Stilts are wooden sticks tied to legs to walk on, initially stilts are used for what?

Some legends say that stilts are created by folk fire artists. Legend has it that one year at the Lantern Festival, the village artists united to go to the county town red fire. Knowing that the county magistrate, they wanted to make a fortune through the red fire swindle, and ordered the four gates of the drawbridge suspension, all those who enter the city to pay the bridge toll, or else not allowed to enter the city. Outside the city of social fire head heard, very angry, but there is nothing to be done. Then they gathered enough silver ready to enter the city. Who knows that the county magistrate will enter the city and raise the price of money across the bridge, social fire head of the son of the clever and resourceful, and bold and careful. After returning home, he saw the long legs hanging on the wall of the white crane picture was inspired, they rushed to make wooden sticks overnight, installed foot pedal on the wooden stick, the wooden stick tied to their legs, feet tied to the pedal, while the night along the city maneuvered a circle over the moat. On the first day of the first month of the fifteenth day, the social fire team outside the city are tied to the same high leg, lined up to cross the moat, into the city and made a red-hot. This matter is angry with the county magistrate. Some people say this is the original form of stilts.

There is also a legend that stilts were created by General Gao, who won the battle against the enemy. One year, General Gao led his troops to attack the city of Hu Bing, and the Hu Bing tore down all the drawbridge boards on the moat, so the troops could not enter the city. One evening, General Gao went out of the barracks and suddenly saw the long legs of geese feeding by the river, and was inspired to find a wonderful plan to break the city. After returning to the camp, the general asked his men to cut willow sticks to make stilts, so that the generals could tie them to their legs and practice walking. After practicing, the generals were able to walk on the willow sticks. The general led his troops to cross the moat and recovered the city by attacking the city when the Hu soldiers were not ready. Since then, every Spring Festival, the people also learned to step on willow sticks. Because this game was invented by General Gao, people called it "stilts" to honor General Gao.

Data

Stilts props are simple, but the selection of wood is very careful, must use hard and tough wood, such as elm, acacia wood is still good, willow second, rotten wood can not be used. The selected wood will be processed by carpenters into 4-5 feet long wooden sticks, sticks on the flat under the round, pedal settings, according to the height of the stilts and set, generally in more than 3 feet device. The height of individual places is five or six feet. Stilts binding rope, generally made of cloth, so that the binding rope can be tied tight, but not strangling legs and feet.

Stilts

The earliest characters they played were fishermen, matchmakers, silly gentlemen, little brother, Taoist nuns, monks and other lower-class characters. With the change of time, stilts play the characters of traditional Chinese opera and folk stories, such as Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Kong Ming in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms; the Tang Monk, Sun Wukong, Porky Pig, and Monk Sha in the Journey to the West; as well as the Jigong and the monk, the Little Immortals, and the Eight Immortals in the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, such as Lv Dongbin and the Eight Immortal Nuns. After the founding of New China, the characters of workers, peasants, soldiers, academics, businessmen and family planning with the flavor of the times were put on stilts. The performers' costumes are funny and humorous. They sing and perform at the same time, which is lively and vivid. In some stilt teams, the performers hold a small gong with a diameter of seven or eight inches in their hands and strike it while walking, interlocking it with their footsteps and making the gong sound of "blocking single blocking, blocking single blocking, blocking single blocking, blocking single blocking". The small gong rotates freely in the hand, and sometimes it is thrown and struck at the same time, which is very interesting. Therefore, people make up a jingle saying "plug a single plug, stilts over quickly dodge, step on you, buy two two fruit tampi.