Illusionism
01 · Historical Records
Illusionism originated in ancient witchcraft and, through long development and evolution, became a performing art beloved by the people. In the early twentieth century, Fu Tianzheng, the second-generation inheritor of the Fu Family Illusionism, became a disciple of Han Bingqian, a great master of illusion in Beijing, after which the Fu Family Illusionism spread in Beijing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Fu Family Illusionism is a visual performance acrobatic art that uses secret human techniques to create illusions and apparitions, presenting supernatural marvels; it is one of the forms of expression of traditional Chinese illusionism. Over the course of a century, inheritors of the Fu Family Illusionism have excavated, restored, innovated, and created illusion programs numbering in the hundreds. Representative works of the Fu Family Illusionism include "Dragon and Phoenix Treasure Rings", "Millions United as One", "Calligraphy and Painting Illusion", "Telepathy", "Beautiful Spring", "Charm of Blue-and-White Porcelain", and "Abundance of Fish Every Year". The first-generation inheritor Fu Zhiqing studied both Chinese and Japanese illusionism, leading the family into the art; the second generation — Fu Tianzheng studied under Han Bingqian, and Fu Tianqi took Mo Wuqi as his master — from then on made illusionism the family profession; the third and fourth generations passed the art mainly within the family, while also learning from teachers and friends inside and outside the trade. The Fu Family Illusionism is a visual performance art blending natural science and human science, integrating the creation, research, performance, production, and teaching of illusion, with cultural connotations of science, philosophy, and aesthetics. By responding to people's curiosity, it gives them aesthetic pleasure through illusion, achieving the aims of entertaining the mind and enhancing cultural and scientific literacy; it is an important component of Beijing's acrobatic culture.
The Dragon-Phoenix Treasure Rings
One of the signature illusions of the Fu family, whose members have revived, reworked and created hundreds of acts in a century.
The Calligraphy Illusion
An act joining Chinese calligraphy and painting with illusion, among the hundred-plus pieces developed by Fu Tenglong.
Blue-and-White Charm and Disc of Light
Award-winning pieces of recent years, the blue-and-white series taking second place at the world magic convention.
Telepathy
One of Fu Tenglong's representative illusions, alongside the calligraphy act and the gecko act.
Fu Zhiqing and Fu Tianzheng
The early generations: Fu Zhiqing learned both Chinese and Japanese illusion, and Fu Tianzheng studied under Han Bingqian.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Fu Family Illusionism takes the Fu family of Beijing as its center of transmission. In the early twentieth century, the second-generation inheritor Fu Tianzheng became a disciple of Han Bingqian, a great master of illusion in Beijing, and Fu Tianqi took Mo Wuqi as his master; from then on the Fu family made illusionism its profession, spreading from Beijing to East China, South China, Northeast China, and other regions. The art is transmitted among family members and their disciples; several generations of inheritors have established illusion societies, actively cultivated illusion talent, and engaged in academic research, publishing more than sixty monographs and related works on illusion, including "Mass Illusionism", "Recreational Illusionism", "A History of Chinese Acrobatics", and "Ancient Chinese Illusionism".
Other submitting regions for the same item: Illusionism · Illusionism.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Fu Family Illusionism is transmitted with the Fu family of Beijing at its center, spreading to East China, South China, Northeast China, and other regions. The Fu Family Illusionism insists on giving equal weight to academic research and creative practice, to inheriting tradition and to innovating from it, to respecting the lineage and to learning widely from others' strengths, to illusion technique and to artistic performance, and to prop development and to the diligent practice of skills. It emphasizes comparative study of Chinese and Western illusion culture and, whether following tradition or innovating and developing, highlights Chinese characteristics. The Fu Family Illusionism is transmitted among members of the Fu family and their disciples. Several generations of inheritors have established illusion societies, actively cultivated illusion talent, and devoted themselves to academic research, publishing more than sixty monographs and related works on illusion, including "Mass Illusionism", "Recreational Illusionism", "A History of Chinese Acrobatics", and "Ancient Chinese Illusionism". Fu Tenglong (according to the official records of the associated inheritor): male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1943, from Chongqing. A magician and first-class national performer. He combines design, performance, and theoretical research in one. By participating in the recording and study of the performance art of Zhang Huichong, a master of Shanghai-school magic, he incorporated the strengths of the southern school into his own performance. He has excavated and innovated more than one hundred programs, with representative works including "Telepathy", "Calligraphy and Painting Illusion", and "Gecko Magic". He has written more than twenty works on illusion and acrobatics; "A History of Chinese Acrobatics", co-authored with Fu Qifeng, was included in the "Chinese Cultural History Series". He has taken eight disciples, including Fu Yandong and Xu Yue. He is a representative inheritor of the Fu Family Illusionism, an intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth national-level batch. He has served as a judge at international magic competitions; his creation "Disc of Light" won the Golden Chrysanthemum Award for Chinese acrobatics, and his creation "Charm of Blue-and-White Porcelain" won second prize in the illusion category at the 24th World Magic Congress.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Fu Tenglong 05-2572
- Wang Xianpo
- Zhou Zhili
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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