Chapter 11 Section 4 Circus and monkey show

Horse training and monkey training are folk acrobatic arts that are deeply loved by the people. They originated very early and have continued to this day. The circus probably originated in the Xia and Shang dynasties. This ancient skill was included in the "Six Arts" and became an important part of military training. It was greatly developed in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.In Huan Kuan's "Salt and Iron Theory" in the early Han Dynasty, there is a record of "teasing pu people and miscellaneous women, and beasts fighting tigers in circus".In "Xijing Fu", there is also a description about "a hundred horses are in the same bridle, galloping with both feet, and the tricks of the wood are invincible".This shows that the circus was more popular in the Han Dynasty.The stone carving portraits unearthed from the Han Dynasty tomb in Yinan, Shandong Province provide several groups of artistic materials of circus and theater carriages in the Han Dynasty. Among them, there is a group of portraits with two horses galloping opposite each other.The artist on the left has two belts on his head and a short skirt, holding a sword in one hand and a cranked rod in the other, standing on the back of a horse.The female artist on the right is holding a pair of short halberds and standing upside down on the horse's back while supporting the saddle.It can be seen that the level of circus in the Han Dynasty was quite high.According to the "Three Kingdoms · Wei Shu · Wendi Ji", Cao Pi "set up tricks and entertained a hundred operas" to entertain and reward the Sixth Army and the elders of Qiao County.In the old notes of "Ming Emperor Ji", there is also a record of "Building giant beasts at the beginning of the year, prowling around with fish and dragons, riding horses upside down, just like the system of Han and Xijing".This shows the grand occasion of circus performances in the Han Dynasty.

Monkey show, originated in the pre-Qin period, has two forms in ancient times: one is acting by taming monkeys, and the other is acting by people imitating monkeys.In Fu Xuan's "Ode to the Monkey" in the Jin Dynasty, it is described that someone can "wear a monkey with a red headband and socks with a red scarf. First cover its face, and then redden its lips. Raise eyebrows and frown, if you are worried or angry", and train it "or low Dizzy and choose lice, or touch the palm and dance", this is pure monkey play.But there are also people who imitate monkeys and perform horse riding skills, which is called "ape riding".Lu Hui [huihui] of the Jin Dynasty recorded in "Yezhongji" that Shihu of the Later Zhao Dynasty had to have fun in front of the palace every time he came to the Yuanhui. He ordered:

Jing Huan of the Five Dynasties records a man named Yang Yudu in "Savage Idioms" who is an expert in domesticating monkeys.He "mainly feeds hozens, parrots, dogs and rats, etc. with spiritual sand to teach them", so he knows the hearts of animals.He raised more than ten hozens of different sizes, and "knows human language, or orders them to ride dogs as luggage for joining the army, and then walk around the front and back of the temple, and they can be ridiculed for a while by holding whips, wearing hats and boots."There is also such content in "Taiping Huanyu Ji".