Lending a hand in preserving culture

It is not known exactly when Chinese puppets were first made. The excavation of pottery and wooden figurines from mausoleums suggest that puppets may have been around even before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

It is widely believed that puppets were used for entertainment in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and there are a lot of folk tales about puppet-making techniques at that time. One famous legend is about Liu Bang, founder and first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25).

It is said that Liu was trapped in Pingcheng by the Hun's troops. He was utterly helpless as the food was running out and the reinforcements were still on the way. Chen Ping, one of Liu's advisers, found out that Yanzhi, wife of Modu, monarch of the Huns, was leading the most powerful force.