Many programs in acrobatic art are the refinement and artistry of life skills, labor skills and martial arts skills. So far, this program has been circulated in folk activities. At the annual Nadam Convention in Inner Mongolia grassland, there are "flying" competitions of horse racing, wrestling, gladiator and other skill competitions, which are based on the throwing distance and the accuracy of hitting the target. Acrobats "fly into the air" hunting skills for artistic processing, forming ingenious and magical art programs, which are still deeply loved by the audience in stage performances. Because acrobatic art comes from all kinds of colorful real life, "miscellaneous" has become its overall feature, so the name of "acrobatic" has been determined in the long river of history. Acrobatics has a history of more than two thousand years in China. Acrobatics was called "Hundred Dramas" in the Han Dynasty and "Three Music" in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. After the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was called acrobatics in order to distinguish it from other songs, dances and zaju. In ancient Chinese literature, there are literary records about acrobatics for a long time. According to Records of Historical Records and Biography of Lisi, Qin Ershi once watched a cross-toe play in Ganquan Palace. At that time, the corner play was like today's wrestling performance. Liezi Fu Shuo also introduced the folk performances of throwing five swords and seven swords. Zhang Heng of Han Dynasty vividly described the performances of jumping sword pills, walking ropes and climbing poles in Xizong Fu. Emperor Yang Di established Taichang Temple to teach acrobatics skills, and in the sixth year of Daye (AD 6 10), he gave hundreds of performances in Tianjin Street outside Chang 'an section. Acrobatics developed again in the Tang Dynasty, which was reflected in the poems of many famous poets at that time. Bai Juyi's new Yuefu "Xiliang Geisha" has a poem that describes "dancing double swords, jumping seven pills, winding a giant rope and lowering a long pole"; There is also a poem in Yuan Yuefu's "West Cool Geisha", which is "There are hundreds of plays in front of you, and Maruko throws frost and snow." By the Song Dynasty, there were more than 40 acrobatic programs. At that time, someone could perform the stunt of carrying water with a rope. It can be seen that the acrobatic art level at that time was high. After the founding of New China, acrobatics took on a new look. Many provinces and cities have set up professional troupes, created many new programs, and added lights, scenery and bands. Many acrobatic art troupes have visited abroad and won many international awards, becoming world-famous acrobatic powers.
From 770 BC to 22 BC1year, China was in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, many vassal states appeared on the vast land of China. Like the ancient Greek city-States, these vassal States paid attention to recruiting talents in the process of competing for hegemony. These people are called disciples, some are schemers, and some are fighters with high martial arts. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, many creators of acrobatics were vassals' door guests and warriors. They devote their skills to public officials and doctors, not only for performances, but also at critical moments, they often use their skills to help their masters and create some thriving businesses. It is the characteristic of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period that all the experts are good at their skills. There are fierce mergers and acquisitions among countries, competing with each other to train scholars. Of course, these scholars also have a verbal attitude, characterized by persuasive lobbyists, but more are Hercules with extraordinary skills or extraordinary courage. These provide a technical basis for the formal form of acrobatic art.
Lv Buwei, the Four Childes of Warring States and the Prime Minister of Qin, raised thousands of scholars. Warriors, troops and dignitaries all provided conditions for the development of acrobatic art. Shu, the father of Confucius, was a vassal famous for his strength. He used to hold the Golden Gate Pass of the city gate with both hands, which ensured the victory of the vassal conquest of Yang in 563 BC. Woody [Tiger Plus "Factory"] and Qin Zi's father who fought in the war at the same time were not only Lux, but also had similar acrobatic skills. Woody [tiger plus "factory" prefix] armored and wheeled, dancing with one hand and attacking with the other halberd; Qin Zi's father can push Busoden down from the wall. Shu's weightlifting, his dancing wheel and his father's climbing cloth are the predecessors of acrobatics "lifting ding", "dancing wheel" and "tying rope" in Han Dynasty.
