The first generation of the Eight Monsters "Eight Monsters"

It appeared in Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu Dynasties in Qing Dynasty. They are poor, fearless, vinegar-drowned, pockmarked, bald in pots, crippled in fields, ugly grandchildren, hummed with noses, common fools and eight folk artists. In addition, there are more than a dozen famous folk artists in Tianqiao during this period, such as He Ziqi, Create as a fan, Suiyuan Music, Hundred Birds Zhang, and Tanzi Five. Its artistic forms include speaking, pulling, playing, singing, martial arts, acrobatics, writing and painting, etc. The artistic style and attainments are only refined and popular, and there is no difference between them. "Being poor is not afraid", whose real name is Zhu Shaowen, is a scholar who didn't win the prize. He was born in about 1829, Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, and entertained crosstalk in Tianjin during Guangxu period. His ancestral home in Beijing, the flag of the Han army, was originally a clown in Beijing opera, and he played a showy face. According to legend, the martial arts drama "Eighteen Take" was written by him. After that, the ground was laid on the overpass. In his later years, he lived in a felt house outside Di 'anmen, Beijing. First, Zhu Shaowen sang Peking Opera, but he was jealous because of his innovation in dressing up. So he switched to cross talk and named it "Being poor is not afraid", which means that he is poor but has a backbone and is not afraid of anyone's business.

"Being poor is not afraid" is not only proficient in writing and ink, but also has a good study on the sound, form and meaning of Chinese characters. When he performs, he always scatters white sand into a glyph, telling the truth in the words while scattering, so as to attract the audience to watch his performance and make people learn knowledge through laughter. Therefore, Zhu Shaowen's greatest contribution to the art of cross talk is to introduce the performance mode of "white sand spreading characters" into cross talk. Before talking about cross talk, Zhu Shaowen always takes a small bag of thin white sand, two small bamboo boards and a big broom, and draws a big circle with white sand in crowded places. This is called "painting pot", which means paddock performance. Then he knelt on the ground with one leg, squeezed white sand with his thumb and finger and sprinkled it with various words or patterns, and then beat and sang with two small bamboo boards, or led to all kinds of fun and jokes. After the performance of a program, use a broom to sweep away the words on the ground, write new words, and begin to say new programs. He can write a double-hook Chinese character of 1 feet and 2 feet in white sand, which is quite vivid, such as "a tiger", "a blessing" and "a longevity". There are often small characters under the big characters. When many characters are grouped together, they become a poem or a pair. He often makes peace with a couplet: "The book boy grinds ink and wipes a pulse of ink on the book boy, and Mei Xiang adds coal and explodes Mei Xiang's eyebrows." This couplet reads like a tongue twister, which is clever and interesting. The same is true of the couplets of "painting a lotus monk, and the book is close to the Han Hanlin book". The new performance form of "White Sands Spreading Characters" attracted many audiences, and everyone was willing to watch it. Therefore, Zhu Shaowen's crosstalk was ranked as the first of the "Eight Monsters of Tianqiao" at that time.

Being poor is not afraid. Zhu Shao's literature is best at Su Ruolan's miscellaneous palindromes. According to the Biography of Women in the Book of Jin, "Tao was washed by the flowing water, and Su thought about it. Brocade was a palindrome to give Tao a gift, and it turned around to read it, and the words were very sad." According to the Tang Dynasty's Preface to Xuanji Pictures, Dou Tao and his wife broke up because of a family dispute, and Su felt sorry for himself, so he made brocade, colorful and eight inches in length, with more than 2 poems, about 8 tones, which can be chapters and sentences in vertical and horizontal repetition. When he sent someone to Xiangyang, where her husband stayed in town, Dou Tao was very impressed, so he took Su's family to him.

I'm not afraid of poverty. When Zhu Shaowen is performing, he first talks about the skill of "Su's Hui Ruolan Brocade Palindrome", and then he grabs Baisha and scatters one or two poems. For example,

Lin Long Zhao De is pregnant with the emperor, and people are humble as women and gentle;

what one cares about, who looks forward to, should be faithful and auspicious.

If you read this poem in reverse, it will become the following poem:

When you are lucky and sincere, you should look forward to your thoughts;

A tough woman is a bitch, and Huang Sheng Huai De Zhao Longlin.

"Being poor is not afraid" Zhu Shaowen's ability to write Su's palindromes in Xuanji Map is unique in the history of cross talk in China. With his profound writing skills, he applied them to the easy-to-understand explanation process, attracting a large number of audiences to his surroundings.

He also often scatters some words and phrases from The Collection of Celebrities. After each word and phrase is scattered, he expounds some arguments, such as:

Poor people live in downtown areas and no one asks, but rich people live in the mountains and have distant relatives.

tigers often lie on their heads, and sometimes they are trapped in the sky.

These famous sentences, through his simple and incisive remarks, often give the audience some enlightenment in life philosophy and make the audience accept the truth in entertainment.

