Astudy Ofacrobatics In Tang Dynasty

Acrobatics is the general name for different performing formssuch as comedians, song and dance dramas, magics and acrobatics.Those varieties of activities are main parts of theatricalperformances in ancient time, which provided the public with visualentertainment and mental comfort. Up to Tang Dynasty, acrobaticswent into the golden era with varieties of performing forms, higherperforming skills. The prosperity played an important role in theprosperous Tang culture and provided far-reaching influence onsecular literary and the development of drama arts. Therefore, theauthor tries to sort out data to have a wholly understanding on thedevelopment of acrobatics.The thesis is based on solid and enough historic materials. Thepart of introduction covers the reasons why the topic is chosen, thereview of previous researches, researching methods and thoughts.Chapter one is about the development of acrobatics before TangDynasty. By referring to its germination and development, it definesthe concept of acrobatics and finally makes the forms of acrobaticsclear.Chapter two discusses the reason why acrobatics becameprosperous. It analyzes the connection between the prosperity and the politics, economy and culture in Tang Dynasty.Chapter three is on the varieties of acrobatics in Tang Dynasty.Referring to “History of the Tang Dynasty”,“New History of the TangDynasty”,“Tang Hui Yao”,“Book of General” and “Development ofChinese Dramas”. Acrobatics includes six types, which are songand dance dramas, comedians, acrobatics, ball-plays, animal-playsand magics. Meanwhile, performances of the first four types areintroduced in detail and it draws the conclusion that acrobaticsplays a rather important role in people’s daily life. All theinformation is gathered to have a whole view of grandperformances.Chapter four is on the musical management organizations inTang Dynasty. The highly prosperous Tang acrobatics is closelyconnected with the perfect music system. At that time, mainorganizations are Taichangsi, Jiaofang and Liyuan. Therefore, thischapter mainly studies the three organizations, covering thelocations of Jiaofang and Liyuan, different development stages andthe relationship between musical management organizations andacrobatics. Based on the analysis, the chapter holds the view thatthe cooperation of the three organizations made acrobaticsprosperous.Chapter five studies musicians in court. Composers andperformers are the most important roles in performances. The firstpart in this chapter clarifies the appearance of composers andperformers; the second part is trying to confirm composersrecorded in historic books and describes their social status,professional levels and living situation and then points out that they greatly pushed the development of acrobatics in Tang Dynasty.Chapter six is on the places where acrobatics were played.Performing places developed into specialization and immobilization.Places include four kinds. They are the court, temples, the folk andmilitary camps. They were played in these places to satisfy Tangpeople’s entertainment needs. In some occasions, performancesare combined with temple fairs. The study on places where theywere performed slightly shows the prosperity and is helpful to learnthe active and open living style of Tang people.