

[@hannaamazongoddess8480]

I hope it somehow gains profit.. I really dont want this to die out..

[@callasky]

Is that the legends of Nezha?

[@serbaserbi6004]

Nacha .not necha

[@xiaoao._zz]

It is

[@smithwill9006]

They could change their main target audience

[@boba5257]

Aw this is so sad, this is what I hate about nowadays, everything is becoming digital and a lot of ancient arts and other parts of cultures are disappearing

[@yuranamo]

I wanted get into shadow puppeteering but I don’t know where to start

[@coolbeans5911]

This is heartbreaking😢

[@catrosity1246]

Bring them online and more creativity will bring more people into those theater

[@nugget3935]

I saw something like this at a cultural event in the museum of culture where I live I always thought it was so pretty I believe they were doing it close to Chinese new year for younger kids to learn and see diffrent things it's a shame I loved it.

[@gian5150]

i saw this on the Karate Kid

[@asahi_ih]

Fortunately, I've seen one performed here in our school (New Zealand)

[@yugandali]

There was a short-lived revival of shadow puppets about forty years ago in Taiwan.

[@iroquoisplissken3583]

Anybody been to Phantasea in Thailand? They have a great shadow puppet act.

[@hans0620]

the downside of automation and technology. it erases labor intensive and intricate tangible arts and culture. sad to say, this will just be part of history, but at least as a consolation, coming generation can just stream it on netflix. lol. for sure they wont even bother to downloaad it.

[@MinttMeringue]

Everything fades out eventually, especially with entertainment. Think about how mad some people were when we stopped silent movies and such! And someday, maybe movies will even change so much they're indistinguishable. That's just how it is. It'll turn into entertainment history instead of just entertainment.

[@littlepumpkinpiehair-cutte519]

I hope to see this one day😊

[@duochirkznemesisiv8394]

Same here in Malaysia, they're dying slowly but surely.

[@raisingwings2913]

Yeah, the last time I saw something like this was 20 years ago

[@sensen9909]

@@raisingwings2913 COPYCAT WAYANG FROM INDONESIA

[@raisingwings2913]

@@sensen9909 not gonna argue that, it's debated, Chinese have them too , I saw the Chinese ones

[@jessicatedjaa2484]

And also Indonesian puppets..the wayangs

[@KK-ro7gx]

Wayang kulit mean Shadow play/Shadow puppetry But just different language

[@ahmadfauzan5141]

Ah, why not ask jaden smith to promote this, remember the shadow kiss from karate kid

[@christinenayshsuarez6046]

Please dont vanish :'(

[@beardoll6945]

I WANT TO LEARN !!!

[@hendrikloeslim8903]

If they manage to make it like narutos puppet master skill i will definetly learn it

[@Sa.d.bo26]

All things must come to an end that is the way life..

[@tiwitiwi6202]

technology advancement is the cause of this

[@syvilljoycecapuras2524]

this is sad

[@ilham9022]

International audience really want to see it.. Including me

[@serbaserbi6004]

In indonesia we call it wayang

[@redjohn3662]

It's Indian origin..wherever hindu Buddhist culture spreader it is there

[@husenpr]

@@redjohn3662 only the story. the wayang puppet is javanese original culture

[@redjohn3662]

@@husenpr do u realise Indonesia was a hindu country..right??

[@husenpr]

@@redjohn3662 and buddha also

[@husenpr]

@@redjohn3662 but the java is mostly hindu back then so yea.

[@randomname9758]

Make it a mandatory school trips for children. They'll probably never go through all the kids in China plus there's always more kids in the pipeline.

[@hawaliakbar9081]

They should be more variative about the story instead using history only, sometimes people is just boring too see something very often. Like using trendy movies such as avengers. Or maybe create a very new own story.

[@Plarkrld]

Not everything is gonna last forever y'all know it

[@lucklei4665]

Yes we all know...

[@androidone4808]

👍

[@avantikakatiyar1486]

In India too the circus has come to an end.

[@larwhoe9612]

Why not let different schools watch and get inspired?

[@capybara0106]

This is similar to the indonesian wayang puppet .

[@kanciktürban]

karagöz & hacivat (turkish version)🇨🇳❤️🇹🇷

[@Lenina_Gbny]

Of all the things about China, I only admire Kung Fu and Shadow Puppet Theatre

[@PasonJatrick]

Just do another Karate Kid movie

[@sarge6925]

Put it in the history books. Who needs shadow theatre when you've got television and internet to watch animations at your convenience.

[@wilmeramadoraguilar47]

Who owns this channel and whats its agenda?

[@kewlbeans2463]

hi

[@christopherson675]

Evolution theory

[@phyrell]

Dab

[@pankajgusain6312]

The young generation thinks its not cool...especially Asians r ashamed of their ancient traditions..if east also end up like west where will the west go then;)))

[@Joshuaxiong2]

No interest.

[@sensen9909]

COPYCAT WAYANG FROM INDONESIA!!!!

[@Leo-yv6hl]

Of course, you Indonesians will always claim everything :)

[@sensen9909]

@@Leo-yv6hl How do you know?