Young inheritor of Shaanxi puppetry has plans to revitalize the ancient cultural tradition, and many others with it, Li Yingxue reports.

Have you ever experienced one of the earliest precursors (前身) of movies? Only relying     1     hands, the ancient Chinese art of shadow play (皮影戏) is a tradition with a history     2     dates back 2, 000 years,       3     it’s also a representative (代表) of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity     4     (recognize) by UNESCO.

Chinese shadow puppetry has its roots in the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), and     5     (know) for its good craftsmanship.

The challenge of     6     (master) this technique within such a short time seemed like mission impossible.     7     (fortunate), Nanxiang Buaichifan and Jiuyue were lucky enough     8     (learn) from the best —Dang Feihua,     9     23-year-old inheritor (继承人) of the shadow puppetry tradition. Dang is the fifth-generation inheritor of Wang’s Shadow. One of Dang’s     10     (plan) is to redecorate their shadow puppet themed hotel in Beijing at the end of the year.

Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow (马踏飞燕) stands out as a well-known work of sculpture in the history of Chinese art,     1     differs from the other sculptures of horses in that it represents motion, rather than the horse itself.

When a horse gallops at full speed, it     2     (look) as if it were flying in the air. So the ancient Chinese considered a fast horse     3     a “heavenly steed (天马) flying in the skies.” Usually, the sculpture of a swift horse had to be set on     4     top of a floating cloud.

Galloping Horse Overtaking a Flying Swallow, however, has one of its back hoofs set on a swallow in flight, while the other legs are in the air. The horse holds its head high, with its eyes     5     (stare) and its ears up. Its body features strong, smooth muscles, and its belly is contracted (收缩) as it runs. As the galloping horse catches up with the tiny swallow, the latter turns back to look at it in     6     (astonish).

One would     7     (normal) imagine that a swallow flies     8     (fast) than a galloping horse. Now that the horse has caught up with the swallow, it inspires the viewer to imagine how fast the horse is running. Li Bai     9     (write) the poem “Song of the Heavenly Horse”. Two of the lines can be borrowed     10     (describe) this sculpture: “Looking back at the black swallow, the horse laughs at its slowness.”

Fish and chips, or rather, “fish'n'chips” is an important experience for the visitors. Britain is    1    island and eating fish     2     (remind) us of our practical and spiritual dependence on the sea. The chips symbolize our people: no two chips are the same, but we are united because we are all cut from the same bag of     3    (potato), all deep-fried in the same oil.

A fish and chip supper is the     4    (old)fast food in Britain, perhaps in the world. The visitors should ask for cod or haddock, the fish of choice for any true Brit. The fish comes dipped(蘸)in batter, a mixture     5     flour, eggs and milk. When it is dropped into the hot oil, the batter acts as a sponge(海绵)absorbing the maximum amount of oil,     6       makes it nice and juicy. A     7     (tradition) fish fryer will wrap your order in yesterday's newspaper. Before     8     (wrap)it he will ask, “Salt and vinegar?”, to which you should reply “Yes, please!”

This supper should     9     (eat)almost at once, with the fingers, walking along the street, preferably in the dark, and with a taunt rain falling. Do NOT take the fish'n'chips home because it is known that this is not the British way. Just empty     10     (they)onto a plate and eat them with knives and forks.

Gumbo

The dictionary definition of gumbo does not make gumbo sound as delicious as it really is. The dictionary     1     (define) gumbo as a “thick soup made in south Louisiana”. However, anyone     2     has tasted this delicious dish knows that this definition is too plain     3     (describe) gumbo. It is true that gumbo is a thick soup, but it is much more than that.

Gumbo, one of the most popular of allCajun    4     (dish), is typically made with different kinds of seafood or meat     5     (mix) with vegetables, such as green peppers and onions. For example, seafood gumbo     6     (actual) contains shrimp and crab. Other kinds of gumbo include chicken, sausage or turkey. It is made up of     7     wide variety of ingredients and can vary from place to place in Louisiana. The first mention of gumbo dates back     8     the beginning of the 19th century in culinary manuals published in Louisiana. However, it was not until the end of the 70s and 80s     9     it gained popularity. Regardless of the ingredients in gumbo, this     10     (region) dish is popular in the southern United States.

The pingfeng screen(屏风) is a piece of traditional Chinese furniture.     1     (original), pingfeng were vertical objects that could offer protection     2     the wind. Later, they were used to divide a room, offer     3     (private), or even show off the owner’s power and wealth with their detailed designs.

At that time, screens were closely associated with imperial power. According to Rites of the Zhou Dynasty《周礼》, only the emperor could place a screen     4     (face) the front door. Confucius supposedly once criticized Guan Zhong,     5     powerful politician of the Qi State, for violating the norms of etiquette (礼仪规范), because Guan had once set a screen     6     faced his door.

At that time, nobles also used screens in their homes to divide rooms into individual spaces for different     7     (class) of people. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, when Lord Mengchang met guests at home, he     8     (have) his servants sit behind his screen and write down their conversation.     9     they were from a lower class, the servants could not be present with the nobility. Sitting behind the screen was the only way they could stay in the nobleman’s living room.

By the Han dynasty,     10     (wealth) people also used screens to decorate their homes. In short, screens played an important role in ancient Chinese people's political, cultural,and daily lives.

Tang Sancai (唐三彩) is a type of beautiful Chinese pottery (陶器). It mainly has three colors, yellow, green,     1     white. As the treasure of ancient Chinese pottery arts, it is said that Tang Sancai was first discovered in the last century,     2     a railway was being built in Luoyang, Henan Province.

Tang Sancai was made     3     adding metallic oxides (金属氧化物) and firing the object     4     (create) different colors.     5     great variety of colors appeared in the mixture of different metals. The materials in it     6     (gradual) took on different colors when heated, producing an     7     (impress) effect with an artistic attraction.

With unique shapes, Tang Sancai pieces cover almost every field of life, from     8     (model) of buildings to articles of everyday use, from horses, plants to toys. Figures on Sancai pieces are mostly women in the palace,     9     (show) the colorful life and the splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Sancai     10     (sell) to foreign countries in the early Tang dynasty and won great favor. It has always been famous for its bright colors and pleasing shapes.