According to Xu Hanbin, an old artist (born 1907), the fire lion in Shenxian East Street was learned from Jutun Village in Shilipu Township. From the first generation of old artist Kang Wanlu to Renzong Road (born in 1935), it has been circulated for five generations. Later, it spread to Wen Zhuang Village, and so far only the fire lion in Wen Zhuang Village has survived.
This fire lion has a strange shape. The lion hair of each fire lion consists of 3600 fire twists, and the shape is divided into three parts: body, tail and body. The lion's head is made of bamboo, fine iron wire and fine hemp rope, and then the bamboo is drilled out and twisted with fire. Tongue, nose, eyes and eyebrows are also made of bamboo, iron wire and fire twist. The costume of the fire lion is that the performer wears a wet sack and a twist coat first. The key to unpacking is to connect the shuttle between the front and rear parts. The shuttle must be pulled and opened. If the shuttle button can't be unlocked, it will cause a fire.
During the performance, the audience only saw the majestic and tall lion image outlined by finely divided Mars, but could not see the lion dancer. When the fire lion chased and jumped, there were stars all over the sky. Mars keeps shaking. It shook its shoulders, shook its hair and splashed all over, swaying in the wind and flickering. The key to the effect of the fire lion lies in the props. In the past, for the sake of secrecy, all props were burned after the performance every year and made again next year. When the lion dancers are dressed neatly, outsiders are not allowed to watch, let alone spread. It is said that the fire lion in Wen Zhuang Village was secretly learned by my nephew climbing the beam of my uncle.
Wenzhuang Fire Lion is an important folk dance form in our province, which is deeply loved by the masses, widely spread and has a strong local flavor. It is the most primitive folk entertainment. Zhang Lu Hui Yangko is a unique folk yangko in Zhanglu Town, Shenxian County. Zhang Lu Hui Yangko has a long history of nearly a hundred years. At the beginning of the 20th century, this self-entertaining folk dance form had begun to take shape in Zhanglu Town, a gathering place of Hui people. Yang Qifu, an anti-union veteran who traveled with his father in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, returned to his hometown of Zhang Lu, Shandong Province. On the basis of absorbing the Northeast Yangko and combining the local traditional yangko performance forms, he created and developed the Hui Yangko with strong national characteristics, which became a popular performance form for local people.
Hui Yangko is mainly held in Shenxian and guanxian, and the activity is held in Luxi. The Fourth Street Team in Zhanglu Town has a large-scale and different styles of Hui Yangko Team, which insists on activities all the year round. It is mainly used for the entertainment activities held by Muslims to celebrate the harvest during festivals.
There are mainly Fan Yangko, Harvest Yangko and Dragon Lantern Makeup Yangko. Old artists skillfully used fans, handkerchiefs, long silks, ribbons, Hua Gun and other props to perform, which greatly enhanced the artistic appeal.
There are many kinds of characters, most of which are dramatic characters and mythical characters. Rich and colorful content, especially real people. They are humorous, free and easy to dance, graceful and full of national characteristics, and are deeply loved by the masses. Tang Hua is a Han folk handicraft, which is made of sugar. The only tools used are a spoon and a shovel. Sugar is usually brown sugar, white sugar and a little maltose, which is cooked on the stove with warm fire. When it is ready to tie the thread, it can be used for casting. When drawing a shape, the artist scoops up the melted sugar juice with a small spoon and throws it back and forth quickly on the slate to draw a shape. The skill of folk artists is the key to modeling. When the model is completed, Tang Hua will be scooped up by a small shovel and then glued with bamboo sticks.
Lin Jinjiang, 49, is a Tang Hua artist from Shenzhou Street, Shenxian County, Zhuang Lin. As a rare Tang Hua artist in Liaocheng, Lin Jinjiang has been engaged in Tang Hua for 9 years, and his skills are superb. A small wooden square cabinet, with polished marble slabs on it, a square wooden plate on one side, and the words panda, swallow and fish that Lin Jinjiang can cook on it, and a gas stove on the other side, with a small pot for Tang Hua on it. Sugar boiling is a technical activity, which is very important in Tang Hua production. Whether Tang Hua does well depends on whether he can cook sugar at home. The temperature of boiling sugar juice directly affects the color of Tang Hua and the fluency of painting. If the temperature is not well controlled, the sugar juice is likely to be burnt off, so the high-quality syrup is crystal clear and yellowish. The Tang Hua made in this way is crisp, sweet and non-sticky. Everybody likes it. Making Tang Hua is different from ordinary painting. With Tang Hua's painting, it is very easy to solidify after cooling, so we should draw Tang Hua quickly.