Single-pole stilts. Single-pole stilts, also known as "single-legged stilts", originated around the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1897). It was created by the Wang family of Dawa Village on the basis of stilts with two feet. It had matured by the third-generation inheritor Wang Zhaojie, and has been passed down to the sixth generation after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Its props are a round wooden stick about 1.8 meters high and 4.5 centimeters in diameter, with a horizontal wooden handle nailed to the top and a pedal for people to step on installed at 0.9 meters, which is the single-pole stilts. Its classic repertoire is "Liu Hai Plays with the Golden Toad". The two perform a series of difficult movements accompanied by a gong and drum for ordinary opera. Its artistic shape is peculiar and unique, the image is vivid and lifelike, the movements are lively and humorous, and it has obvious local characteristics. It is also more fascinating because of its high difficulty and high risk. It is a unique art performance form in the country. According to Wang Zonglu, the fifth-generation inheritor of the single-pole stilts, at that time, the economy in Xintai and Yangliu was developed, folk acrobatics gathered, stilt teams were very common and there were many masters. Some skilled stilt artists used single-leg stilts to jump down the steps one by one to show their skills and win the applause of the masses. Wang Zonglu's brother Wang Zonghe's teacher Wang Zhaojie's teacher was a famous figure who jumped down the steps on single stilts at that time. In order to maintain and highlight his unique skill, he developed the stilts into single-leg stilts. Later, he removed the rope tied to the stilt legs, did not use any fixed objects, and only used one foot to step up and down to perform. He also taught this unique skill to Wang Zhaojie, a son of the Wang family, and thus today's "single-pole stilts" came into being. Wang Zhaojie also integrated the "single-pole stilts" with a single performance skill with the popular rural opera, so there was a classic single-pole stilts repertoire "Liu Hai Playing with Jin Chan". The story of "Liu Hai Playing with Jin Chan" comes from folk legends, and its shape is full of mythological and legendary colors. The two characters in the play are Liu Hai and Jin Chan. The props of the Golden Toad are a green hood and a green toad coat that covers the whole body. The performance is divided into two forms: "walking through the streets" and "setting up the stage". When "walking through the streets", the one-pole stilts are carried on the stilts and follow the "storytelling team". When they are asked to perform by setting off firecrackers, Liu Hai does "double stepping on stilts" and the Golden Toad does "frog jumping" movements. When "setting up the stage", Liu Hai and the Golden Toad make full cooperation. Liu Hai does "double stepping", "single stepping", "cross stepping", "left single stepping", "right single stepping", "jumping stepping" and other difficult and high-skill movements. The Golden Toad does "frog jumping", "frog crawling", "four claws facing the sky", "four legs curled" and other humorous movements. Because the "one-pole stilts" were created by the Wang family and inherited by the family, Wang Zonglu passed this unique skill to his son Wang Anting. Because the sixth-generation heir Wang Anting had no interest in this due to life reasons, the original lines of "Liu Hai playing with the Golden Toad" have been completely lost. Wang Zonglu, the 73-year-old fifth-generation inheritor of the single-pole stilts, can no longer perform on the pole. Like several other veteran artists, he attaches great importance to the inheritance of this unique skill. He said: The single-pole stilts have been created and inherited through the efforts of several generations to form a very complete system of dialogue, props and stunts. What we see now is only a small part of the original peak period. At present, he and several of his old friends are actively exploring, rescuing and promoting this unique skill of the Chinese nation with the strong support of relevant departments. The single-pole stilts are usually performed on the tenth day of the first lunar month and end around the twentieth day of the first lunar month. They can be performed in large-scale scenes with the "storytelling team" or in small-scale performances. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)