Nanjing Characteristic Folk Customs

Nanjing White Bureau

Folk music. Beginning in the Ming Dynasty, brocade weavers used the Nanjing dialect to sing popular songs, ditties and folk songs for their own amusement, which gradually developed into a genre of music. Because the singers do not get paid, "white singing a game", so the name "white game". Nanjing Baiju's common tunes include: "Man Jiang Hong", "Silver Nuance", "Wearing Heart", "Counting Plates", "Dressing Table", "Cutting Flowers", "Downriver Tune", "Hanyang Tune" and so on, which form a combination of tunes. The repertoire consists of nearly one hundred songs, the contents of which are mainly reflective of real life. For example, "Bitter Room" is the complaint of brocade weavers about their own suffering, "Robbing Official Rice" and "Playing Councilor" reflect the two waves of robbing official rice and playing councilor that happened in Nanjing in the 24th year of Guangxu and the 8th year of the Republic of China.

The Nanjing White Bureau declined along with the brocade industry after the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, and after 1949, a professional troupe was set up, but now there are only a few amateur singers.

Nanjing Baihua

Folk music. Nanjing dialect, so also known as "Nanjing comic". It is popular in Nanjing and its neighboring areas, and is said to have begun in the 1930s. At first, it was a simple imitation of the comic, and then gradually developed. While the third person is used in the comic dialogues, the first person is used in the Nanjing vernacular, and the actors become the dramatis personae, so the acting is more important than the speaking. The representative repertoire includes "Old Acquaintance", "Your Satisfaction", "Debt of Humanity", "Temple Style", "New Style of Business", etc. Nowadays, it is often called "Nanjing Baiyun" (南京白话). Now there are often "Nanjing vernacular" program in the press, radio, television published and broadcast, quite popular with readers, listeners and viewers.

Nanjing dialect

Folk art. Nanjing has a long history of recorded commentary. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Liu Jingting, a famous story-telling artist, lived in Nanjing for a long time. Nanjing commentary" is also known as the "speech evaluation word". It is said to have begun in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and had its heyday in the late Qing and the early Civil War, and was popular in Nanjing and its neighboring areas, and had flowed into Nanjing." Nanjing commentary" to a long history of the main repertoire of the "Three Kingdoms", "Sui and Tang Dynasty", "Water Margin", "Yue Fei biography" and so on, "said" "acting" and emphasis, often in the book interspersed with many of the customs of Nanjing, history, historical facts, places of interest, rich in strong local color. Nanjing commentary has been declining in recent years, but there are still professional actors insist on performing.

Floral drum

Folk song and dance. Popular in Nanjing, Yangzhou area. Legend has it that it began in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the late Qing Dynasty. Because the dancers are holding flower-perfumed drums, hence the name. And because of the original worship praying for the Queen Mother, seeking a child to seek blessings, so it is also known as "jumping Queen Mother", but also because the main action to the phoenix bird dynamics of the name, also known as the "phoenix dance". The dance is accompanied by gongs, drums, cymbals, cymbals and other percussion instruments, and is accompanied by the singing of "drum words". The main movements include "Phoenix Pilgrimage", "Phoenix Nodding", "Phoenix Sunrise", "Phoenix Spreading Wings", "Phoenix Shaking Hair", "Flying Phoenix Coiling Dragons", etc. After 1949, Huaxiang Drums were processed and adapted to become the audience's favorite folk dances and absorbed into the famous folk dance dramas, "The Dagger Club" and "The Leifeng Pagoda". The tune of the "drum words" sung became the tune of the Yangzhou Opera.

Jumping Dangdang

Folk dance. It is also known as "Dragon and Phoenix Shenghui". It is popular in Lishui County, Nanjing, and is said to have started in the Ming Dynasty. It used to be performed from the first to the sixteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar every year. The dance movements are basically in the form of "horse stance" with both legs half squatting, upper body slightly leaning forward, arms always straight, stretching movements, big strides, static and dynamic, obviously retaining the flavor of Chinese martial arts. The main movements are "three stars meet", "over the dam", "birds towards the phoenix", "phoenix three nodding", "rhinoceros looking at the moon", "withered tree roots", "children worship Goddess of Mercy", etc. The whole lineup is arranged in a bagua shape. The entire lineup was arranged in the shape of a gossip, banging gongs and drums accompaniment, no singing, like the drums and gongs to help the martial arts scene.

Solutions

Ritual dance, also known as "jumping table". It has been passed down in Liuhe County, Nanjing and its neighboring areas. This dance is a part of the incense and fire divine meeting, and it is a solo dance. By the incense and fire children play the king Lingguan will table (i.e., official documents) to be delivered to the gods. The dancer holds a flower and incense drum in his hand and dances while singing and beating the drum. The dance has a strong jumping step, jumping from the beginning to the end, with a flexible and athletic step, rich in elasticity. In the dance, the hands and feet are required to move in a straight line, and the movements are simple and robust, clean, flexible and smooth. There are obvious short appearances at the completion of each movement, all of which emphasize the unique temperament of this dance.

