Beijing Cui Yongping Shadow Puppet Art Museum

Beijing Cui Yongping Shadow Puppet Art Museum

Located in Jinqiao Garden, Majuqiao, Tongzhou District. Funded and operated by Cui Yongping, former head of the Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe, it opened to the public in 2004. The museum covers an area of about 250 square meters, with exhibits including introductions to the production process, displays of shadow puppet art, historical materials on shadow puppets, and more. The museum houses a collection of over 30,000 items, with more than 10,000 on display, including shadow puppet works from the Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and Anti-Japanese War periods, pieces with distinct characteristics from Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, and Shaanxi, as well as some designed and made by Cui Yongping himself.

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Approved and registered by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, the Beijing Cui Yongping Shadow Puppet Art Museum opened on April 22, 2004. It was funded and operated by Mr. Cui Yongping and his wife, both former members of the Beijing Shadow Puppet Troupe. Located at Unit 4, Building 16, Jinqiao Garden, Majuqiao, Tongzhou, Beijing, the exhibition space spans 250 square meters. The museum displays over 30,000 precious collections, including works with distinctive features from the Ming, Qing, Republic of China, and Anti-Japanese War periods, as well as pieces from Hebei, Hubei, Shandong, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai, along with some designed by Mr. Cui Yongping himself. The exhibitions cover the production process, displays of shadow puppet art, historical materials, performance props, scripts, and shadow puppet performance techniques. The establishment of this museum fills a void in Beijing and even across China, where no similar museums existed before, and holds significant historical importance for inheriting and preserving this ancient folk art form. A two-bedroom apartment that serves as their residence, two rented neighboring two-bedroom apartments, a large and small assortment of various shadow puppets, plus the passion of an elderly man named Cui Yongping, support the only shadow puppet museum in China—and the world—the China Shadow Puppet Museum. Before 2004, no specialized museum had been established in its birthplace—China. For the Chinese people, this was a matter of shame and regret. Yet, one man, bound by a deep connection to shadow puppets, fearlessly took on the responsibility of establishing a shadow puppet museum, dedicating everything he had with unwavering resolve. His name is Cui Yongping, and his private museum is called the “Beijing Cui Yongping Shadow Puppet Art Museum.”

Source: Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development