The son of Qi was placed under house arrest by the King of Qin, and Meng Xiang fled. He asked the king of Qin to pamper his concubine, and the concubine asked Meng to give her an expensive white fox fur coat. Meng has only one piece, which has been given to the king of Qin, so it is very difficult. Fortunately, one of his shrinking doormen climbed into the palace from the dog hole and stole the fur coat. His skills can be described as the beginning of acrobatics "drilling circles and barrels" in later generations. Yuji got the white fox skin and persuaded the king of Qin to let Meng Changjun go, but as soon as Meng Gang left, the king of Qin regretted it and sent troops to kill him. Meng Changjun led his troops to the border of Qin State, where it was stipulated that the door should only be opened when chickens crowed. It was midnight, so the rooster wouldn't crow, and the pursuer would arrive soon. It was urgent. Fortunately, there was a ventriloquist among the public, and his vivid cock crow attracted four pheasants to sing together. The gatekeeper thought vaguely that it was time to switch on and off, and Meng Changjun could escape from Qin. This happened in 298 BC and was recorded in the Warring States Policy. Because of this, just as the Peking Opera circle regards Tang as the ancestor, the ancestor worshipped by China ventriloquist artists is.
"Liezi Zhou Muwang" contains: "Zhou Muwang is coming, and the people who nationalized the West Pole are coming." The so-called transformation is an illusion. He can go in and out of fire and water freely, cross rocks at will, hang in the air and walk through walls. These are all illusion procedures.
Liu Xiang's Biography of Lienv also recorded evasion during the Warring States Period: once Qi Xuanwang and Zhong Lichun chatted at a banquet, Zhong Lichun deliberately dazzled the king of Chu to attract Wang Xuan, saying, "Stealing often makes you hide from the east." "Qi Xuanwang said,' Concealment is what I want. "Give it a try!" Before he died, he suddenly disappeared. Wang Xuan was frightened ... "This Zhong Lichun is obviously a character who is as good at escaping as an alchemist. The good skills of literati in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period provided unique conditions for the prosperity of acrobatics in Qin and Han Dynasties.
The history of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) is more than 400 years. The Chinese nation has made outstanding contributions in the history of human civilization. Liu Che is the fifth emperor of the Han Dynasty. He is a very talented and independent emperor. He is particularly fond of acrobatics. According to the Biography of Dawan in Historical Records, in order to praise the country's prosperity, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty convened a large number of foreign visitors in the spring of the third year of Yuanfeng (BC 108), arranged wine pools and meat forests, and held a grand banquet and reward ceremony. During the banquet, unprecedented acrobatic music and dance programs were performed. There are various performances in the program, seven episodes and fish and dragons are full of eyes, as well as animal training programs that beat lions and beasts. It is worth mentioning that there were also contributions from foreign acrobatic artists at that grand event. The angel of the King of Rest (ancient Persia) brought an illusionist from Li Xuan (now Alexandria) to perform magic programs of swallowing knives, breathing fire, killing people and chopping horses.
These ingenious grand performances amazed tourists from all directions and deeply felt the vastness and prosperity of the Han Empire. It achieved the diplomatic and political purpose of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, boasting that the empire was prosperous and strong, attracting countries from the western regions to form a hero room, and * * * dealing with the strong enemy Xiongnu.
Han Dynasty is the period of the formation and growth of acrobatics in China. Jiaodi Opera in Han Dynasty quickly enriched the content, increased the variety and improved the skills, and finally formed a new variety of acrobatic art in Eastern Han Dynasty-"Hundred Operas" system.
The outstanding achievements of acrobatics in the Han Dynasty are first manifested in its series of programs, which have the main contents of the acrobatic system of later generations, which is probably unique in the performing arts of all countries in the world. There are vivid records of various procedures in the unearthed Han Dynasty stone reliefs:
(1) strength.
