At the first glance, acrobatics has nothing related with bazaars, but researches show that the two are closely related. As early as the Song Dynasty (960-1279), bazaars were very busy places in cities. Bazaars had bothGoulan(places surrounded by parapets) for various kinds of acrobatic performances and stores selling clothes as well as small restaurants.
Because acrobatic performances had varied contents and colorful performing styles, they suited both refined and popular tastes and were favored by both the old and the young. Therefore, some temple fairs and bazaars often invited some circuses to perform there so as to attract more customers and promoted the business.
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| Vaudeville in a bazaar, an ancient painting |
Some old artists said that, vaudeville artists made good contributions to the Dong'an Market, Xidan Market and the Tianqiao Bazaar, etc. However, with the booming development of these bazaars, merchants expanded their businesses and built houses, which took up the space, and gradually squeezed out vaudeville artists. These artists of poverty had to leave their original bases and roamed about different places to make a living.
But bazaars without vaudeville artists also suffered downfall in business. A book titledJianghu Congtanrecords that Wakengdian of Yingkou City in north China was originally a place of bottomland and rains usually stored up here in the summer and stank. Since vaudeville artists came here to perform, the place attracted many visitors. More people came here to do business and Wakengdian became a prosperous place just like the Tianqiao Bazaar in Beijing.
Later, offended by Liu Fengqi, the leader of Wakengdian, vaudeville artists left for Dongjie Huoshen and business in Wakengdian suffered a lot. Finally, Liu Fengqi made many efforts to invite these artists back and business in Wakengdian regained prosperity.
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