(Beasts on Gaoqiao, Haicheng Gaoqiao, Western Liaoning Gaoqiao, Kushui Gaoqiao)
Year：2006
Sort：Folk Dance
Area：Shanxi, Liaoning and Gansu provinces
Serial No.：Ⅲ-9
CaiGaoqiao, orwalking on stilts, is another popular traditional performance of theSpring Festival, especially in Northern China. Cai means walking on, and Gaoqiao means stilts. According to the archives, the ancient Chinese began using stilts to help them gather fruits from trees. This practical use of stilts gradually developed into a kind of folk dance.
Scholars believe Gaoqiao originates from the totem worship of primitive clans and the fishermen's lives along the coast. Historians have proven that the Danzhu clan in the times of the Yao and Shun emperors (3000 B.C.-2100 B.C.), who took the crane as their totem, walked on stilts during sacrificial ceremonies and imitated the dance of the crane. Archaeologists say some oracle-bone scriptures had images of people dancing on stilts.
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