Fan Zheng'an performs a Taishan Shadow Puppetry show. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 78-year-old Fan Zheng'an, staged a shadow play related to an immortal Shigandang on Feb 9 at the Taishan Shadow Play Theater in Tai'an, Shandong province, which received high praise from viewers.

In 1953, the then 8-year-old Fan saw his first shadow puppetry, and since then, he has become a big fan of the art form. He joined the Tai'an Quyi Troupe at 13 and learned how to perform shadow puppetry from Liu Yufeng. From that point on, Fan began to accept formal and systematic learning, including making shadow puppets, playing musical instruments, and singing. Due to his hard work, he quickly mastered all the skills of shadow puppetry, and began to perform alone the next year.

The audience watched the figures fly up and down on the stage, listened to the sonorous and powerful music and lyrics. Behind the stage, it was Fan performing all alone. During the performance, he manipulated eight musical instruments and various figures while singing and performing without a break.

As a sixth-generation inheritor of Taishan Shadow Puppetry, a world-class intangible cultural heritage, he has been devoted to the promotion of shadow puppetry for over 60 years, and hopes that more people will get involved in the traditional art.

This year, he plans to drive a car full of his performance tools to perform free in poverty-stricken areas, and make his own contributions to promoting traditional Chinese culture.