Double Acts originated from the name given by the Empress Dowager Cixi.
In the Qing Dynasty, there was a famous actor named Huang Fuchen who sang single strings. After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, Empress Dowager Cixi took full power. In addition to watching theater, she also loved listening to folk music and singing. It is said that once it was said that Huang Fuchen came to the palace to perform. At that time, Huang was already over 70 years old and could no longer sing. Then he thought of a way.
His son could also play and sing, so he took his son into the palace and asked his son to squat under his robe to sing during the performance. . Cixi was very happy to see it and said: "You have gotten older, but your voice has improved. You are really a child again!"
Huang Fuchen knelt down to thank him. Cixi found that his voice was hoarse, and at the same time he also discovered that his son , was furious at first, and then suddenly became happy when they learned that they were singing and performing. They were exempted from the crime, and they were also rewarded with money and said: "You guys are double yellows! On the contrary, they are even more exciting!" Shuanghuangs are originally two surnames. Yellow means.
Later, in order to distinguish it from the Erhuang in Peking Opera, the character yellow was added with the prefix bamboo, and henceforth the name double act came into being. Since then, "double act" programs have become popular, and the term "double act" has also been coined, which refers to one person who is in public while the other is hiding behind his back to deceive people together. Therefore, folklore says that the name was given by the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Extended information:
The origin of double act
The development history of "double act" is not very long, and it was born in the late Qing Dynasty. The founder of double reed was Huang Fuchen, a hard-playing (self-playing and singing) artist in the late Qing Dynasty (who was a disciple of the octagonal drum enthusiast). His birth and death dates are unknown, and there are different opinions on his change from playing hard-playing to double reed.
One theory is that during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, the hard calligraphy artist lost his voice in his later years, so the performance was changed to two people, one playing and singing, and the other imitating the performance. Another saying is that Huang was a storytelling artist during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi periods. He was good at imitating characters' language, the chirping of birds and animals, and local sounds and local sounds. He even learned and performed. Later, it was changed to one person speaking and another performing.
Although both theories can be found in writing, their sources are unknown. The double reed is one of China's outstanding traditional cultures. When the Empress Dowager Cixi was in power, she often brought famous theater and opera actors from outside to the palace to sing for her.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Double Act