Jiao Jiao, in a narrow sense, refers to wrestling, wrestling, sumo and other strength-based programs, which occupy an important position in the hundred plays in the Han Dynasty. The angles of man to man, man to beast and beast to beast can often be seen in Han's paintings. One of the performers in the hundred plays is "Elephant Man", which researchers think is a professional beast fighter. Among the stone reliefs unearthed from a Han tomb in Nanyang, Henan Province, there are more than 20 paintings such as Bullfighting Like Man, Fighting Tiger Like Man and Fighting Rhino Like Man. The program "The Pole" also shows the strength of performers. There are 10 people performing on "The Pole", a hundred plays of Han Tomb in Anqiu, Shandong Province, and its strength can reach a thousand points.
(2) Physical skills.
As early as the Han Dynasty, acrobatics in China formed a body skill with "top skill" as the core, requiring excellent waist skill, leg skill, handstand and somersault. This tradition has continued to this day. There are many portraits and stones showing the jacking skills of the Han Dynasty, and these two paintings of Wushi Temple in Jiaxiang, Shandong Province are typical.
(3) unique skills.
In the Han Dynasty, "Jumping Pills to Make Swords" and "Dancing Wheels" were often performed, and the Han Dynasty portrait brick "Pill Sword Dance Banquet" unearthed in Sichuan is a very famous one.
(4) High-altitude projects:
There are records of high-altitude programs in Han Dynasty documents and cultural relics images, such as hitting skills, walking ropes, playing with cars, etc., and all of them have high-altitude performances. The side pole technique was very popular in the Han Dynasty. Basically, there are two kinds: one is to perform on the flat ground, and the other is to set up two poles and two platforms on the car before the performance of "Hundred Drama Map". The young performers are tumbling from the past and falling on the small stage after the collision. Today, acrobatics still retains such skills, and "fighting a car" is one of them.
(5) Circus and animal performances.
Circus was first seen in Han Dynasty literature. Huan Kuan said in his treatise "On Salt and Iron": "Embroidered clothes are funny, good women, a hundred plays, circus …". Putting circus and hundred operas together shows the prosperity of circus at that time. There are three circus performances in Yinan's Hundred Circus, and one of them also decorated the horse in the shape of a dragon.
Circus in Han Dynasty not only showed control skills, but also used various national skills such as martial arts and dance. Some circus performers practice halberds, while others dance. This is very different from the circus in the west. In the portrait of Shao Shi's Ten Wonders in Dengfeng, one of the Three Wonders in Songshan, Henan, two circus performers are dancing on horseback.
The collective circus performance displayed in the stone carvings of the Han Tomb in Linzi Confucian Temple, Shandong Province, can be compared with the hundred operas in Yinan. There are two horses in this picture. There was a man on the first horse, and a man flew behind, just holding the rider's hand. The other man jumped up and grabbed the ponytail, and the horse behind him pulled the car. There is a man flying in front of the car. Except for the charioteer, all the other characters in the car were performing, and a man jumped up behind the car. It is these skills that provided the artistic foundation for the later circus and trapeze performances.
There are also images reflecting various animal training projects in Han Dynasty stone reliefs, such as taming tigers, elephants, reindeer and snakes. The picture of "taming animals and fighting snakes" in the portrait of the Han tomb in Ningdong, Zhejiang Province and the picture of "water artificial snakes" in Wushi Temple are proof.
The upper part of the stone reliefs of Donghan's tomb in Jining, Shandong Province is a bird-training picture, and the lower part is an elephant-training picture. Six people sit on the elephant's back and one stands on the upright trunk, which shows that the level of animal training is already very high. There are also images of training monkeys, cranes and birds. Circus and animal training programs in Han Dynasty reached a fairly high level.
(6) illusion.
