Acrobatics is a performance project that develops the human body to the extreme. I believe that everyone has seen the acrobatic performance, those well-trained performers, can be head, hands or feet, in an incredible shape, to make a jaw-dropping difficult action. However, many ancient statues also have many villains who resemble today's acrobats. Experts believe that the acrobats on these statues are essentially ancient acrobats.
The stone carvings originated in antiquity. For example, the ancient oracle bone is the ancestor who conveyed a special culture through pictures. Acrobatic performances also have a long history in the mainland, and have been very popular as early as the early Eastern Han Dynasty. The Book of Han and the Chronicle of Emperor Wu records that "in the summer of the sixth year of Yuanfeng, the people of Jingshi arrived at the Shanglin Pingle Pavilion" by watching the horns. In the early days of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the capital city of Luoyang, there were many specialized acrobats who sold art. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, acrobatic performances were divided into many small branches, such as magic, carrying dings, and other performances similar to magic and acrobatics.
The ancients have already developed a variety of acrobatic subjects, which also make people dazzled. In the 1960s, many Han Dynasty portrait stones were unearthed with many themes about acrobatics. At the same time, in the Northern Wei statue niches, there are many villains posing very complex actions. However, the shrine is essentially a sacrifice object of the ancients by worshipping certain gods or Buddhas. Why are there so many acrobats on these magnificent sacrifice items? Therefore, many friends feel that the acrobatic villains on these statues of the Buddha shrine should represent a special culture or symbol, and are not equivalent to ancient Chinese acrobatic performances.
But experts say: Whether it is a special acrobatic relics or Buddhist shrines in the Northern Wei and Han Dynasties, as long as there is a similar acrobatic villain on the stone carving, all of them are acrobats. According to the thinking of modern people today, acrobatics and solemn Buddha gods are obviously incompatible. Why do experts believe that these strangely shaped villains are acrobats and not other special symbols? First of all, I personally feel that there were many different cultural and religious beliefs in the ancient mainland, such as Buddhism, Taoism, and some local gods.
The Buddhist culture that came from the Southern and Northern Dynasties did not have the current "Mahayana" or "Hinayana" theory. Therefore, these acrobatic villains on the shrines obviously represent the special culture of a certain era. For example, on the famous Northern Wei statue niche, its character movements are very delicate and simply lifelike. Perhaps the carving of acrobatic villains on the shrine should be to set off the atmosphere, and its nature is not too different from that of the Western trick Lotte Woman. Just as the so-called Buddhist world is ever-changing, there are joys and sorrows, there are angers, and there are sorrows, so people at that time carved and painted similar acrobatic patterns on the Shrine, which may represent a very strong ideal of secularization. It shows a kind of desirelessness and no desire, similar to the concept of "wine and flesh passing through the intestines, leaving the Buddha's mind behind.".
Therefore, the little people on these shrines are ancient acrobats, and they do not represent any special symbolic culture. The expert finally said: It is not excluded that other related cultural relics are not excluded. Or the excavation of data to provide more detailed data. But to this day, these little people of different shapes are the acrobats of ancient times. I have to say that the imagination of the ancients is really infinite. Especially during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the literati at that time created many branches of the genre. Therefore, with the entire Southern and Northern Dynasties, many classic works were born. So it is not surprising that there are acrobatic villains on these shrines.
After all, the real Western Elysium contains many strange things. If you really understand it all, it will not be easy. Therefore, the author still believes what the experts say, and I don't know if you have such an idea as the author: back to the Tang Dynasty, look at those acrobatic performances and the techniques of miscellaneous magic, it is really a feast for the eyes.
References: Book of Han, Book of Sui, Evolution of Northern Wei Shrines