Pan Palace refers to the ancient school. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, most of the schools in various prefectures and counties had "panchis" built inside the main entrances, with red carp raised there, which is a metaphor that if a carp jumps over the dragon gate, it can become a dragon.
There is naturally a Panchi in front of Qinhuai Confucius Temple. In the past, Pangong Square of Confucius Temple was an extremely lively place.
In the early Qing Dynasty, "Painted Fang Yu Tan" records:
Starting in front of Pan Palace and ending at Jiyuan, on Qingming Day, all kinds of plays are performed. Such as unblocking horses, strange insects, flying through the air, ladder kicks, somersaults, spitting fire, swallowing knives, hanging with heel and giving belly gestures, three-stick drums, ten non-leisures, promoting narrow cross talk, nose-blowing songs, Tao Zhen, and pinching. Everyone who can hear it has their heads raised and their necks raised, and they are surrounded like a wall.
This record truly reflects the complicated scenes of hundreds of operas in front of the Confucius Temple. Pangong Square of Confucius Temple is a square with all kinds of strange things. The "Jin Pi Cai Gua" praised in the world are all reflected here.
"Gold" refers to fortune-telling in Jianghu, "Bi" refers to rapping, "Cai" refers to juggling, and "Gua" refers to performing arts.
As the saying goes, "Golden medals are won by words." Performers rely on their sharp tongue to attract people. The jargon is called "spreading steel". In the past, there were hundreds of kinds of wanderers who traveled north and south. According to masters and apprentices, each had its own door and its own lingo, which was called "Kut" in Jianghu and "Chundian" in jargon.
These Jianghu artists gathered in Qinhuai Confucius Temple. Especially during holidays, visitors to Confucius Temple come one after another. There are huge crowds of people inside and outside Pan Palace.
The open-air acrobatics in Pangong Square are particularly attractive, including martial arts, circus, magic, drumming, storytelling, cross talk, puppet shows, etc., attracting a large number of tourists.
The martial arts practice in Pangong Square displays almost all kinds of martial arts, large and small.
The small Eighteen types include knives, spears, swords, halberds, sticks, rods, spears, axes, axes, shovels, palladiums, whips, maces, hammers, forks, spears, etc. Weapons;
The Great Eighteen weapons include the use of bows, crossbows, spears, swords, knives, shields, axes, maces, axes, whips, laos, halberds, 殳, forks, rake heads, and cotton rope sheaths Rope, punch, etc. The scene of the martial arts performance is the most attractive, and the spectators are often on three levels inside and three outside, and they are packed with people.
These martial arts performers can be divided into individual and collective groups, with groups of 3 to 6 people performing in groups. Before the performance, they usually say a set of business words to attract the audience, and at the same time they bow and say good things. After setting the stage, the performance officially begins.
The magic show in Pangong Square is also very attractive. In ancient my country, magic was called illusion, commonly known as "jugglery." Magic was introduced from foreign countries. Zhang Heng of the Han Dynasty once described it in "Xijing Opera": "Fantasy and sudden, changing appearance and fractal shape, swallowing knives and spitting fire, and clouds and mist disappearing." According to historical records, there were more than 300 sets of folk illusions in the Qing Dynasty, and the technology became increasingly sophisticated.
The magic in Confucius Temple is famous far and wide. The magic master Zhang Huichong is a famous magician who performs magic in Confucius Temple. There were dozens of kinds of magic performed in the Confucius Temple at that time, such as traditional programs such as "painted turtles come alive and bloom immediately" described by Duan Chengshi of the Tang Dynasty, as well as fetching objects from baskets, ancient color tricks, breathing fire balls from the mouth, and swallowing with the mouth. Iron balls, swords stuck in throats, etc. are especially popular among tourists.
Swallowing an iron ball and inserting a sword look very scary. The performer can swallow the entire iron ball, raise his head and open his mouth, insert a sword straight into his throat, and then collect the money until When the money is almost collected and then taken out, the viewers are all shocked.
Breathing fire from the mouth is equally horrifying. The performer first stuffs sawdust into the mouth, mixes the fire secretly, and then fans the mouth with a fan. For a moment, wisps of smoke emerge from the mouth, and then puffs of smoke are sprayed out. Fire is coming.
The puppet show is also an attractive performance in Pangong Square of Confucius Temple. Puppet show, also known as "puppet show", is a pearl in the treasure house of folk art in my country. It has a history of more than 2,000 years. After years of development, the technology of puppet show in my country has become very advanced.
"Puppet Song" written by Liang Ao in the Tang Dynasty describes the superb skills of our country's puppet show:
Carving wood and stringing threads to make an old man, the chicken skin and crane hair are the same as the real one.
After a while, nothing happened, and it still seemed like a dream in life.
