Shadow plays are said to have originated during the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD) when it was used to lessen the grief that Emperor Wu of Han felt when one of his concubines died. The story suggests that he assigned an occultist in his court the task of bringing her back to life. In this effort, he fashioned a puppet in the shape of the concubine and made it move using articulated joints and an oil lamp to provide an animated shadow.