Qin Ligang chants while performing shadow play. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]  

Out of the 365 days in the whole year, 68-year-old Qin Ligang usually performs shadow play on 364 days, except for the New Year's Eve.

As a versatile artist, Qin, from Yunmeng county, Xiaogan city, Hubei province, can make shadow puppet, perform shadow play and chant at the same time all by himself. The shadow puppets Qin makes are very vivid and highlight different personalities of the characters. When performing, Qin can handle 11 shadow puppets at the same time.

He started to engage in the shadow play art in 1978, and due to his talent, good voice condition and diligence, he gradually stood out from artists and became an influential figure in the shadow play art circle. Qin Ligang's shadow play has been performed in many countries, such as France, Malta, South Korea, and Cyprus.

For the past 30 decades, Qin has fostered 77 apprentices, among whom three are foreigners, one from Italy, one from France and the other one is American-born Chinese. He also has a robot apprentice "Eagle Shoal" designed by the Intel Corporation, and had once performed the play Wusong Fights Tiger with the robot. During the play, his puppet acted as Wusong and the intelligent robotic arm as a tiger.

A scene from the shadow play Wusong Fights Tiger performed by Qin Ligang in Xiaogan city, Hubei province, Sept 23, 2017. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]   

Now Qin's grandson Qin Lang is learning the craft from him. The grandson performed a shadow play during an international shadow play festival in 2005 at four years old and became an instant hit.

The process of making shadow play usually includes selecting a skin, making the skin, drawing a sketch, carving, coloring, ironing and embellishing. After the puppets are ready, a white curtain will be put up, and then artists manipulate puppets behind the screen while singing or narrating.

Chinese shadow play, which originated from the end of Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), has a long history of more than 2,000 years. Yunmeng shadow play is an old folk art form of the Han people and originated from the middle of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Shadow puppetry was recognized as a world intangible cultural heritage by the UNESCO in 2011. Qin Ligang became a national-level representative inheritor of shadow play art in 2012.

The shadow puppet made by Qin Ligang portrays Wusong Fights Tiger. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Qin Ligang manipulates three shadow puppets at the same time. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

The shadow puppets made by Qin Ligang portray Xiaoqing and Baisuzhen in Chinese legend. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

The shadow puppet made by Qin Ligang portrays Guan Yu, a famous general in the Three Kingdom (220-280) period. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

Artist Qin Ligang introduces the shadow play art. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]

The shadow puppets made by Qin Ligang. [Photo by Bi Nan/chinadaily.com.cn]