Shehuo of the central plains
3 min readShehuo of the Central plains is an activity staged by the local people for their own entertainment during the Chinese New Year period. It originated from the ancient reverend for earth and fire. She stands for the spirit of the earth and huo stands for the fire like China, noted for its agricultural culture, the earth is the material base for the tryancestor, said to be a fire spirit that could ward off difficulties and evil. In a country people s survival and development Fire is the source of heat for cooking food and keeping warm and is also absolutely essential for the survival and development of humankind according to the primitive theories of people in the ancient past, people believed that fire contained a special kind of spirit, which they began to worship because of the great value they placed on it. This worship of earth and fire among the ancient people of thCentral Plains led to holding ceremonies to honor them. As society changed and evolved Shehuo has become a large-scale mass cultural activity for celebrating the holiday in many areas and an entertainment activity for the masses in anticipation of good weather, a bumper grain harvest and national peace and stability.
The folk custom of Shehuo of the Central plains has a long history. In and around Xunxian County of Henan the custom can be traced back to the 4th century ad during the Eastern Jin and Later Zhao periods of Chinese history. It continued to develop through the Tang and Song dynasties and matured in the ming and Qing period Shehuo, as a kind of effectively boosted the development of folk culture and folk customs.
Around the time of the Chinese new year is peak season for this traditional entertainment activity in the areas of the Central plains inhabited by han chinese Particularly after the Chinese new year from the loth to the l5th of the first lunar month when people have completed the traditional round of visits to relatives, the people of villages throughout the area have spare time to engage in Shehuo.
During this time the village divides into several groups, and groups may be formed with members of other villages. Funding of the activity comes from voluntary contributions and a person in charge of the Shehuo is responsible for managing human resources, material resources and financial resources.
Shehuo activities usually take place in a wide-open space outdoors. Where ever Shehuo activities take place, people announce their arrival by lighting strings of firecrackers The activities are usually held on an open-air stage and people come from all over the local area to participate.
Shehuo gets off to a grand start, accompanied by firecrackers, gongs, and drums. The opening act opens up a corridor for the Shehuo through the sea of people. The rhythm of the gongs and drums is strong and fast, and the gong and drum band is the soul of shehuo. Thedrummer of the band is like the conductor for the activities since the drummer is the one who controls the tempo.
The act with the highest degree of difficulty is usually the one in which young girls and boys（usually 4 or 5 years old）dressed in costume stand on the top of a steel rod 2 or3 meters long or even longer that is fixed to a table.the top of the rod is decorated with colored paper in the form of cotton blossoms，fruit trees，clouds，tigers，or other ferocious animals depending on the content of the skit.This act is at least as dangerous as acrobatics
The decorated truck performance features people dressed as famous figures from the past and present to form a tableau riding on a carefully decorated truck.The clothing，props and program for the decorated truck performance are prepared and planned in advance by some experienced personnel.Each group of villagers puts on act to show their particular talents.
The content of Shehuo in the Central Plains is rich and the forms diverse，including walking on stilts，paddling the land boat，the lion dance，and the lantern dance Statistics show that there are over 200 forms of this celebration including gongs and drums，folk dancing，cars，boats and sedan chairs，and martial art.
