Dengji
01 · Historical Records
Foot-juggling (dengji) is an important component of traditional acrobatics and already had its own independent name in the Song dynasty. According to documentary records, foot-juggling performances in the Chongqing area were already very active in the late Qing and early Republican period.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
After subsequent development, it became a typical representative of the foot-juggling world. Traditional foot-juggling mainly displays the artist's skill of the legs, feet, and waist: the artist lies on their back on a special pedestal and uses both feet to toss and catch various props, such as large porcelain bottles, bronze qing chimes, bronze bells, and porcelain jars, setting them spinning and rolling on the feet or flying up and down. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, foot-juggling in the Chongqing area has been improved and innovated in many respects on the basis of inheriting tradition. First, the objects of performance were expanded and innovated: umbrella-juggling (dengsan) was pioneered, shifting from traditional heavy props to light props and increasing the difficulty of control; human juggling (dengren) was also pioneered, realizing the leap from objects to people. As the technical difficulty rose, the number of umbrellas multiplied, and human juggling developed into double human juggling. Third, technique was integrated with sound, light, and electricity, so that together they form a stage art with narrative function, enhancing its artistic expressiveness. Chongqing foot-juggling is highly difficult, beautiful in form, and ingenious in technique, with an extremely high artistic standard.
The traditional heavy props
Porcelain vases, bronze chimes and bells and ceramic jars are spun and tossed aloft by feet from a special bench, stability under weight being the test.
The first umbrella spinning
One of the post-1949 innovations: replacing heavy props with light ones, the umbrellas multiplying in number as skill increased.
Spinning a person, then two
The leap from spinning objects to spinning a person, later doubled, an achievement in which Chongqing led the country.
Seven foot techniques
The basic foot techniques which, fused with ballet, gymnastics and acrobatic elements, produce striking stage pictures.
Sound, light and narrative staging
The third innovation integrates technique with sound, light and electricity into a narrative stage art.
Eight generations at the Chongqing troupe
Master-disciple transmission, now in its eighth identifiable generation, is managed chiefly by the Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Foot-juggling (dengji) is an important component of traditional acrobatics and already had its own independent name in the Song dynasty; in the late Qing and early Republican period, foot-juggling performances in the Chongqing area were already very active, and after subsequent development Chongqing became a typical representative of the foot-juggling world. Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe Co., Ltd. is the project's protecting unit, and the lineage of transmission, with clearly documented generational relations, has reached the eighth generation. Traditional foot-juggling mainly displays the artist's skill of the legs, feet, and waist: the artist lies on their back on a special pedestal and uses both feet to toss and catch various props, such as large porcelain bottles, bronze qing chimes, bronze bells, and porcelain jars, setting them spinning and rolling on the feet or flying up and down; the standard for judging excellence has always been steadiness in bearing weight and accuracy in throwing and catching. The Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe has long maintained a high level of transmission, and a group of acrobatic artists with extremely high repute and influence both in China and abroad has emerged from it.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Second, elements of ballet and gymnastics were organically fused with traditional acrobatic techniques such as somersaults, whirling spins, and balances, together with foot-juggling's skills of pedaling, topping, throwing, catching, lifting, turning, and kicking, creating stage formations of high ornamental value. Master-apprentice transmission is the principal mode of transmission for Chongqing foot-juggling, and the lineage of transmission, with clearly documented generational relations, has reached the eighth generation. At present the project is protected and transmitted mainly by the Chongqing Acrobatic Art Troupe. The troupe has maintained a high level of transmission, producing a group of acrobatic artists with extremely high repute and influence both in China and abroad. Through transmission and development, Chongqing foot-juggling, having pioneered umbrella-juggling and human juggling in China, has integrated them into the stage, greatly enhancing the artistic expressiveness of this traditional technique and providing new means of expression and artistic vocabulary for stage art innovation, with high ornamental and aesthetic value.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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