The term "magic" has been brought about by foreign magicians performing in China in the past hundred years. Magic was called "illusion" in ancient China, and it was also called "trick" in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Magic is a spell that primitive man fantasizes about relying on incomprehensible mystical actions (gestures, dancing, etc.) in order to bring about a change in things. In ancient times, magic was often seen as spells or magic. Whether it is a large-scale magic trick in the palace, it is all about the immortal Buddha. Until the Qing Dynasty, many people were still convinced.
Ancient Chinese illusions, deeply influenced by the ideas of Fu Xi and the Yellow Emperor in ancient times, are roughly divided into two categories, one is the amazing illusion of swallowing a knife and spitting fire, and the other is a rapid and ingenious way to create a creature from nothing, or from this thing to another. In ancient times, many illusionists were monks or Buddhist monks. The Eastern Han Dynasty's Fang Shi Zuo Ci and the Western Jin Dynasty's Buddhist monk Kumaroshi are examples. They often use illusion to preach or gain the trust of their rulers. Kumarosh used to use "five-colored silk as a knot", burned the rope into ashes, threw it into a pot, and after a while, the ashes floated out and became a rope.
The large-scale magic tricks "Manyan" and "Ichthyosaurus" in the Han Dynasty Horn Horse War are typical representatives. "Manyan" is a mythical animal, symbolizing longevity. On the back of this animal, a fairy suddenly appeared during the performance, which revealed the psychology of yearning for fairyland. At the beginning, the "relics", a symbol of auspiciousness and the ability to spit out gold nuggets, appear in the courtyard pool, and suddenly turn into a flounder and spit out water. In a moment, this flounder turned into an eight-foot yellow dragon again, out of the water game, dazzling.
From the Han Dynasty to the Jin Dynasty, the magic tricks of the Western Regions introduced to the Central Plains were mostly small programs, such as "swallowing knives", "spitting fire", "breaking tongues", "self-binding and self-untying", etc., which were mostly more thrilling performances, only "planting melons", "planting trees" and other excellent programs popular in India and South Asia were absorbed by China and spread to the Qing Dynasty.
Silver spear piercing the throat
After the Opium War (1840), while Chinese acrobats went abroad to perform their arts, Western circus and magic troupes also came to perform in China. The earliest foreign magic troupe to come to China was a performance group led by the Englishman Vannes, which was in the thirteenth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1874). Due to the novel form of Western magic shows, exquisite costumes, lighting and props, it has aroused great interest to Chinese audiences. Since then, magic troupes from the United States, Japan, Austria, Italy, Germany and other countries have come to China one after another, and the most popular ones in China are the Japanese magician Tianyi and his disciples, who have the most profound influence on China's magic world.
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Tenichi Hattori Matsusu (1852-1912), the Matsuno-chai magic troupe he organized was good at blending Eastern and Western illusions into one, forming a unique program that combined East and West. For example, "Bombarding Beauty", which was originally a typical program in Western Europe, has a strong oriental color with the addition of elements such as the Moon Palace and the Crane through the sky. At that time, many artists imitated his skills, such as Mu Wenqing in the late Qing Dynasty, who worked in the Songxuzhai Magic Troupe, and later performed magic tricks under the name of "Da Tianyi".
Modern magic has completely become a kind of performance art, erasing the mysterious cloak of ancient fairy magic, relying on scientific design, exquisite conception and excellent performance, to create a shocking artistic effect, which is refreshing. Take the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe's large-scale magic trick "Changing Birds" as an example, when the magician stands on the stage, waves his hand to conjure a bigger bird than the other, and circles around the audience's head, the audience is very happy, only appreciating the joy of art, and there is no confusion about divine power.
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