Stomatology is a folk performance skill and a kind of acrobatics. In fact, the ancient ventriloquism is just an art of imitating sounds. Performers imitate various sounds with their mouths, which can make listeners feel immersive. It is one of the precious heritages of China's culture and art. This skill was once one of the "hundred plays" in the Qing Dynasty, and performers often hide behind curtains or screens, commonly known as "next-door plays".
The use of ventriloquism was first seen in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. According to historical records, Meng Changjun Tian Wen of Qi was famous in the Six Kingdoms period and was very jealous. Zhao Haoqi tried to kill him. He made dogs bark, stole fox skins, bribed concubines and got a "pass"; He also asked the doorman to bark like a chicken and the customs guard to open the gate and escape.
As a performing art, ventriloquism was not later than Song Dynasty. "Miscellanies of Song People" said that in the amusement park in Beijing, there are "learning from the countryside" and "singing birds", both of which may be ventriloquism. The stage effects such as "barking dogs" and "crowing chickens" in Song and Yuan dramas are mostly performed by ventriloquists in the background.
In the Qing Dynasty, ventriloquism developed from simply imitating a certain sound to being able to use all kinds of sounds to form stories at the same time, which was listed as one of the "hundred plays", namely "oral play", commonly known as "next-door play". Its performances such as "military hunting" and "pigs fighting for food" are vivid.
In ancient times, ventriloquism was called "cross talk", which means imitating sounds. It is an art of imitating sound, and it is still popular today. But the "saliva drama" has disappeared. One is that "pocket play" requires performers to have superb skills, and the other is that many conditions and functions of "pocket play" have been replaced by modern technology and equipment.