Sparrow Bounce (Fangshan Drum)

Folk Dance. It is called Sparrow Bounce because it simulates the jumping of a sparrow as its main movement. It is also known as Fangshan Drum because it was popularized in the area of Fangshan Township, Jiangning County, Nanjing City. It is said to have been brought by immigrants from Henan Province at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period was the heyday of the development of "Sparrow Bounce". The "Heavenly Mou System" enabled farmers to have land, and they danced "Sparrow Bounce" after the fall harvest every year to celebrate the good harvest. The formations in the dance are also similar to some of the formations used by the Taiping Army in battle. The big gongs and drums are both props and accompanying instruments in the dance. The basic movements and drum beats of this dance are "seven-five-three", spreading wings, pecking rice, bright wings, holding the nest and other five kinds. When dancing, both knees always stick to the drum into a semi-squat, like a sparrow jumping, knee flexion and extension, driving the body up and down, around the drum for the up and down, left and right, back and forth greatly jumping. The rhythm of the whole dance is distinctive, and the movements are vivid, heroic and vigorous, lively and enthusiastic. In recent years, "Sparrow Bounce" is often performed in large-scale celebrations and is very popular among the public.

Gaochun Yang cavity Meilian opera

is an ancient opera. It is centered in Gaochun County of Nanjing City and spreads in Lishui, Liyang, Yixing, Jiangning, Jurong of Jiangsu Province and Langxi, Guangde, Xuancheng and Dangtu of Anhui Province. The Meilian Opera, which is called "Theater Maiden", has been spreading all over the country. The Gaochun Yangqiang Meilian Opera, which is said to have begun in the Yuan Dynasty, is a unique type of opera that only performs Meilian Opera. This ancient opera with a history of more than 600 years has never had any professional actors and actresses, and all the actors and musicians are farmers and laborers assembled on a temporary basis. The repertoire of Gaochun Yangqiang Meilian Opera, including "Taicheng", "Nine Shihtu" and "Meilian", all act out the stories of Meilian.

Hongshan Opera

Local opera. It originated in Liuhe County, Nanjing and spread to Yizheng, Jiangning and Jurong in Jiangsu and Tianchang, Lai'an and Xuyi in Anhui. It is also known as incense and fire opera and children's opera, which developed and evolved from the Hongshan incense and fire divine meeting. It was formed at the end of the 19th century, and a professional troupe was already in existence at the beginning of the 20th century. The tunes of Hongshan Opera are composed of basic tunes (seven characters and crosses), sacred tunes, joint plays and miscellaneous tunes, which are mostly rap-type tunes with one character and one accent. The singing voice is a bare song without orchestral accompaniment, with gongs and drums to beat the rhythm, and occasionally there are a singing and a lot of helpers, which belongs to the board cavity type. The performance of Hongshan Opera is rough, simple, lively, humorous and interesting, with a distinctive and rich local style.

Shaking the bamboo

Also known as "shaking the empty bell", "shaking the empty kite", "shaking the buzzer", is a traditional folk toy. It is evolved from the development of the gyro, specializing in the air shaking, buzzing the kind of airborne bamboo toys.

In the air rotating bamboo its shape can be divided into single-axis and double-axis two kinds. Shaft is empty, four or five on each axis, the hole in the wood as a flute to facilitate the sound, even with the shaft has a cylindrical handle, the middle part of the handle is slightly thin. The way to play is to suspend the bamboo in two small sticks on the top of the thin rope, the player holds a stick in each hand to pull back and forth, it can produce rotation, and with the speed of the "buzz" sound. When it turns to a certain speed, the player can also throw it into the air, make all kinds of fancy movements, and then catch it. Its tricks "harrier turn", "swallow into the clouds", "ringing pigeon bells", "climbing cross", "Throwing high", "Zhang Fei cheating horse", "monkey climbing pole" and so on. Among them, "throw high" a skill, some can throw the bamboo into the air dozens of feet high, to be its fall and then take up the line to shake, accurate, is a masterpiece.

Every Spring Festival in Fuzimiao visible firecrackers for sale. Ming Palace Ruins Park, Fuzimiao and other civic squares in Nanjing, there are often three or five fitness middle-aged and elderly people while shaking a bamboo, while cutting skills.

