TAISHAN SHADOW PUPPETRY

Tai’an, Shandong province

According to China’s Ministry of Culture, the last living performer is 75-year-old Fan Zheng’an from Tai’an.

Tai’an dialect

Taishan Shadow Puppetry, born around 600 years ago near the eponymous mountain in Shandong, features a single performer responsible for the singing, lighting, music, and puppeteering. Fan Zheng’an, the last living puppeteer, can play 10 instruments at once—including the gongs, drums, cymbals, and wooden fish—with a foot-pedaled machine called the shibuxian (十不闲). The puppets are created out of traditional paper-cutting, and there are no written scripts, so the performer relies on memory. The tales are based on local legends like the “Brave Stone (石敢当)” and other heroes who warded off evil spirits and were committed to justice and bravery.

Taishan Brave Stone Fights Against Evils to Protect the Peace