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 reign¹. 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.

两千多年前，汉朝的吴王的一个爱妃因病去世，吴王非常想念她以至于让他失去了统治的欲望。有一天，一位大臣偶然看到儿童玩玩偶，其影子在地板上很生动逼真。通过这个场景的启发，这个聪明的大臣想出了一个主意。他做了吴王爱妃棉花娃娃，并把它涂上颜色。夜幕降临，他请皇帝观看窗帘后面的照亮的木偶剧。皇帝很高兴，从此喜欢上皮影戏。这个故事记录在官方的历史书上，被认为是皮影戏的起源。

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.

皮影刚开始用纸做雕塑，后来用驴或牛的皮。这就是为什么在中国这被称为皮影戏，这意味着隐藏的阴影。皮影戏在唐宋时期非常流行在中国的许多地方。