Further Development of the Strength Acrobatics
7 min readAfter Qin Shihuang（”First Sovereign Emperor of China”）unified China，all the acrobatic performers from different areas converged in Xianyang and helped to incorporate the acrobatics into the entertainment at the imperial court.Under such circumstances the acrobatics enjoyed an unprecedented progress and the exchanges between schools of acrobatics promised to boost the acrobatic skills because acrobats availed themselves of such opportunities to delve into the skills and seekinsights and inspirations from each other.So the acrobatics did make great progress at that time，which laid a good foundation for the emergence of the variety shows.
The Qin Shihuang ordered that all the arms and weapons owned by the civilians should be expropriated.Without the props of the arms，the folk acrobatics graduall become physique-skills-oriented and the performing art of acrobatics became moresystematic，comprehensive and appealing.Up to the Qin dynasty the acrobatic shows were played on a fairly large scale；the varieties of acrobatics had increased；the acrobats were superb and their performances were amazing and attractive.
It is said that each time the state of Qin conquered a vassal state，the entertainers in that state would be gathered in the Qin’s imperial court，thus there was such a scene in Xianyang as depicted in the lines:”Tens of thousands of women singers and dancers played sorts of musical instruments producing melodies spreading far and wide”.These lines provide clues about the grand scale of entertainment back at the Qin dynasty.Historical Records says:In 208 BC Premier Li Si was intrigued against and killed by Zhaogao；when Emperor Qin II was entreated to provide an explanation for this incident，he ignored the entreaty as he abandoned himself to the pleasures offered by acrobatics.The higher acrobatic level of the Qin dynasty provided a favorable condition for its development in the Han dynasty，a unified regime after the Qin dynasty.Especially in the reign of Liu Che，Emperor Hanwu，people lived a settled and peaceful life；the state boasted substantial strength；the scholarly pursuits were highly respected；infrastructures like reservoirs were built up；the development of agriculture was put high on agenda，which not onlyprovided favorable conditions for the refinement of the acrobatics in the Han dynasty but also laid strong economic foundations for the growth of the acrobatics.
Emperor Hanwu also enjoyed acrobatics very much and he tended to brag and boast of his ambitions.To make widely known his empire’s strength and glory and display his great talents and bold strategies，he held a grand banquet entertaining foreign guests in the third year of the Yuanfeng Reign（AD109）.At this banquet marvelousacrobatic shows were staged involving so many performers and featuring colorful contents，which struck the foreign guests with wonder.That was the first large scale state level acrobatic shows in the historical record.More than wrestling，lifting，circus act，juggling balls and jumping swords，many miraculous scenes and exotic creatures were showed on that occasion，which won unspeakable admiration of the foreigners.It can be said that the acrobatics developed in the reign of Empero Hanwu not only pandered to the needs of the rulers，but also served the political and diplomatic purposes.
The Emperor Hanwu repeatedly sent troops to fight against the Xiongnu and linked up the Central Plains with the Western Regions by opening up the world-renowned Silk Road which served a bridge between the east and the west.Many envoys were sent to the Central Plains bringing with them acrobats and magicians，which promoted theinfusing of the acrobatics from the Western Regions into the Central Plains and diversified the acrobatic performance.And as a result the variety shows in the Han dynasty became more colorful.
The acrobatics in the Han dynasty was systematically composed of superb skills, and the costume and the props for the performers were exquisitely designed. The acrobatic shows took various forms. In the then capital Chang’ an was built up the Pingle Stand, the arena for the acrobatic shows. Besides the Pingle Stand, there were many other arenas which usually leaned on the mountains and stood by the river.
It was common that the arena was flanked by turrets and pavilions on four sides and in the middle of the arena was a large square. Some portrait stones dating back to the Han dynasty portray grand performances in the open. And music was played at feasts among the common people, usually outdoors, but in exceptional cases played indoors. The prosperity of the acrobatics in the Han dynasty spurred Emperor Hanwu to set up the Music Bureau, an organ in charge of the entertainers who performed at the court feasts.