The Han Dynasty is an era of mutual fantasy between China and the western regions and even western countries. At that time, there were two kinds of local illusions in China. One is a large-scale illusion performance supported by the royal family and nobles, which is mostly performed with huge props and many cast members. For example, the "Fish Dragon Full of Swallows" in the Horn Meeting of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is actually two connected large-scale illusions.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao unified the north, aiming to unify the whole country, and Cao Cao paid special attention to recruiting talents. For people like the alchemist, he tried his best to search around, fearing that these people would use magic tricks to do evil, start chaos or be used by the enemy. Therefore, as soon as he heard about magic, he would attract famous alchemists, such as Zuo Ci in Lujiang, Shi Gan in Ganling and Bi Jian in Yangcheng, which objectively created conditions for the exchange, development and perfection of magic. His various illusionist performances in the Biography of Zuo Ci in the later Han Dynasty showed that it had developed to a high level at that time. The sixty-eighth chapter of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "Zuo Ci smashed a cup and played Cao Cao", is extremely vivid. 2 1 year (AD 2 16) In Jian 'an, he performed three sets of tricks. Let the big flowerpot be filled with water before the feast, and immediately send a peony and put two flowers. Zuo Ci "taught me to take a fishing rod and fish in the pond under the hall. I immediately caught a few big bass from ten tail and put them on the temple." "Kindness threw a cup into the air and turned it into a white dove, flying around the temple." The crowd looked up and watched, and he took the opportunity to escape. These three sets of tricks, namely, changing flowers, fish and birds, are also the unique tricks of China's modern magic.
After more than 60 years of great turmoil in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (400-589 AD)/KLOC-0 and great integration of national culture, acrobatic art was extremely mature until the Sui Dynasty unified China in 589 AD, and it became a popular art of the court and the people in the Tang Dynasty.
Acrobatics artists, musicians and dancers performed in court, and some acrobats who were told for a while appeared as poets and poets chanting.
The Tang dynasty (6 18 ~ 907) was a period of relatively developed feudal society and economy in China, and the acrobatic art of music and dance was unprecedentedly prosperous. Many poets and poets in the Tang Dynasty chanted acrobatic art, including Bai Juyi's poem "Dancing with double swords, jumping with seven pills, winding giant ropes and lowering long poles" ("Five geisha in Xinle House"), and Yuan Zhen's poem "A hundred plays are exciting in front of you, and pills and swords jump into frost and snow". Zhang's "Watching the Rope Downstairs" vividly describes the superb and beautiful performance skills of rope makers: "Love the beauty palace, admire the beauty ladies, match the pearls, and catch the brocade feast ... It spans hundreds of feet, hangs several feet high, bends like a hook, and is as flat as the palm of your hand. Graceful and inclined at the beginning, she was straight, ... "
There were many superb and beautiful female acrobats in acrobatics in the Tang Dynasty. The female acrobat in the previous poem was called "court beauty", which shows that she is a court artist. The Record of Feng's Experience written by the Tang people also records the rope skills, stilts and superb skills of "jumping on the shoulders" of the court. Many famous music and dances, such as broken array music and holy hand music, are related to acrobatics.
Li Shimin personally directed the ministers to rehearse the "Qin King's Broken Array Music", which was a very famous music and dance in the Tang Dynasty. Its fame spread far and wide overseas. One hundred and twenty men were armed with halberds, with chariots in front and battles behind them. Among them, Wushu and equestrian are interlinked with acrobatics. There is also a Youzhou female artist Shi Huohu (probably a minority in the Tang Dynasty) who introduced the broken array music into acrobatics. On the pole with a hundred feet on her back, five bowstrings are supported, and five girls dressed in five colors and holding swords and halberds perform broken array music on the bowstrings. They pitch up and down on the bowstring with the rhythm of music, as light as swallows. This performance combines "singing and dancing", "walking rope" and "lifting pole" in one furnace, which is really brand-new.
