On February 25, at the traditional ancient temple fair of the New Year held in Jun County, Henan Province, dozens of social fire performance teams composed of local people took turns to perform social fire performances such as pavilion lifting, lion dance, and stilt walking. Among them, the children who performed the back pavilion were the most eye-catching, in order to let these little dolls successfully complete the performance, parents fed and teased all kinds of things, which became the focus of the audience.
According to reports, the Zhengyue ancient temple fair in Jun County, Henan Province has a history of more than 1,600 years and is known as the "living fossil" of folk culture. On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, it is the day when the social fire teams of the villagers in Jun County tour from the ancient city of Jun County to Fuqiu Mountain in Jun County, the day when the social fire performance team has the most in the ancient temple fair of Jun County, and it is also the day when the ancient temple fair in Jun County has the largest and most lively passenger flow.
In Jun County's New Year's Shehuo event, the back pavilion is a very popular form of performance. However, this form of performance is very hard for the children. They have to stand on a high wooden frame for a long time, wearing costumes and painting faces for hours to perform, which is a huge challenge for children as young as a few years old.
This kind of performance usually consists of three parts: the upper performers call the "tops", which are played by boys and girls between the ages of 3 and 8; The lower-class performers are called "bottoms", which are played by young adults dressed in opera martial arts costumes and proficient in various performance techniques, and play the role of a pedestal throughout the performance; The middle section, called the "middle section", consists of an iron frame tied to the back of a young man and a bracket to hold the child on it.
During the performance, the young man who acts as the "bottom" walks and squirms, and the actors on the stand also swing. When the back pavilion hand wanders among the crowd, the fluttering fairy child is also like a world away, as if integrated into the role. In this way, the children of the back pavilion experienced the fun of the fire performance, and at the same time showed their talent and courage. The picture shows a child playing the Monkey King performing "Back Pavilion".
Because the costume of the back pavilion performance is similar to the opera, the children need to wear opera robes and paint their faces to perform, which is a test for their bodies and minds.
However, despite the hard work, these children are willing to participate in the activities of the back cabinet. In the past, it was a sign of luck that a child could be chosen as a cabinet member, indicating that these children would have good luck for the rest of their lives. Therefore, parents also want their children to participate in the activities of the pavilion.
During the break of the parade and performance, in order to prevent the children from falling asleep and crying, parents will feed the children a little food, drink and snacks appropriately, so as to replenish the children's energy and coax them to perform well.
The picture shows two dolls performing the back pavilion holding drinks and lollipops in their hands.
Because they got up early in the morning, after noon, the children had been on the shelves for 8 hours, and some children fell asleep on the high shelves.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the performance team had arrived at the main venue of Bixia Palace in Fuqiu Mountain, and the children were also ready to enter the main venue for performance.
The children who performed the back pavilion looked at the scenery, but they were actually very 'offended'. Not to mention that you have to get up at five or six o'clock in the morning to put on makeup, and it will be an hour to tie up in the pavilion. "With the development of the times, many parents are reluctant to let their children suffer, therefore, there are fewer and fewer people performing in the pavilion, and the inheritance and development of this traditional culture and art are also facing difficulties. The inheritance of this skill not only needs the support of local people, but also needs the attention of more people. (Edited by Suri).