Puppet shows in Confucius Temple are mostly performed on an open-air stage with a tent. Nanjing people also call the string puppet "Diao Diao Opera". The performers form a circle with a large white cloth in a corner of Pangong Square. The outside of the circle is separated by a rope net, and a small protruding stage is set up inside the circle, with the audience on three sides.
The small stage is divided into two parts, front and back, separated by a waist-high wooden screen. The backstage is larger and is used as a venue for performing performances. On both sides of the screen are doors through which people can enter and exit.
On the right side of the stage sits a person in the Wenchang, who can simultaneously play large gongs, small gongs, cymbals, etc. that are moved by simple machines. He can also play Jinghu, Erhu, or blow the suona flute; They play the big and small drums, bangu, sandalwood drums, etc., and also dub the puppets. There was a loud roar of gongs and drums at the opening, luring tourists to spend money to enter and watch.
There are 4 to 7 actors in the background, operating more than 40 characters and animal puppets.
Most of the performances are traditional plays, including "Journey to the West", "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Liao Zhai", "Bao Gong An" and other series, as well as "Zhu Bajie Seeking a Marriage", " "Agarwood Saves Mother", "Water Floods the Golden Mountain", "Tang Bo Hu Spots Autumn Fragrance", "Yang Family General", "Hu Family General" and various life dramas are rich, colorful and magnificent, with more than 100 plays.
Confucius Temple Square can be said to be a gathering place for folk puppet shows from the north and south. Not only is the repertoire rich and comprehensive, but the puppets of all kinds are lifelike and colorful.
Puppet performances have their own characteristics and realistic effects. For example, in the performance of "Daming Mansion", the puppets can vividly dance the red silk dance, and the acrobatic puppets can also hold jars, exchange plates, and lift their feet. The tacit understanding of raising hands is amazing.
In the story of "Liao Zhai·Painted Skin", when the evil ghost turns into a beautiful woman, smoke can also be seen, and the sound effects are very realistic. When the puppets drink tea, drink water, and carry water, they can see drops of clear water.
The crosstalk performance in front of the Confucius Temple Square was also unique. In order to attract the audience, the artist held a powder bag and used white powder to slowly draw characters on the ground. His solemn demeanor really seemed to be drafting an edict for the emperor, which attracted the attention of the audience. Tourists were deeply surprised and stopped to stare.
After a while, a big word "tin teapot" appeared on the ground. The tourists were confused and couldn't help but read "tin teapot" aloud.
After the artist finished speaking the three words, the only word "tin" was a little less. The artist got up to leave, and the tourists shouted "a little less" in unison!
The artist immediately turned around and said "here", and the pink bag was thrown out. At this point, tourists were quickly attracted by the scene. More and more people gathered, and the artist was praising the artist. Sing and perform funny.
There is also a peep show in Confucius Temple Square. Diorama, also known as "diorama", is generally divided into two types: large and small. The small-scale painting is commonly known as "West Lake Scene". The content is half landscape painting and half figure painting. It can only be viewed by three or four people.
This kind of foreign movie stall owner can carry the box on his back and move around. As soon as he stops at the street and alley, the stall owner plays the drum and cymbals, and people quickly gather around, wanting to take a look.
The large foreign film is as long as a passenger car and as tall as one person. Below it is a large semi-circular wooden box with twenty or thirty holes for viewing. There are six or seven feet high cloth pictures hanging on it, usually eight pictures, also known as the "eight pictures".
The stall owner has a special gong and drum stand, which he pulls with a rope and operates with one hand and foot. The gongs and drums sound all of a sudden, and he sings while knocking. He pulls the foreign films with one hand and changes the picture to match the narration.
There is also a kind of mechanized movable figure that is not a picture, and there is a small water box with water flowing. The content of the performance is usually historical stories such as "Water Floods Jinshan Temple" and "Nezha Trouble in the Sea" .
Peepshows have been popular in my country since the end of the 18th century. Gu Lu of the Qing Dynasty recorded in "Qing Jia Lu": "Jiangning's man-made square and round wooden boxes have flowers, trees, birds, fish and the like in them, and round holes are opened on the outside. Use five-color glass to see it at a glance..."
Before the introduction of Western paintings in the Qing Dynasty, the peepshows in the Confucius Temple area were Chinese mirrors, which appeared in the form of folk paintings. Later, on the basis of our country's traditional folk paintings, this new painting technique was used to increase the depth and three-dimensionality of the paintings when the audience looked at the paintings through concave and convex lenses, making the viewers feel as if they were actually there.
In addition to martial arts, magic, puppets, cross talk, and peep show performances, there are also various performances such as storytelling, circus, juggling, and singing ditties, which are also colorful and exciting, and their skills are dizzying and dazzling. , is a veritable visual feast, and visitors can satisfy their eyesight.