Chapter 22 Chapter Four Folk Acrobatics of Song, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties

After the Song Dynasty unified the north and the south of the country, it adopted the policy of "attracting exile and rewarding land reclamation", implementing a policy of gradually strengthening exploitation from tax exemption, light tax to heavy tax, and changing from the past labor rent system to basically paying land rent in kind, so that the tenants are more responsible to the landlords. The economic and personal dependence of the people has been reduced, thus liberating the productive forces and benefiting the recovery and development of the economy.Coupled with the peasant uprising and the wars among the separatist forces, the peasants occupied some vacant land, so that agricultural production was quickly restored and developed after the economic destruction during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.Due to the rapid development of agricultural production, handicrafts and commerce also developed, which made the city prosperous and the population increased. In some water and land transportation wharfs, commerce was particularly developed. Therefore, with Kaifeng as the capital, Luoyang, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu and other cities, It soon became a bustling city for domestic and foreign trade, and also a place where acrobatic art flourished.

In some big cities, due to the prosperity of trade, the citizen class has gradually expanded, demanding to enrich their cultural life and cultural entertainment, so there have been some large-scale public places for performing various tricks, called "Wazi" or "Wazi". Washer".This has played a role in promoting the development of acrobatic art.Within each "Washer", it is divided into several "Goulan", which are engaged in performances of different art categories and projects.In the Northern Song Dynasty, the largest Goulan in Bianliang City, Tokyo, could accommodate thousands of spectators.In Lin'an City, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, there are as many as 20 "washes".Some artists still regularly perform in a special place, such as Xiao Zhang Silang in Lin'an, "I only occupied a Goulan in Beiwa all my life, and never went to Beiewa to perform. People are called Xiao Zhang Silang Goulan" (Song Dynasty West Lake Old Man "West Lake The Old Man's Fanshenglu").From this, it can be imagined that the scale of the Washe was relatively large at that time, and the division of labor between the various performances was relatively fine, and the venues occupied by some artists were relatively fixed.