Tianjin is a famous historical and cultural city. In the Tianjin area, ancestors have multiplied here as early as the Neolithic Age. In the 4th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1491), an official wrote to the court: "The land of Tianjin has a very serious connection with water and land throats." The superior geographical location has made Jindi the capital of various dynasties and an important transportation hub connecting my country at home and abroad, as well as from north to south. Under the unique natural economic and social historical conditions of Tianjin, ancestors created rich cultural heritage and formed the unique cultural characteristics of Tianjin. Among the many folk arts in Tianjin, the most representative one is Yangliuqing woodblock New Year paintings, a folk art treasure. It was founded in the late Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. It is deeply loved by people. It is our country's precious spiritual and material wealth and the bond that maintains the national emotions of Jingu.
The opening of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the lifeline of water and land transportation between the north and south of China, and the rise of Tianjin water transportation, have made Yangliuqing an important distribution center for north-south commodity trading. The economy has become increasingly prosperous. In addition, the town is rich in Duli wood, which is very suitable for engraving paintings. Yangliuqing woodblock New Year pictures then emerged and became increasingly prosperous. At this time, the whole town and surrounding villages showed a grand scene of "every household knows how to paint, and every household is good at painting".
Due to historical reasons, Yangliuqing painting once declined. Especially during the Anti-Japanese War, it suffered heavy losses and was on the verge of extinction. After the founding of New China, under the care of the party and the government, after many rescues, collections, excavations, and sortings, the dead trees were revived.
Yangliuqing woodblock New Year pictures have a wide range of themes, rich contents, full compositions, auspicious meanings, and are both elegant and popular. In addition, they adopt the characteristic technique of combining engraving and painting. They have exquisite carvings, delicate drawings, and gorgeous colors. They are recommended as the most beautiful paintings in China. The first among folk woodblock New Year pictures. It is also famous at home and abroad for its rich historical accumulation and cultural continuity. It is a comprehensive spiritual and practical, historical and contemporary materialization of social scientific research value. It has the role of a "living fossil" in the historical process and is also "Encyclopedia" of historical era features. The excavation, rescue and protection of Yangliuqing woodblock New Year pictures are of great value to the study of folk culture in Tianjin, other New Year pictures in the north, and even the history of Chinese art. She is a representative of Chinese New Year painting art and plays an important role in the development history of Chinese folk culture and Tianjin culture.
Tianjin Yangliuqing woodblock New Year pictures were announced by the Ministry of Culture in April 2004 as the second batch of professional pilot projects for the Chinese National Folk Culture Protection Project. In May 2006, it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists by the Ministry of Culture. Tianjin Peking Opera Peking Opera originated from the mutual exchange and integration of Anhui tune, Han tune, Kunqu opera, Bangzi and other art forms from the end of the 18th century to the 19th century. It was formed in Beijing with a unique style and soon spread throughout the country. At the beginning, there was no exact name for "Peking Opera", but the titles "Erhuang", "Ping Opera" and "Beijing Opera" appeared. During its gestation and formation period (around the early Daoguang years of the Qing Dynasty), Peking Opera was first introduced to Tianjin, the gateway to Kyoto. In the middle period of Tongzhi, Pihuang spread from Tianjin to Shanghai.
Although Tianjin is not the birthplace of Peking Opera, it has shown a significant trend in terms of its dissemination, publicity, promotion, and even its expansion. The reason is that Tianjin has a geographical environment suitable for the development of Peking Opera (it is located on a north-south transportation thoroughfare by land and water) and a cultural environment (it has audiences who love and understand opera).
We can see from a large amount of information that since the inception of Peking Opera, almost all famous Peking Opera elites have come to Tianjin to present their best or newly created plays. For example, Yu Sansheng, one of the earliest Peking Opera actors who became famous after making major reforms in vocal tunes and stage language, and one of the "Three Pre-existing Peking Opera Masters", Tan Xinpei, the "Later Three Masters", Wang Hongshou, one of the founders of Nanpai Peking Opera, Li Guichun, Famous performing artists such as Gai Jiaotian, Yang Xiaolou, Zhou Xinfang and later the "Four Famous Danks" and "Four Xusheng" came to Tianjin to perform their specialties. Liu Gansan, a famous performing artist in Tianjin and the most famous ugly person, Sun Juxian, one of the "Later Three Heroes", Huang Yueshan who founded the "Huang School" of Wusheng, Shang Heyu of the "Shang School", as well as Li Jirui, Wang Keqin, Zhao Famous Peking Opera actors such as Mei Ying and others have presented numerous plays on the Tianjin Peking Opera stage. Tianjin's "box office" is also very powerful: Dou Yanfeng, Wang Junzhi, Wang Yusheng, Yuan Hanyun, Wang Songchen and other famous actors can not only sing themselves, but also teach many disciples, and there are also many famous Peking opera masters who have learned about them, such as Yu Shuyan, Meng Xiaodong et al. Famous modern educators such as Yan Fansun and Lin Moqing were not only good at Peking Opera, but also actively advocated the improvement of opera and personally organized actors to create and compose new plays, thus becoming the backbone of the Tianjin opera reform movement in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China
Tianjin is located at the foot of Jiuhe River and is a "water town in Zeguo" in northern China. Water transportation mainly relies on ferry pontoons and openable steel bridges that are being built one after another. The Battle of Peking and Tianjin, one of the famous battles of the Chinese revolution, met at Jintang Bridge.