Wu Rampant

It originated more than 3,000 years ago during the Yin and Shang dynasties. The "Five Rampants" were evil gods who often did bad things on earth, stealing, robbing, setting fires, and molesting women; but they also liked to play pranks, stealing from Zhang's family and putting them in Li's family's house, and if they saw someone as a good guy, they would give him all the things they had. The people of the "five rampant" both fear and respect, so they sacrificed in order to Bo its happy, will send blessings to their own. Another story is that the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang seized the Jiangshan in Nanjing after the establishment of the Ming regime, the great seal of meritorious officials, but forgot to donate their lives to the people and the people, these war dead "ghost" to him to complain of suffering to ask for credit. So Zhu Yuanzhang came up with the east, south, west, north and central five road ghosts summarized as "five rampant", so that the people hold activities to commemorate. Gaochun jump "five rampant" has a set of programs: by the villagers dressed in ancient costumes or pick basket, or carry a flag, or gongs, or drums, resulting in a lively and joyful scene, and then the main characters appear one by one. First of all, by five holding five-color Huagai, dressed in five-color costumes of the strong man into the field; followed by four colorful clothes, wearing masks dressed as Taoist priests, land masters, monks, magistrates to enter the field; followed by five people wearing armor, shoulders inserted in the Golden Plume, hand-held sword of the mighty "five rampant" to enter the field. These dressed in red, blue, yellow, black, white five-color clothes (that is, on behalf of the five sides of heaven and earth, but also implicitly wood, fire, gold, water, earth, the color of the five elements), wearing five-color masks, holding five-color line of performers, in the sound of the gongs and drums, or line, or dance, or lying down, or leaping, doing the strange and bizarre dance movements, giving a person a sense of the ancient and magical. This activity is still held in Hanqiao Village, Dingbu Town, Gaochun.

Flying Boring Show

Flying Boring Show is a folk sports activities, is one of the folk martial arts program. It has a wide mass base in Nanjing, mainly in Liuhe County.

Flying Boring, originally an ancient weapon, is one of the Chinese martial arts movement of the long armament. It is shaped like a three-stranded fork, the front for both sides of the sharp edge, like the tip of the sword, about eight or nine inches long, the left and right have tusks, curved upward in a curved shape, the fork head inlaid in the handle, the handle is six or seven feet long. The end of the handle has a three-pronged iron drill said "bottle", used to hit the stabbing frame. Because of the long and heavy, so for the long weapons in the heavy equipment. Now has evolved into people to strengthen the body, entertainment and physical and mental performance equipment.

Flying boring this folk skills in the six has been well developed, not only the male members, and female members, some of the old people close to the age of old people also participated in the flying boring performance.

Every Spring Festival, Lantern Festival and other festive days in Nanjing have the entertainment of dragon dance. Dragon lantern dance, also known as juggling dragon lanterns, is a kind of folk dance. It has a long history and various forms.

Dancing Dragon Lanterns

The folklore of dancing dragon lanterns originated from the ancient people's worship of the dragon. Ancient people regarded the dragon as a god that can call the wind and rain and eliminate disasters, and the dragon dance is to pray for the blessing of the dragon.

The dragon dance is usually made of grass, wood, bamboo, cloth and paper, and the number of sections varies, mostly singular, for good luck. In addition to the difference in color, there are lotus flowers, butterflies composed of "hundred pages of the dragon"; made of wooden benches "bench dragon"; made of straw "grass dragon"; made of cloth paste "cloth dragon". "Cloth Dragon". The dragon with candles burning inside is called "dragon lantern", and the dragon with incense is called "fire dragon" or "incense dragon".

The most unique dragon lanterns in Nanjing in terms of modeling and performance style are those of Lishui County and the Qixia Dragon Dance.

Playing with the stone stretcher and stone lock

The stone stretcher is made of green stone chiseled into two rounds (mill-like), with a round hole punched in the center, and mounted on both ends of the bamboo bar. The distance between the two round stones is usually between 1.6 meters and 2 meters. The practitioner holds the bar with one or both hands, grabs the stone stretcher and puts it on the center of his foot, slowly rotating it at times and sinking it up at others. There are many names for the movements of playing the stone stretcher: top flower, push up, through the flower, one-armed lift, immortal back fiber, wind swinging lotus leaves, etc. The weight of the stone stretcher varies. The weight of the stone stretcher varies, generally between 80 pounds to more than 200 pounds. Stone lock is also a rectangular stone chiseled in lapis lazuli, long side of the upper side of a round handle, shaped like the old lock. Stone locks generally weigh thirty or forty pounds. Play with one hand to grab to do a variety of actions. Its action patterns are: single dragon, double dragon, Tota, smooth locks, inverted locks, rack elbow, back fiber, outside the moon and so on. The stone locks are also practiced by two people and four people.

Nanjing area of the stone stretcher, stone lock activities, according to legend began in the Ming Dynasty, Shandong, Henan folk martial arts celebrities to Jiangpu County to dedicate the art of apprenticeship and spread. Now as a rural mass sports activities are being vigorously advocated to promote the content.