The skill of "shoulder pole" in Tang Dynasty is extremely high, including "climbing the shoulder pole", "carrying the shoulder pole", "carrying the shoulder pole in the car" and "carrying the shoulder pole in the palm". "Tale of the Warriors" records that a Sanyuan female artist can walk around with eighteen people on her head. It is precisely because of this magical skill that there are often acrobatic performances with poles before the ceremonial performances of dignitaries in the Tang Dynasty. The most typical proof is that there is a "pole" in front of the mural "Mrs. Guo Song's Travel Map" in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in Tang Dynasty. Acrobatic music and dance performances in the ceremony tour not only show luxury and style, but also have wonderful fun to share with the people. Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Hu's poem "Qian Qiu Music" said: "In August, when the calyx building is at ordinary times, ten thousand people will have fun for a thousand years. Seeing the long pole in the whole city, it became Zhao Jieyu for the first time. "
In the Tang Dynasty, which advocated martial arts, some ceremonial soldiers played practical jokes on Gordon pai' ea chung-hoon in the process of exercising their arm strength. Later, when people greeted the Buddha, Gordon pai' ea chung-hoon was also used as a ritual. Acrobats further improved Gordon pai' ea chung-hoon's skills and beautified the decoration of his hat, which became a pole.
Circus and illusion were very developed in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to various riding skills, there are performances of training horses and dancing for them. In the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong had 500 horses to ride. Magic was widely spread among the people in the Tang Dynasty. In Fantasia written by Jiang Fang in the Tang Dynasty, he said: "(Ma Ziran) planted melons with clay on the table, and soon he brought creeping flowers, so that all the guests said that the fragrance was different from ordinary melons." Mr. Ma can also do acrobatics purely: "I feel money all over my body and socks, and I don't know how much I paid." I threw it into the well and shouted it out. "
Acrobatics in the Tang Dynasty combined a variety of skills, fully demonstrating the extraordinary characteristics of acrobatics. Equestrian not only combines the skills of "singing and dancing", "walking rope" and "topping pole", but also incorporates the superb skills of "rushing into the narrow path": Tang Shuo Wen Jie Zi Lu records "piercing the sword", saying that the sword is woven into a narrow path, and the performer rides a pony through the knife cluster. Bad skills, bad control of the mount, touching the sword, the horse died. This "piercing the sword door" is actually the development of the "narrow fist" in the Han Dynasty. Combined with equestrian, it has become an outstanding and useful skill in the era of cold weapons.
Acrobatics in the Tang Dynasty, the court and the people developed together, and there were street acrobatics and theatrical performances among the people, attracting thousands of tourists. Some people perform in the square, while others perform in the theater music shed near the temple. At that time, Chang 'an, the capital of China, had a big theater next to Ji 'an Temple and a small theater next to Qingliu Temple. Xie Ruhai is a famous acrobat in Chang 'an, who is good at fencing, Dan Wan Dou, hitting the ball and other skills. He and his family team have two wives and several children and watched every performance by thousands of people.
Song Dynasty (AD 960- 1279) was an era of developed urban economy and strong citizen class. For example, during the Han and Tang Dynasties, large-scale acrobatic performances organized by the royal family and the state were rare. On the contrary, in prosperous cities, such as the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province) and the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province), various performance venues appeared in blocks and fairs. Acrobatics, dance, martial arts, rap and other physical performing arts, performing together and observing each other, undoubtedly promoted the formation of China's unique traditional opera art.
The Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1206- 1368) was a unified empire established by Mongolian minorities in China. Although China has been unified for less than one hundred years, it has had a strong influence on the artistic exchanges of all ethnic groups in China. Yuan Zaju is a wonderful work in the art history of China, which flourished and matured in the Yuan Dynasty. "Zaju" was named because dramatists and acrobats performed together at that time, and many acrobatic performances were absorbed or interspersed in the drama performance. This can also be seen from the land and water paintings of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties preserved in Baoning Temple, Youyu County, Shanxi Province. Among them, "Fifty-seventh time, a hundred scholars and artists went to the Ancient Nine Dynasties" and "Fifty-eighth time, many witches and gods scattered the officials and ghosts in Leling" depict figures of acrobatics, illusion and opera, and we can see their performances together at that time. There are two layers: "Hundreds of scholars and artists flowed to the ancient nine dynasties". The upper layer was painted by scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, doctors, doctors, astrologers and so on. , while the lower level is composed of acrobats and dramatists. What is particularly significant is that in this painting, the image of talents who wrote books for operas and acrobatics at that time was placed in an important position and was precious.
