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The fifteenth day of the first month is a traditional festival in China. Walking on stilts is one of the cultural customs that have been passed down from ancient times to the present. So why should we walk on stilts during the Lantern Festival? How did walking on stilts come about? This article brings you the origin of walking on stilts during the Lantern Festival and the different characteristics of walking on stilts all over the country. (The Significance of Eating Tangyuan in Lantern Festival)
Stilts have already entered the lives of China people. Walking on stilts in the Lantern Festival has developed into the most representative performance to celebrate the Lantern Festival. Stilts art performance originated from the needs of human survival.
Walking on stilts is a popular mass performance among Chinese people. Stilts originally belong to one of the hundreds of plays in ancient China, which appeared as early as the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, stilts were called "stilts", and in the Song Dynasty they were called "stepping on the bridge". Known as "stilts" since the Qing Dynasty, it is made of 1-3 feet long strips of wood with wooden supports on it.
According to the records in ancient books, stilts in ancient times were all made of wood. A supporting point was made in the middle of the planed wooden stick for putting feet, and then tied to the legs with ropes. Performers can dance swords, split forks, jump stools, cross tables and dance yangko when they step on stilts. It is said that the form of walking on stilts was originally a kind of stilting activity developed by ancient people to collect wild fruits from trees for food and tie two long sticks to their legs.
Art comes from life, especially in ancient times. Walking on stilts was originally a product of the struggle between human beings and natural conditions. Stilts originated from labor, which can be based on a note by Guo Pu, a Jin native: Long-armed Chinese are in the east of Chishui, and their bodies are like ordinary people, but their arms are three feet long. "From this, the foot length is tied with wooden stilts, and the hand length is a fishing tool made of long wood in hand. The scene described in this note is similar to the hunting scene of Jing fishermen living in Fangcheng, Guangxi, where they usually fish on a wooden stilt and cast a net in shallow water.
In addition, according to the records of Art Style magazine in the 193s, "Chopsticks Street and Tielong Street in Wuchang are often flooded because of their low status, and residents there almost always walk on stilts whenever they are flooded. This is stilts from the record of working life.
Walking on stilts and stilt parties are the most attractive celebrations for all ages.
On the first month of the lunar calendar, teams of stilt parties cross the street with drums, small cymbals and percussion music. The number of a stilt performance team is generally more than a dozen. Stilts performers are household names and costumes in traditional ancient culture.
As soon as the team on stilts appears, it will attract a large number of men, women and children to watch, especially on the fifteenth day of the first month during the Spring Festival, people will take the initiative to come to the stilt meeting and the performance place of stilt walking in previous years to watch. The stilt walking performance, which is humorous, straightforward and gratifying, is deeply loved by people of all ages.
Generally, the stilt meeting is organized spontaneously by the masses in series. On the eleventh and twelfth day of the first month, people began to step on the streets to inform people that the climax of the celebration of the first month is coming! Especially on the fifteenth Lantern Festival, large companies, government agencies, enterprises and institutions along the way will set off firecrackers to express their gratitude and comfort, and many will give some red envelopes. After receiving the red envelope, the stilt team will stay here to perform and thank you.
When walking in the street, the queue of stilts generally adopts a single line of a long snake array, and a double-person parallel formation is adopted in busy and crowded areas. The steps are changed to walk eight characters. During the performance, there are difficult and dangerous actions such as small whirlwind, flower arm, kite turning over and big split.
stilt art is still rehearsed in some rural areas during winter leisure. It can be seen from time to time in garden parties and temple fairs all over Beijing.
There are differences in roles and performance forms between the north and the south.
Stilts performers usually walk with long sticks tied to their feet, and can also perform jumping and sword dancing. Stilts are divided into three types: stilts, middle stilts and running stilts, with the highest being more than ten feet. Performers tie their feet to sticks, dress up as various figures, and one or more people dance together, accompanied by suona, and perform interesting actions or stories.
According to the records in ancient books, stilts in ancient times were all made of wood. A supporting point was made in the middle of the planed wooden stick for putting feet, and then tied to the legs with ropes. Performers can dance swords, split forks, jump stools, cross tables and dance yangko when they step on stilts.
In the northern stilt yangko, the characters are fisherman, matchmaker, silly son, second brother, Taoist, monk and so on. Performers' funny appearances can arouse the audience's great interest.
Most of the stilts in the south play roles in traditional Chinese opera, including Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Lv Dongbin, He Xiangu, Zhang Sheng, matchmaker, Jigong, immortal and clown. They sang while performing, lively, and amused themselves.
There are various forms of walking on stilts in various parts of China, and all kinds of performances are blooming.
On the fifteenth day of the first month in China, the stilts playing Lantern Festival are rich and colorful, and the performances are in full bloom, all of which have formed distinct regional styles and national colors.
The spread of stilts in Shanxi has a long history. Pictures of stilts and acrobatics can also be seen on the sarcophagus of the Northern Wei Dynasty unearthed in Yushe County, Jinzhong area. Although there is no written record of stilts, it should have started from the Northern Wei Dynasty at the latest. In the ranks of stilts in Shanxi, there are two kinds of stilts: Wen stilts and Wu stilts. Wen stilts are more important than twisting and stepping, while Wu stilts mainly perform stunts.
in Shanxi province, stilt performances are varied and eclectic. The performance time of these stilts is generally in the "prosperous" activities around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and stilts are a form of performance in the whole activity. This kind of activity is flexible in content and relatively free in action. It can be performed in a big field or walked around the streets.
Shandong stilts are often stacked in three layers to play opera characters, and the upper people step on the shoulders of the lower people and March as usual.
In the stilts around Beijing and Tianjin, performers often perform difficult skills such as "jumping with one foot", "splitting" and "crossing obstacles". Others perform stunts such as jumping from four high tables with one foot. Among them, Beijing is called the "Stilts Club". The Yellow River basin is called "sticking high feet", which can be divided into literary stilts and martial stilts. Wenqiao mainly performs walking and singing, with simple dance movements. Wuqiao performs handstand, high jump table, stacked arhats and splits.
Stilts are popular in Northeast China, and the most famous is "Liaonan Stilts", which is complete in form and standardized in performance. At the beginning, it is necessary to "build an elephant" to sing yangko, which means "there is an elephant in peace", and then run in a big field to change the formation pattern, and then perform duet, "butterfly flapping", "fisherman fishing" and play folk operas in groups.
On the stilts of ethnic minorities, the actors all wear their own costumes, and their performances are unique. For example, Buyi people have both double stilts and single stilts, and both hands hold the stilt ends, which is convenient to make, and its single wooden stilts are especially popular among children; Bai people's "stilts playing with horses", the actors also stepped on wooden stilts and performed in horse-shaped props; The Uighur "double stilts" integrate folk dance into it, which is refreshing.