Shadow Art is a traditional Chinese art that can be traced back to over 2000 years ago in West Han Dynasty and peaked in Qing Dynasty. People gathered at the fairs and watched the stories performed by shadow artists, which was the mere fun they could have in their plain lives. However, the Qing emperor didn’t like shadow art. He was worried this would promote rebellions and thus banned such kind of performance. Nevertheless, shadow art eventually survived thanks to the committed artists who regarded shadow art as their life pursuit, just like Qingshan in this film. Throughout his life, Qingshan has been dedicated to performing the shadow art and passing it down to the next generation. So this microfilm is about the inheritance and preservation of traditional Chinese culture. It also shows one can generate the shocking power from himself when he/she has a pursuit of life.

    In order to provide a vivid presentation of Qing Dynasty, we shot the film at quadrangle dwellings in Beijing. As the director and team leader, I wrote the script based on the history of shadow art with some inspiration from the line “I consider the green mountain to be charming and lovely. I assume it should feel the same as I do.” 

​