There are eleven acrobats and opera singers, including hand tricks, gnome illusion and lion dance, as well as dramas in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Walking in the front of the dwarf, naked and fat, with a red scarf wrapped around his head and only a pair of red cloth shorts to cover up his shame, carrying a bottle on his shoulder, may be an acrobatic performance of "getting into the bottle" and JIU jitsu.
Another person's shoulders are covered with eyes and eyes, and Haikou's closed blue lion dress is a collar with long hair. Probably a portrayal of the high-pitched lion dance in the Yuan Dynasty.
Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-191) were the last two feudal dynasties in China, and acrobatics, dance and other traditional performing arts were rarely performed in the court. Acrobatics, in particular, is considered inferior. There are basically no records of acrobatic performances in court. Only Ming Xianzong (1465 –––1488) has the image of acrobatic performance in Interesting Pictures. Acrobatics artists in Qing Dynasty further degenerated into Jianghu. However, China's traditional operas flourished, especially after 1790 and the birth of Peking Opera. China traditional operas and martial arts have absorbed acrobatics and martial arts to an unprecedented extent. Finally, a prosperous scene with martial arts as the attraction was formed.
Originally, somersault was an important acrobatic skill, which was absorbed by opera performances in Qing Dynasty and used in all aspects. Therefore, there is a saying in the late Qing Dynasty that "the bottom in Peking Opera is the best in acrobatics". At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Anhui Class had the reputation of being "agile and able to fight". That year, it performed all kinds of acrobatics in Mulian Opera and competed on the stage. After nearly 50 years of casting, it is naturally more mature. After Huiban went to Beijing, every performance will have a martial arts drama focusing on wrestling. According to the people who watched the performance of Anhui Class in Beijing at that time, they absorbed many acrobatic skills:
"Martial arts dramas are much more like those seen in Beijing. The man is tied up and down like an ape, and his body flips like a broken leaf; A box can win the stack of five people and jump to a building dozens of feet high. It is dazzling and almost forgotten as a drama. " (See Wang Mengsheng's Story of the Pear Garden).
During the Daoguang period (A.D.1821–1851), the work Dumen Zayong was "selling art"-a poem said: "A singer plays a wonderful and graceful role, and most of the plays are listened to by Song Zhu. It's best to watch Businessman in the light.
This is a narrative of acrobatics "playing fireballs" organically interspersed in traditional Chinese opera.
Acrobats in the Qing Dynasty wandered around the rivers and lakes and lived a miserable life. However, out of their love for their ancestors' art and their pursuit of life, they maintained and developed their own art in a difficult environment, and made new creations in "pedaling skills" and "antique". "Juggling jar", "sword, Dan, pill, bean" series of illusions have reached a very high level.
In the Qing Dynasty, acrobatics was not only "wandering around the stalls" and performing in towns and villages, but also invited by some skilled artists to perform in the halls of rich families and on the fragrant roads on holidays. Dianshizhai Pictorial published in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty reflected these acrobatic performances.
After 1949, acrobatic art became the messenger of cultural exchange between the people of China and other countries. Premier Zhou Enlai personally asked about the formation of the China Acrobatic Troupe. 1In June, 950, the Central Ministry of Culture hired seven people, including Luo Ruiqing, Liao Chengzhi, Tian Han and Li Bozhao, to form an acrobatic troupe preparation working group. These seven people include generals with outstanding military achievements, experienced dramatists, directors and leaders of cultural exchanges, which shows that the state attaches great importance to this matter.
