Category: Chinese customs

In this article, we will discuss the famous "Official Umbrella Dancing", Official Umbrella originated in the area around Jinzhou. Long ago, Jingzhou natives have a habit of presenting the umbrella that is a valuable gift to present for weddings, funeral arrangements and congratulating the birthday. And the designs are different at different occasions. So Official Umbrella Dancing is based on this wide social psychology. The performance of Official Umbrella Dancing is mostly performed during the Lantern Festival Days. This traditional performance has been studied, arranged, improved and revised in recent times.

Zanhuang Dragon Lantern with Iron Balls赞皇铁球龙灯(Zànhuáng tiě qiú lóng dēng) was learn from the military camp in Baoding by Wang Laoshuang in West Street Village in the 16th day of Emperor Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1890). It is performed at the festivals and holidays and stopped performing around 1931. In 1989, the art lovers of the West Street Village produced the new props, rehearsed(when people rehearse a play, dance, or piece of music, they practise it in order to prepare for a performance) it and began to perform formally in the first lunar month in 1990(20 years ago).

Leading instrument of Changli Chuige(昌黎吹歌Chānglí chuīgē) is the suona horn that is accompanied by a barrel-shaped drum and a set of earthen bowls. And in a big performance, the national instruments, such as the sheng, huqin, flute, xiao and pipe. Changli Chuige whose timbre is pleasant and pure is the representative of Chuige of the East Hebei. Changli Chuige usually hands down from father to son. However, some people learn it when they are very young and become a entertainer after three years. The Chuige entertainers are mostly half-peasant and half-entertainers. They only perform when there are weddings, funerals, festivals, temple fairs and days of jubilant. Driven by the economic benefit, they communicate frequently and also compete closely. Therefore, the art of Chuige is improved step by step, and the music plays are much more than before.

“Laozi”, which is very well received by the Nanpi natives since it was created by themselves. According to the legend, it has a history of above 150 years. Laozi of Mei School in Yangbazhuang began to perform in the 8th year of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty (Year 1730). In the period of the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, Laozi got its peak(highest level or value) time. At beginning, the form, performers and dress all depend on the figures and plots. As time goes by, today’s Laozi has already become the group dancing that is performed by the youth.

Dance on stick(舞棍wǔgùn), which has a long history and well-known in the China. In ancient years, a lot of foreigner people(someone who belongs to a country that is not your own) go to China(usually go to the north China’s city) to see this very special and interesting performance.

Early years, this form of aria was called changxiaoqu (small tunes). It also had other names according to whether the performer uses a yueqin, a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box, or a pipa as accompaniment(the accompaniment to a song or tune is the music that is played at the same time as it and forms a background to it). Since the 1950s in China, Sichuan qingyin has been formally used as the proper term to designate arias sung in the Sichuan dialect. These are popular in cities and rural areas around Chengdu, the capital of the province, as well as on the wharves(a platform by a river or the sea where ships can be tied up) and in the port cities along the Yangtze River.

Whether you ever heard of Pili puppet show(霹雳布袋戏Pīlì bùdài xì)? Strange name, isn't it? It's named "Pili" because every episode has "pili" in its title. This folk-art form is performed by many kinds of puppets – some of them are cool, some intelligent, and some funny.