A tinge of mystery is characteristic of the variety shows in the Han dynasty as a majority of the variety shows in the Han dynasty were originated from the mythology about the “three immortal mountains”and the Western Goddess. The threeimmortal mountains refer to “Penglai”,”Fangzhang”and “Yingzhou”respectively. At that time people held the three immortal mountains in such awe simply because their knowledge about the Nature was very limited and they knew little about the mirage.
Emperor Hanwu desired to live an immortal’s life. Every time when he held thesacrifice rite or prayed to the God, the emperor would have the variety shows performed to add fun. All the above-mentioned contributed to the development of the variety shows. And some people came to court the emperor’s favor by playing magic.
Actually the Pingle Stand and Yile Stand as mentioned above were built to create fairyland-like ambience based on some superstition.
In brief, the Qin and Han dynasties marked a very important phase for the development of acrobatics. The Jiao-Di Opera was staged in the Qin dynasty and the variety shows were systematically developed in the Eastern Han dynasty. Among the variety shows in the Han dynasty various categories of acrobatics roughly took shape with each category comprising quite a number of acrobatic acts. The superb qualities of the variety shows in the Han dynasty are mainly reflected in the following aspects: setting appropriate score to the performance; the exquisiteness and diversity of the costume and props; and special set of props for each performance.
In a narrow sense Jiao-di refers to the wrestling, the combating, the judo and performances of this kind which boil down to the strength competition. The Jiao-di Opera was a dominant performing art in the Qin and Han dynasties.
After Qin Shihuang unified China the policy of expropriating arms from the civilians was implemented, so the martial arts could only serve as entertainment.
This means that the policy of expropriating arms contributed to the development of the Jiao-Di Opera. And in that period the Jiao-Di was officially staged. By the reign of Emperor Qin II, the emperor Huhe enjoyed the Jiao-Di opera and comic talk at Palace Ganquan. The Jiao-Di had further development during that time.A wooden fine-toothed comb was unearthed from a tomb dating back to the Qin dynasty at Mountain Phoenix in Jiangling, Hubei Province. On the back of the comb are portrayed two wrestling figures and one on-looker, and either wrestler wears hair in a coil with socks on feet and around the waist is a long sash tied at the back. Such costume is quite similar to that of today’s sumo in Japan.
In the Han dynasty the Jiao-Di Opera gained popularity. The acrobatic show of Jiao-Di was a visual art, which could dispense with the introduction of words. The Jiao-Di took many forms such as the wrestling and the headstand and it demanded superb techniques and bravery. Such skills spoke eloquently for the armed might of China in the Han dynasty. The Jiao-Di made new progress in the Han dynasty as portrayed in the paintings unearthed in the provinces of Henan, Sichuan and Shandong. Besides scenes of one man combating against another, some other scenes like”Xiangren combating against a bull,a tiger or a rhinoceros”can be found on the paintings. As for the so-called “Xiangren”, he was probably the professional beast combater in the Han dynasty. In general the beast combaters were stalwart and wore a mask and held a sharp sword in hand when combating against the beast.
Besides the Jiao-Di, weight lifting is another important item in strength acrobatics. During the Qin and Han dynasties emerged such shows like Wuhuo or Xiayu lifting an exceedingly heavy utensil. Wuhuo was a man of unusual strength in thereign of Emperor Qinwu. The legend has it that Wuhuo can lift a weight of 30,000 catties, equal to 15,000 kilograms, thus Wuhuo was revered as the guru of strengtl acrobatics. Later on the phrase “Wuhuo lifting the vessel”not merely referred tothe story about Wuhuo, but also to the performance of strength acrobatics. At the same time there were other forms of acrobatics such as “Dihu swinging the wheels”.
Among the paintings featuring the variety shows unearthed from an ancient tomb at Bangzitai Village of Nanyang, Henan Province, one painting with the theme on Celebrating the Bumper Harvest portrays a man tossing up into the air a wheel with a horizontal shaft. The acrobatic show of “Dai Gan”demonstrates the performers’ amazing strength. As seen in paintings about the variety shows, one man holds up a pole atop which there are ten performers. What a weight the man holding the pole has to bear! Aside from all the above, there were other items of strength acrobatics such as combating against the tiger, uprooting the tree, hauling the beast or lifting the mortar. So we have every reason to believe that the Han dynasty witnessed great development of strength acrobatics.