At that time, a number of excellent acrobatic programs were collected from Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Wuhan and other places, and famous artists were invited to audition in Beijing. A number of acrobatic programs with national characteristics were selected, and under the direct guidance of new literary and art cadres such as Zhou and Zhou, after a month of training, the first acrobatic evening in New China was arranged.
These traditional acrobatic programs have been preliminarily sorted out, and they have been preliminarily processed in costume props and music accompaniment, and they have taken on a new look. The report performance held in Huairentang, Zhongnanhai was affirmed and encouraged by the top leaders of China countries such as Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, and it was decided on the spot that these artists would send a delegation to visit the Soviet Union and European countries. Premier Zhou Enlai named the troupe China Acrobatic Troupe, which was formally established on 1953 and renamed it China Acrobatic Troupe.
The vivid images of acrobatics can often be seen in ancient handicrafts in China, and painters also like to take acrobatic performances as an important part of painting. These preserved art treasures truly reflect acrobatics at that time, and also show how important acrobatic art plays in people's lives.
Qin and Han acrobatics
The Qin Dynasty (2265438 BC+0 ~ 207 BC) introduced the folk Jiaodi opera into the court. In the Han Dynasty, Jiaodui Opera developed into various acrobatic festivals, including Jiaodui Opera. Among them, sword casting, pill jumping, handstand, rope walking, beast dancing, sparrow beating, horse riding skills, pole vault, pole grab, man-beast fighting, five cases, seven sets, dragon and lion beating and other programs are very popular.
According to records, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (reigned from 65438 BC to 86 BC) held a grand banquet and reward ceremony in the spring of the third year of Yuanfeng (65438 BC+008 BC) to show the country's wealth. During the banquet, unprecedented acrobatic music and dance programs were performed. There are all kinds of acrobatic skills in the program, as well as foreign acrobats. The angel of the King of Rest (ancient Persia) brought an illusionist from Li Xuan (now Alexandria) to perform magic programs of swallowing knives, breathing fire, killing people and chopping horses. These superb and grand performances made tourists from all over the world deeply admire the vastness and prosperity of the Han Empire, and achieved Liang Wudi's diplomatic purpose of boasting about the prosperity of the empire, attracting countries from the western regions to form a hero room, and * * * dealing with the powerful enemy Xiongnu.
Foreign skills enriched and developed acrobatic art in Han Dynasty. Since then, the royal family has held this event every year. This acrobatic performance, which added content every year, lasted for 64 years until the fifth year of the Han and Yuan emperors (43 BC).
Dunhuang frescoes
Guo Song's Tourist Map in Tang Dynasty This is a huge mural in Dunhuang Grottoes in the Tang Dynasty (AD 6 18 ~ 907), which shows the magnificent scene of aristocratic ladies in the Tang Dynasty when they travel. Walking in front of this huge team is the acrobatic "front pole". There are four children performing skills on the pole, some like birds, some like inverted apes, some modeling on the pole, and some rising from the top of the pole. The pioneers strode forward with open arms. This thrilling and extraordinary climax performance adds a lot of color to this lady's grand trip. The characters in this painting are vigorous and vivid, which is a relatively complete acrobatic mural.
the Tang Dynasty
"Paint Slingshot" in Tang Dynasty
A paintball of Tang Dynasty collected by Masakura Research Institute in Japan has a wonderful acrobatic performance scene painted on the back. This painting is divided into seven parts. The top link is the audience and song and dance performances. The second paragraph is the "top pole". The third paragraph is the martial arts "pyramid". The fourth paragraph is also the "top pole". There are three people climbing on the pole. There is a disc at the end of the pole, and a girl is sitting in it. Then "taking pills" and musicians, the image is detailed and vivid.
Plastic gold pole horse street hanging beam silver pot
1997, a silver pot similar to leather was found among the cultural relics unearthed in the southern suburbs of Xi, China. There was a beautiful horse on the pot with a ribbon around its neck. With a glass in his mouth, he squatted down, and the ribbons and ponytails were raised high and lifelike. This horse's action is very consistent with the description of "kneeling on the knot and raising a glass, devoting all one's life to infinity" in Zhang's Dancing the Horse in the Tang Dynasty. This is a reliable example of horse dance in Tang Dynasty.
