Amusing and Astonishing Stilt at Temple Fairs

Attending temple fairs is high on any Beijing resident's list of things to do during the Spring Festival, which will next come on January 29, 2006. In addition to a great variety of Beijing snacks and funny gadgets, temple fairs offer Chinese traditional folk art performances, including stilt, lion and dragon dances, drum beating, diabolo (kongzhu) playing and other activities, and the upcoming Spring Festival is no exception.

Walking on stilts and dancing, a kind of yangge (popular rural folk dance celebrating transplant of rice seedlings), dates to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). It was popular during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and reached its climax during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi (1861-1908). At her 60th birthday party, Cixi praised a performance given by the Wudouzhai Stilt Team. And Wudouzhai, located at Dashilan'r in Qianmen, is the place name where the founder of this team lived more than 200 years ago. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, these stilt performers began to exhibiting their stunning skills at temple fairs. Since some of the temple fairs, such as the Miaofengshan Temple Fair, were in suburban areas, they brought noodles and sesame paste with them. After the 1920s, these folk art performances ceased for a long time because of wars. From 1978, they resumed, but stopped again at the end of 1980s because of lack of training space and new recruits to the craft.

"I'm so happy that I have had more than 10 new dancers since April 29, 2004," Zhang Quanzeng, a Wudouzhai Stilt Team-member's descendent said. Although 77 years old, Master Zhang gave them free classes once every week. To his delight, these youngsters practiced hard every day and were showcased at the Changdian Temple Fair in 2005. As a temple fair with the longest history in Beijing, the Changdian Temple Fair is famous for its vast array of folk art performances, and stilt dancing is just one among them, but an important one just the same.

According to Master Zhang, stilt dancing has basic rules, some of which may be a little suspect in this day and age. He asserted that all the performers should be men, as the Wudouzhai's movements are considered too dangerous for women. If female roles are used, they are played by men. All 12 performers should perform while standing on 85-centimetre high stilts made of fir. Among the 12 performers, the first two carry gongs with them to attract audiences, making a path in a crowd for the following performers. Audiences can judge easily from the costumes and movements which roles the dancers are playing, such as a fisherman or woodchopper.

Wudouzhai stilt dancing has its own unique characters.

"Originally stilts were divided into two kinds, the one with more movements than words, and the other with more words than movements. Wudouzhai belonged to the latter at its beginning, with many humorous words coming from daily life."

"Referring to the characters in the performances, almost half of them originate from 水浒传 (Shuihuzhuan or The Water Margin), one of China's four most famous novels). To attract audiences and dazzle them, more astonishing movements were added. For example, crouching, turning somersaults and sitting on the floor with two legs apart. Meanwhile, the performers maintain their balance by swaying the upper part of the body and bending their knees."

"Wudouzhai stilt dancing is more complicated than other kinds of stilt dancing. The rules for beating gongs and drums are complex. Performers need to act according to the tunes of beating gongs and drums. And during the training of youngsters, the most difficult thing is mastering the rules of beating gongs and drums. Though I need to tell them again and again, I really love this. I don't want this kind of folk art to disappear." Master Zhang said with a smile.

 

Traditional Temple Fairs
Changdian Temple Fair 厂甸庙会
Time: January 29-February 4
Item:

Ditan Temple Fair 地坛庙会
Time: January 29-February 4
Item: Beijing snacks, traditional handcrafts like dough sculpture, paper cutting and shadow play.

Longtan Temple Fair 龙潭庙会
Time: January 29-February 4
Item: Visitors can compete with national-level athletes in judo, taekwondo, wresting and boxing. Diabolo displays, face changing and some Guinness World Records performances are featured.

Modern Temple Fairs
Chaoyang Park Temple Fair 朝阳公园庙会
Time: January 29-February 4
Item: Modern games, a wide range of colourful toys

Shijingshan Amusement Park Temple Fair 石景山游乐园庙会
Time: January 29-February 4
Item: Disney-style recreational items, four-dimensional cinematic offerings creating unique experiences