Folk arts
4 min readFolk arts, in the broad artistic sense, can often be seen in the everyday lives, festivals, rituals, and religious activities of the Chinese people. There are many types of Chinese folk arts, including popular performing and vocal art forms(acrobatics, quyi[ vocal art], puppetry); popular plastic arts(folk painting, sculpture, crafts); folk dance (ethnic entertainments and festival dance, ritual and religious dance); folk music(folk songs, festival music, ritual and religious music); and popular literature(fairytales and legends, proverbs, and xiehouyu,a traditional type of two-part allegorical riddle or joke).
Acrobatics is a unique type of performance art characterized by extraordinary physical skills.
Originating among the common people, Chinese acrobatics later became a form of palace entertainment, and finally returned to its roots as a popular folk art. An early form of acrobatics was already in existence during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221BC), and the Han Dynasty (202 BC-220 AD) saw further development of the art.
Extensive mention of acrobatics is found in dynastic records throughout the ages, including descriptions of several hundred different acts. The first appearance of acrobatics as a form of cultural exchange occurred in 108 BC, when Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty(r.140-87 BC) assembled a group of outstanding Chinese acrobats to perform at a magnificent banquet. For-eign artists who accompanied the visiting dignitaries from Anxi(present-day Iran) also took part in the performance. This great performance was attended by the emperor, his ministers the foreign guests, and common people from hundreds of kilometers around. As acrobatics developed into an integrated form of performance art, the early itinerant performers and their successors became recognized as acrobatic artists, plying their trade on the stages of both city and countryside. Today, Chinese acrobatic troupes have won numerous awards at major inter-national competitions, representing China at various events and performing professionally around the world.
Quyi(vocal art) is comprised of various traditional Chinese shuochang(story-song) forms, and has its origins in popular oral culture, storytelling, and song. During the Song-Yuan period (960-1368AD), shuochang(story-song) became an indispensable component of urban folk entertainment, giving rise to the appearance of professional shuochang(story-song) artists.
Despite its long history, shuochang(story-song) was never acknowledged to be a distinct art form. Performances were relegated to gathering places of the common people, such as Tianqiao Bridge in Beijing, Fuzi Temple in Nanjing, and Chenghuang Temple in Shanghai. Finally, during the 19 50s, the various types of shuochang(story-song) became known by the general term quyi(vocal art) and found a place on the theatrical stage. There are many regional forms of quyi(vocal art). Each form is generally performed in the local dialect, using musical instruments and styles that are deeply imbued with the flavor of the region. Consequently, pingtan (Suzhou-style storytelling and ballad singing) is popular in the south, while people in the north prefer such forms as jingyun dagu(storytelling in Beijing dialect with drum accompaniment) and Shandong kuaibanshu(quick-patter storytelling accompanied by clappers).
Xiangsheng (cross talk), or comic dialogue, is the most popular and widely distributed of the quyi(vocal art) forms. It is generally performed in Beijing dialect by two people, who play parts such as guest and host, or wit and straight person. Using humorous language, jokes, singing, learned sayings, and funny accents, they make fun of each other and offer satirical and outrageous observations. There are many styles of xiangsheng (cross talk). It can be performed by one or many people, as well as by a pair. In recent years, xiangsheng(cross talk) plays have started to make an appearance.
Shadow puppetry has a history reaching back over 1,000 years. This art form uses two dimensional cutouts, made from leather or cardboard, to create various colored figures that are used to present a play. Light is directed onto the cutouts to project silhouettes onto a white screen, while the audience watches the moving images from the other side. Backstage, the puppeteers manipulate the cutouts and provide narrative and musical accompaniment, matching their voices to the actions of the various characters. Shadow puppetry draws its subject matter from historical events and legends, and often shares both content and singing style with regional traditional opera.
The exquisite shadow puppets are made from donkey, horse, and mule skin, and employ meticulous techniques of selection, carving, tinting, assembly, and varnishing in their creation. The finished products are exquisite works of art. Chinese shadow puppetry is the world’s most ancient forms of shadow entertainment. It is not only loved by the Chinese people, but has also gained many foreign devotees. Many superb examples of shadow puppets have been acquired by foreign museums for their collections. In his Histoire generale du cinema(GeneraHistory of the Cinema), French film historian Georges Sadoul states that China’s shadow puppetry is the “forerunner of film.”
Additional folk art forms include paper cutting, in which beautiful, complicated patterns are created with paper and scissors; doll making, in which realistic human figurines are created with clay and paint; and embroidery, in which various designs are created on silk or cottonwith needles and colored thread. Kites are made by weaving thin bamboo strips into various forms, pasting silk or paper on the framework, and then painting the kite with appropriate patterns. Sent aloft on the wind, the kite soars through the sky controlled by a long string. Each of these traditional folk arts has its own devotees.
