Chinese Historical Mysteries and Anecdotes: Peeking into the Truth Hidden Behind History

Author: Li Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The Origin of Acrobatics
Acrobatics is a non-verbal skill-based art that combines human strength and wisdom, reflecting an art form that encompasses various physical abilities and techniques. China has been a major acrobatics nation since ancient times, and thus, acrobatics has a long history in the country. From 770 BC to 221 BC, China was in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, where intense competition among states led to the recruitment of scholars, who were either persuasive orators or skilled performers with extraordinary abilities or extraordinary strength. These individuals laid the foundation for the development of acrobatic art. After over 160 years of major turmoil and cultural integration during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, by 589 AD when the Sui Dynasty unified China, acrobatic art had matured significantly and became a popular art form both in the court and among the people during the Tang Dynasty.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang (now Kaifeng City, Henan Province) and Lin'an (now Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province) had various performance venues in the streets and markets, known as "Wazi Yuepang." Acrobatics, dance, martial arts, storytelling, and other physical performance arts were all performed together, undoubtedly contributing to the formation of China's unique opera art. In the Yuan Dynasty, acrobats and actors performed together in Yuan drama, which flourished and matured during that time. Researchers believe that the term "acrobatics" originated from this practice.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, acrobatics and other traditional performance arts rarely performed in the court. Acrobats during the Qing Dynasty further fell into the streets. However, opera flourished, forming a prosperous scene dominated by martial arts. Acrobats during the Qing Dynasty lived in hardship but maintained and developed their art. New creations emerged in "leg acrobatics" and "colorful magic tricks," while the series of illusions such as "playing with a jar," "sword,, beans, and peas" reached extremely high levels.
Additionally, historical research shows that the popular "hundred plays" during the Han Dynasty referred to various competitions,, illusions, musical performances, clowns, and animal shows that were popular during the Han Dynasty. At that time, there was no term "Han Dynasty hundred plays," but it mostly followed the naming convention of the Qin Dynasty, called "jiao di," such as "jiao di opera," "jiao di strange plays," "jiao di various plays," and "jiao di hundred plays." "Han Dynasty hundred plays" became a general term for these different performance forms after the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since the "hundred plays" were essentially a comprehensive performance of various folk arts dominated by acrobatics, later generations often considered them the precursor to modern acrobatics.
The Qin Dynasty systematically gathered folk arts in the capital and included them as part of court entertainment, greatly stimulating the exchange and improvement of various skills. The true prosperity of the "hundred plays" occurred during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu even established the "Yuefu," an institution responsible for managing performances during court banquets. The "Records of the Grand Historian" (Shiji) records, "When Qin defeated the feudal lords, it dismantled their palaces and constructed them in the northern slopes of Xianyang."