The rituals of life are complex and colorful. Although it is an industrial and commercial metropolis, it still has a strong sense of feudal small-peasant economy, advocating feudal filial piety and ethics, pursuing many children and good fortune, a big family, a big business, and a full house of descendants. Raising 5 boys and 2 girls is the ideal fertility model. The purpose of all rituals for seeking and raising children is to pray for happiness, longevity and health. Marriage is based on the orders of the parents, the advice of the matchmaker, the right family, and the betrothal gifts. Regardless of whether they are marrying a wife or hiring a daughter, they are all very grand, showy, lavish, and extravagant to the extreme.
Funeral ceremonies are more luxurious, and there are many customs and customs on tapestry festivals. Large funerals, heavy coffins, heavy shrouds, and death are the same as life. In the old days, when celebrating birthdays, it was important to entertain guests and friends, and invite opera troupes to sing in the hall. There was also the custom of having boys no more than 10 years old (on 10th birthday) and girls no more than 9 years old (on 9th birthday). Particular attention was paid to the 66th birthday. Meat" proverb.
The people of Tianjin are public and righteous. Influenced by water transportation in the Yuan Dynasty and the mixed population, most of the residents are descendants of the Ming Dynasty garrison troops. The customs of docks and the legacy of martial arts still exist. People gather together to help each other and are enthusiastic about public welfare. Not only are there Social welfare organizations such as Shuihui, Gangzifang, and Xiaoyuan also established many relatively binding non-governmental professional associations as well as guild halls and ancestral halls built by merchants living in Jinmen due to their developed commerce. Ordinary residents like to interact with each other and watch and help each other as neighbors, but there is a strong tendency to compare and spend money to "buy face."
The long-term wandering life has cultivated the people of Tianjin who like to reunite, lively, and love the celebrations of the new year. In particular, a lot of effort has been devoted to traditional folk festivals such as the Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, etc., and they do not hesitate to spend a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to exaggerate and create the atmosphere of the festival with enthusiasm and joy, and form such as "the first day of the Lunar New Year" This is a specific traditional food custom during the Spring Festival.
Folk beliefs are extensive and complex. Before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 500 temples of various types in China, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and folk or local worship of gods. The number of temples was rare in the country. . The worship of natural objects, worship of animals and plants, worship of ancestors, worship of folk miscellaneous gods, as well as activities such as dancing to gods, fortune telling, and reading Feng Shui are extremely popular. In particular, the belief in gods is very purposeful. Most of them only pray for the protection of living people in this world, and they are more utilitarian. .
Among the many folk beliefs, the most worshipful one is the Queen of Heaven, the God of the Sea, which is closely integrated with the local culture of Tianjin and has become the blessing lord and city protector who protects Sanjin. The history of Tianjin is also closely connected with Tianhou culture. Not only is there a historical legend that "First there was Tianhou Palace, then there was Tianjin Wei", it also had a significant impact on Tianjin's economy, culture, customs and many other aspects.
Tianjin has a wide variety of folk arts and crafts, which are influenced by court art, literati art and secular appreciation needs, and have strong regional characteristics. Folk arts and crafts works such as clay figurine Zhang Color Sculpture, Kite Wei Kite, carved bricks Liu carved bricks, dough sculptures, wood carvings, stone carvings, root carvings, Yangliuqing paintings, Tanggu prints, paper-cuts, lanterns, carpets, etc. are known as the masterpieces of folk art and are famous. at home and abroad.
Popular dramas and folk arts such as Peking Opera, Pingju Opera, Hebei Bangzi, Crosstalk, Shidiao, Dagu, Allegro, etc. are very prosperous in Tianjin. Although most of these operas originated from rural areas in other places or from the lower classes of urban society, some of them eventually became popular in Tianjin. Formal art schools have formed in Tianjin, and some have matured or become "popular" in Tianjin, making Tianjin the cradle of major Chinese opera art. Especially the singing of famous actors will not be able to go nationwide unless they become famous in Tianjin. Passing the "Tianjin Pass" is the criterion for whether an actor can become famous. Therefore, Tianjin is also the cradle of cultivating famous opera artists. The prosperity of opera also led to the development of tea gardens and theater industries, which became the main places for people's leisure and entertainment in the old days.
There are many kinds of folk music and dances in various forms, and the performance groups are mostly called Laohui and Shenghui. Traditional music and dances such as Dharma drums, Dalue, Shifan, pole box, stilts, and Yangko are very popular. Residents in the communities where each association is located regard it as a public welfare undertaking. If they have money and are able to contribute, they entertain themselves on weekdays and have fun after dinner. Pleasure. Performing during festivals or major temple fairs brings glory to the community. The world-famous Tianjin Emperor's Meeting was a great opportunity for folk music and dance elders and saints to show off their talents and compete for beauty. Therefore, whenever the Emperor's Meeting was held, the whole people enthusiastically participated, with a maximum of 110 people participating. There are more than 5,000 actors in the multi-channel performances. There is a detailed record of this in the "Tianjin Tianhou Palace Imperial Association Guild Map". This folk event that mobilized the sentiments of the whole people and reached a packed house eventually became "the only mythical event in all provinces in the country" at that time. These folk music and dances have been inherited by various folk flower clubs today.
Folk entertainment and competitive events are very rich, and people love sports. In addition to popular competitive entertainment events such as kite flying, gourd shaking, shuttlecock kicking, etc., some groups enjoy playing birds, playing eagles, fighting crickets, etc. Entertainment and competitive events for children, especially boys, mostly involve outdoor pursuits
Expatriates in the concession community mostly use dances, concerts, horse racing, fencing, lawn tennis, watercraft, cricket, polo, etc. Jai alai and other forms of entertainment have also influenced urban life in modern Tianjin.
In order to better highlight the unique charm of Tianjin regional folk culture, this website focuses on describing the folk customs of the Han nationality in Tianjin, and mainly describes folk customs in the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China. At the same time, the word "old time" is used as a time mark to show the style of Tianjin, a famous historical and cultural city, to the world.