Shadow Puppetry inheritor keeps torch of cultural heritage alive

72-year-old Qin Ligang is an inheritor of Yunmeng Shadow Puppetry.

As a child, he was obsessed with shadow puppetry and made up his mind to become an artist to perform the art. Yunmeng Shadow Puppetry, which originated in Yunmeng county, central China's Hubei Province, is an important form of shadow puppetry. It was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2011. "A successful shadow puppetry performer should grasp many skills—writing scripts, drawing, and sculpting, and the performer has to attend to all different characters in the show, which is quite challenging," said Qin, while expressing his concern that less people are interested in shadow puppetry nowadays. (Xinhuanet/Chen Baozhong, Li Xuejun)