Is it meaningful to walk on stilts?

The significance of walking on stilts in Lantern Festival The historical origin and local characteristics of walking on stilts in Yuan Festival

Wanjia Hotline 20 19-02- 19 09:59

The fifteenth day of the first month is a traditional festival in China. There are many cultural customs in Lantern Festival, and walking on stilts is one of them. So why should we walk on stilts during the Lantern Festival? How did you get on stilts? This paper 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 entered the life of China people. Walking on stilts during 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 in China. Stilts originally belonged to one of the hundred ancient operas in 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 a bridge". Known as "stilts" since the Qing Dynasty, it is made of 1 to 3 feet long wooden strips and wooden supports.

According to ancient records, ancient stilts were all made of wood. Make a support point in the middle of the planed wooden stick to put your feet, and then tie it to your legs with a rope. Performers can dance swords, splits, stools, cross tables and yangko when walking on stilts. It is said that the form of walking on stilts was originally an activity developed by ancient people who collected wild fruits from trees for food and tied two long sticks to their legs.

Art originates from life, especially in ancient times. Walking on stilts was originally the product of human struggle with natural conditions. Stilts originated from labor, according to a note by Guo Pu: Long-arm China people are in the east of Chishui, like ordinary people, but their arms are three feet long. "Therefore, the foot length is wooden stilts, and the hand length is a fishing tool made of long wood. The scene described in this note is similar to the hunting scene of Jing fishermen living in Fangcheng, Guangxi. They usually fish on wooden stilts and cast nets in shallow water.

In addition, according to 1930' s Art Style magazine, "Chopsticks Street and Tielong Street in Wuchang are often flooded because of their low status, and the residents there almost always walk on stilts when they are flooded. This is a stilt from work and life records.

Walking on stilts and stilts will be the most attractive celebrations for all ages.

On the first month of the lunar calendar, teams of stilts will cross the street with drums, gongs, and percussion music from women of all sizes. 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-walking conferences and performance venues in previous years. Humorous, rough and gratifying stilt performances are deeply loved by people of all ages.

Stilts clubs are generally organized by the masses spontaneously in series. On the eleventh and twelfth day of the first month, people began to take to the streets to inform people that the climax of the first month was coming! Especially on the 15th Lantern Festival, large companies, institutions, enterprises and institutions along the way will set off firecrackers to express their gratitude and comfort, and many will also give some red envelopes. After receiving the red envelope, the stilts team will stay here to perform and express their gratitude.

When walking in the street, the stilt queue usually adopts a single-row snake array, and in busy and crowded areas, it adopts a double parallel formation. The steps are changed to eight characters. In the performance, there are difficult and dangerous moves such as small whirlwind, flower arm, kite turning over and big split.

In winter leisure time, some rural areas are still rehearsing stilt art. You can see it from time to time at 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 and dress up as various figures. One or more people dance together and perform interesting actions or stories with suona.

According to ancient records, ancient stilts were all made of wood. Make a support point in the middle of the planed wooden stick to put your feet, and then tie it to your legs with a rope. Performers can dance swords, splits, stools, cross tables and yangko when walking on stilts.

In the northern stilt yangko, there are fishermen, matchmakers, silly sons, second brothers, Taoist priests and monks. The performer's funny performance can arouse the audience's great interest.

In the south, stilts play the role of traditional operas, including Guan Gong, Zhang Fei, Lv Dongbin, He Xiangu, Zhang Sheng, matchmaker, Jigong, immortal and clown. They sang while performing, making fun and entertaining themselves.

There are various forms of walking on stilts in all parts of our country, and the performances are blooming.

On the 15th day of the first month, stilts in various parts of China are rich and colorful, and performances are in full bloom, all of which have formed distinctive regional styles and ethnic colors.

Stilts have a long history in Shanxi, and pictures of stilts and acrobatics can also be seen on the sarcophagus of the Northern Wei Dynasty unearthed in Yushe County, Jinzhong area. Although stilts are not recorded in writing, they should have started from the Northern Wei Dynasty at the latest. There are two kinds of stilts in Shanxi: Wen stilts and Wu stilts. Literary stilts are more important than twisting steps, while martial stilts mainly perform stunts.

In Shanxi province, stilt performances are varied and eclectic. The performance time of these stilts is generally in the "golden age" 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. You can perform in a big venue or walk around the street.

Shandong stilts often stack up three layers to play opera characters, and the upper people step on the shoulders of the lower people and March as usual.

On the stilts around Beijing and Tianjin, actors often perform such difficult skills as "jumping on one foot", "splitting" and "crossing obstacles". Others perform stunts, such as jumping off four high tables with one foot. Among them, Beijing is called the "stilt club". The Yellow River valley is called "sticking high feet", which can be divided into Wen stilts and Wu stilts. Wenqiao mainly performs walking and singing, and the dance movements are simple. Wuqiao performed handstands, high jump tables, stacked arhats and splits.

Stilts are popular in Northeast China, the most famous of which is "Liaonan Stilts", with complete forms and standardized performances. At first, we wanted to "make elephants" and sing yangko, which means "elephants live in peace", and then we went to the big field to change the formation pattern, and then performed duets, "butterflies flapping" and "fishermen fishing", and performed a folk drama in groups.

On the stilts of ethnic minorities, actors all wear their own clothes and perform in a unique way. For example, Buyi people have both double stilts and single stilts, holding stilts with both hands, which is convenient to make, and its single wooden stilts are especially popular with children; Bai people's "stilts play with horses", in which actors also step on wooden stilts and perform with horse-shaped props; The "double stilts" of Uighurs integrate folk dance into it, which is refreshing.