中英雙語話中國民風民俗 第175期:皮影戲的歷史
History of Shadow Puppets
皮影戲的歷史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 reign. 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.
兩千多年前，漢朝的吳王的一個愛妃因病去世，吳王非常想念她以至於讓他失去了統治的慾望。有一天，一位大臣偶然看到兒童玩玩偶，其影子在地板上很生動逼真。通過這個場景的啓發，這個聰明的部長想出了一個主意。他做了妾的棉花娃娃，並把它塗上顏色。夜幕降臨，他請皇帝觀看窗簾後面的照亮的木偶劇。皇帝很高興，從此喜歡上皮影戲。這個故事記錄在官方的歷史書上，被認爲是皮影戲的起源。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.
皮影剛開始用紙做雕塑，後來用驢或牛的皮。這就是爲什麼在中國這被稱爲皮影戲，這意味着隱藏的陰影。皮影戲在唐宋時期非常流行在中國的許多地方。
