Chinese acrobatics has long stressed the basic training of the waist and legs. Performers of traditional magic were required to have good acrobatic skills. Chinese acrobatics is characterized by feats of strength and daring performed cleverly, precisely and accurately, and the ability of retaining balance in motion. The difference between Western magic and Chinese magic is that the former conjurers stress stage sets, lighting and sound effects, while their Chinese counterparts place little attention on stage design and their only prop is either a plain loose gown or a piece of cloth draped around their bodies. Chinese acrobats can juggle, both light and heavy objects with dexterity, particularly with their feet.
Juggling objects with the feet is mostly done by females lying on a special square platform. The artists manipulate a variety of objects ranging from wine buckets, porcelain jars, tables, ladders, poles, planks, drums and gongs to silk umbrellas and people weighing more than 100 pounds. Chinese acrobatics, an art form closely related to people's production and daily-life activities, uses labor tools and objects as props, including bowls, plates, jars, cups, ropes, whips, poles, ladders, tables, chairs, umbrellas and hats. Some items are based on production activities, folk games and sports such as lassoing horses or cattle, driving carts and skipping rope. Chinese acrobatics is noted for its flexibility in terms of the size of performance venues and the number of performers. Performances can be staged in squares and theaters, on the streets and even in small living rooms. The number of performers required can vary from a single person to as many as 100 people. The great flexibility of Chinese acrobatics has enabled the art form to mature and develop a fine tradition through the ages.
Chinese acrobatics has maintained a strict master-apprentice system and has been closely related to other forms of the performing arts. Chinese acrobatics is an art that was handed down from one generation of a family to another, as well as from master to apprentice.
