Pulling the right strings

It is one of the oldest performing arts in the world with a history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Here, Li Rong, who runs the Mini Shadowplay Festival, preparing for its second edition in Beijing and Shanghai next month, explains how she fell in love with it and what she is doing to give it a makeover. Chen Nan reports.

When an art form is seen as living heritage, it not only indicates its historical and cultural value but also means it is in decline. That's how Li Rong thought about Chinese shadow puppetry, one of the oldest performing arts in the world with a history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when it became part of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011.

However, after seeing a series of live shadow puppetry shows staged at theaters in Huaxian county, Shaanxi province, in 2009, she developed a different perspective about the ancient art form, which led the 25-year-old to embark on a journey of researching, promoting and reviving it.