Chinese acrobatics
Of all the various Chinese traditional art forms, perhaps none is at raw and entertaining as the country's acrobatics.
Acrobatic arts have existed in China for more than two thousand years. The rudiments of the tradition appeared as early as the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and by the time of the Han Dynasty (221 BC-220 AD), acrobatics had fully developed into a high-flying art form known as the "Hundred Plays."
Based on a poem entitled "To the Western Capital" written by Zheng Heng, a Han Dynasty scholar, and stone-engravings unearthed at Yinan County in Shandong Province in 1954, historians have concluded that Han period acrobats regularly performed impressive programs that included pole climbing,tightrope walking, conjuring ( called "Fish Turned into Dragon"), and a feat named "Five Tables" that is like the present day chair-balancing act.
During the Tang Dynasty, widely considered to be China's Golden Age, acrobats grew in both number and skill. Famous Tang poets Bai Juyi and Yuan Chen wrote poems describing acrobatic performances in glowing, flowing words, while in Dunhuang, a Tang era mural painting called "Lady Song Going on a Journey" depicts wild images of acrobatic and circus performers.
In the long course of its development, Chinese acrobatics has managed to create a style that distinguishes it from every other acrobatic tradition or any cultural tradition from within China.
Ancient acrobatics began as cheap entertainment for labourers and peasants and therefore developed a close link with the lives and idea of the lower classes. This is evident int he props acrobats use -- tables, chairs, jars, pitch forks -- and the folksy brand of martial arts movement they employ..
Despite its long history and great popularity among the people, acrobatics never made into the theaters of dynastic China because the tradition was looked down upon by the feudal classes. In the years leading up to 1949, acrobatics was viciously neglected, forching performers to wander in starvation and resulting in the loss of many tricks.
After the revolution in 1949, the people's government made a great efforts to foster and develop national art forms and acrobatics was resurrected.
Since then, every province, municipality and autonomous region has set up at least one acrobatic troupe. And the troupes, enjoying official support for the first time, have taken their art to new levels.
No longer a street entertainment, acrobatic arts in New China have become a slick affair, performed on a stage with professional lighting, stage design, musical accompaniment and dozens of costume changes . Acrobatics is now routinely pointed to as an optimistic reflection on the industry, resourcefulness and courage of the Chinese people.
In the past forty years and more, Chinese acrobatic troupes have toured more than one hundred countries and regions the world over, promoting friendship and cultural exchanges along the way.
At present, there are over 120 top-level acrobatic troupes, with more than 12,000 performers between them.
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