The Tang Dynasty (618-907), along with the introduction of Indian Buddhism in the late years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhists set up altars for night seminars along the Silk Road and Chang An, the then capital of the Tang Dynasty and its political and economical center, preaching Buddhist scriptures and telling stories in the form of chanting and singing with illustrations of series of pictures.
Chinese Taoist also preached Taoist scriptures and Taoism, following the Tang Dynasty's Taoist melody and instrument, with simple rhythmic accompaniment. As of today, shadow shows in western Shaanxi, eastern Gansu and southern Shanxi still follow the same way of chanting and storytelling. Buddhist and Taoist scripture preaching with illustration later developed into using paper partitions
and light to create shadows on the paper along with storytelling. In Hua County, Shaanxi Province, shadow show is still referred to as "storytelling behind the paper partition." Hua County was known as "bowl tunes," which was also named after the clock-like bronze percussion instrument from Indian Buddhist.