Liao dynasty
Temporary Bridge Union Map of Liao Dynasty
Chen, the author of this picture scroll, rarely carries it in the history of painting, but his works are extraordinary. There were many outstanding writers in ancient China who could shake the famous Yan. It is engraved with the words "L Hershey 1" and cannot be tested. L shiqu Baoji 1 tax. He is the legacy of 1, and I don't know what the basis is. This bag just introduces the work clearly first. L The reel volume of Temporary Bridge League is 1, which is a scary picture of three feet, one foot, six inches and eight minutes. It depicts the story of the expansion of Li Shimin, Dong Taizong and Turkic Khan Huli in the ninth year of Wude (AD 626), a temporary bridge on the Weihe River in the west of Wei 'an (now Xi, Shaanxi). The first thing we saw at the Friends scroll exhibition was that the barbarians of the Turkic tribes were removed. Vilen _ Bi of Magic Friend is riding in a whirl, but his figure is like a snake, and he keeps moving forward with difficulty. In the middle of the picture, some knights are performing various styles of tricks. Playing volleyball is a performance. A man and a woman stood on Ruan's back, letting four energetic little things, balls, jump deftly in the open shade, stepping on the ranks of their rainmakers. In addition, there are performers who shiatsu, play the flute close to the lips, make the clappers rain, and gradually lift the drums, as well as prostitutes who stand on Yan's back and dance. Another man leaned his head on Yan's back, his feet were facing the scholar, and there was a wooden tray across his feet. Another man grabbed Shu Xiu with both hands and made a handstand. However, the strong Yan didn't notice these things, and she just wanted to run as much as she could. At this time, some knights in Zhou Pu stopped performing, held their breath and twisted their heads.
Song dynasty
Song Dynasty "Colored Glazed Porcelain Pillow for Riding"
China porcelain flourished in the Song Dynasty (960- 1279), and some exquisite porcelain also left a bodybuilding image of acrobatic performance. In the ceramic museum of the Palace Museum, there is a porcelain pillow of the Song Dynasty with a lifelike equestrian performance painted on it. It reflects the equestrian level in Song Dynasty and people's love for equestrian.
the Ming Dynasty
Ming Xianzong Music Map
In the 31st year of Chenghua in Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1485), the long scroll of Chinese painting "Ming Xianzong Opera, Opera and Appreciation" is a huge painting depicting the grand occasion of court acrobatics in Ming Dynasty. The first part of the painting is in front of the steps of the main hall. One person stands on another person's head, bows to the temple and plays an auspicious piece of music. In the middle of the second part is the "drill circle": one person makes a diving posture and is ready to fly over. Another man stood beside the circle, as if standing to refuel. There is a handstand in the back, probably across the table ring. On both sides of the circle are two different trampling performances. The third part is "pushing the long rod". A man is lying on his back on the table, blowing a hole and pushing a long pole with his feet. On the pole, there is a child with a pennant in his hand and a long pole on his leg. Every program is accompanied by gongs and drums. Some actors play caves or piccolo while performing their skills. This form is unprecedented in the past, adding a lively atmosphere to the performance.
Ching Dynasty
Acrobatics in Folk Painting
There are many folk genre paintings with acrobatics as the theme. At the end of Qing Dynasty (A.D.1644 ~1911), the painter Wu Ru once painted the Garden of Yu and the Dance of the Lion. Mr. Cheng collected a number of acrobatic paintings in Qing Dynasty before his death. In the Beijing Library of China, there is also a Folk Drama Picture painted by the unknown, which contains more than 20 kinds of programs such as diabolo, shuttlecock kicking, juggling, monkey and sheep training, martial arts, bear training, dog training, flower bed play, barbell play and stone lock play. Although the painting skill is not very high, it retains the acrobatic performance at that time.