Abstract: There is a clear record of historical data that paper shadow and leather silhouette were born in Kaifeng during the Northern Song Dynasty. Kaifeng, the capital of Northern Song Dynasty, had the most prosperous lanterns and the richest nightlife at that time. New historical materials showed that the shadow puppetry had been performed on downtown streets on Lantern Festival in Kaifeng of early Song Dynasty and attracted Emperor Song Taizu’s view. It made the precise history of shadow puppetry been moved up for more than 50 years. The earliest props of Kaifeng’s shadow puppetry were carved characters, which were made from white paper. Then the material of props were upgraded to colorful sheepskin quickly. As a new civil literature, the shadow puppetry played an independent art form in Kaifeng at the same time. It created a new era of classical film and formed another achievement of the capital’s comprehensive culture and comprehensive function. Many professional shadow puppetry teams were active on the stage of Kaifeng and the fans appeared as well. After the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianjing’s shadow puppetry spread throughout north and south and got universal development. Shadow puppetry spread to Persia and other places during Mongol Yuan period. It also came to Europe in the eighteenth century and developed into film up to modern times. As Bianjing's contribution to Chinese civilization, shadow puppetry is also the contribution of Chinese civilization to the world.

Key words: shadow puppetry, leather silhouette, the Song Dynasty, Bianjing