An Exploration of “Shadow Play”: An Analysis of the Origin of Chinese Film Aesthetics

Abstract Shadow play is the collective name of different forms of art performance such as “shadow puppets” (皮影戏, Piyingxi), “puppet play” (傀儡戏, Kuileixi), and so on. It is a folk art taught through practices and oral traditions, “creating shadows with light”, and came into being over two millennia ago. It emerged in different forms at different times and across different regions and cultures, thus the phrase can connote slightly different art forms depending on cultural context. Chinese people later used “shadow play” to refer to films introduced to China. Such usage not only addresses the connections between film and opera, but highlights how film inherited traditions of shadow play – telling stories through shadows.