Harmony is the most prominent artistic feature of "endless resources". He often puts together several Chinese characters with the same radical to form rhyming words, phrases or short sentences. For example, "three words are the same as the hibiscus flower, and three words are the same as the sister mother." Another example is "three words with the same head are often Dangdang, and one or three words with the same side eat, drink and sing." When he added, "It's all because of eating, drinking and singing that they become so popular." "You see, it's bad to eat, drink and sing! Look, everyone, from me, I learned couplets and learned how to stand in the world, which is of great benefit! I'd appreciate it if you'd like to give me a few small coins to eat. Then again, I'm not afraid of poverty. Even if you don't give me a penny, I won't turn around and swear. " His words often make people laugh and laugh, and make people realize the truth of being diligent and filial to their parents.

There are many cross talk jokes compiled by Zhu Shaowen, who is not afraid of poverty. Such as "Word Image", which satirizes the corruption and greed of officials at that time, "The Truth", "Baoyu laments himself" and "Duizibing dreams" which persuade people to do good. In the form, there are stand-up crosstalk, such as "The Old Japanese Fight", "Lord Qianlong Attacks the South of the Yangtze River", "Fake Sven", counterpart crosstalk "Bodyguard" and "Yellow Crane Tower", and three-person crosstalk "Four-character couplet". Zhu Shaowen has four apprentices: Poor Ben, Fu Yougen, Xu Youlu and Fan Youyuan. At present, Daxin, who is talking about cross talk, inherits Zhu Shaowen's school, and continues to flourish.

Zhu Shaowen, who is "poor and not afraid", is a representative figure in the early stage of crosstalk. Because of his superb rap skills, he created a new form of cross talk performance, opened up new fields, and made great contributions to the spread and development of cross talk art, so he was admired and respected by contemporary and later cross talk people. At present, among the cultural relics handed down from ancient times in the field of Quyi, there is a pair of bamboo boards left by "being poor and not afraid", which is about 12.5 cm long and 4.9 cm wide. The two oval bamboo boards are very bright, and a five-character poem is engraved on the back of the bamboo board, with two on the back of each board. Its content is: "Eat a thousand meals a day, stay in the ancient temple overnight, and don't break the law, even if you see the king." There is also a pair of bamboo boards that have not fallen. It is said that the inscription reads: "I am full of articles and I am not afraid of poverty."

Yang Manqing, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, praised "being poor and not afraid" in his poem "Ode to the Overpass":

An old man is full of humor, making money and writing about his work.

Who's a Taoist who is not afraid of poverty?

White sand is sprinkled on the streets every day, and graffiti is also done without pen and ink.

The article sweeps the floor for common things and asks for money to support the family. "Vinegar Drowning Ointment" is a nickname, also known as "Chu Miaogao". My surname is Zhang, a folk artist who appeared in Tianqiao during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. He mainly tells jokes and cross talks, and at the same time sings folk songs, folk songs and pier tunes in Shanxi.

He usually dresses very strangely. When he goes on stage, he wears grass beads, gauze robe, long sideburns and unkempt appearance. His specialty is called "dark spring", which is called "ventriloquism" today, among which learning to call birds is his unique skill. The birdsong he learned, including all kinds of birdsong, was tactfully cultivated and lifelike, and it was like being in a bird market when performing. There is a poem praising "vinegar-drowned ointment" in Tianqiao Miscellaneous Ode:

The songs in Liqu Village are prosperous and magnificent, and the rhyme is loud and noisy.

There is still a legend that there is a wonderful mistake in vinegar drowning ointment.

The grass-beaded gauze gown is in a whirling state, and the drum board must be knocked and gong.

in the past 5 years, who has succeeded, Fengyang songs have been neglected in the world.

The folk songs sung by "vinegar drowning paste" are called "folk songs" in Shanxi, and they are popular folk tunes in Hequ area in northwest Shanxi. Its lyrics are basically seven words, which are free from strict constraints and can be extended freely. The most famous is the "Westward Journey" which shows that Shanxi and Hequ people go out to Inner Mongolia to make a living in spring. Its tunes are divided into three types, namely, the demand mode, the Shang mode, the feather mode and the Gong mode, which are simple, beautiful and distinctive in rhythm.

minor is also called "ditty". It is characterized by soft and smooth tunes, beautiful lyricism and popular images of lyrics. The content is mainly based on Shan Ye's labor in the field, with deep local color. The minor tunes sung by "Vinegar Drowning Ointment" in those years included Meng Jiangnv, Wugeng, Embroidering Lotus, Suwu Shepherd and so on. He is good at using different tunes, changing different lyrics, making them constantly changing, and often singing new things, so that the audience will not fall down.

Wharf tune is also called "social fire tune". "Shehuo" is a form of singing and dancing performances. In the early years, in Shanxi and western Inner Mongolia, whenever festivals came, villages all over the country would hold community fires, such as running dry boats, making yangko songs, eating high practice, etc., and the tune used was called pier tune. Its music is divided into two categories: rap and lyric. The former is mainly narrative, with interesting and vivid content, bright and simple style, but not strong melody. The latter is strong in singing, smooth and rich in tunes, cheerful and lively, euphemistic and soft, and also desolate and sad.

The singing scene of "Vinegar Drowning Ointment" in performing arts is not only rich folk songs, but also words of laughing, cursing and mocking the current disadvantages. In addition, the audience never tire of watching it and don't want to leave. In the past, there was a saying in old Beijing: "Pockmarked Han rested on her hips-asking for money." This two-part allegorical saying was specially written for Han Mazi, one of the eight eccentrics of Tianqiao in his early years.

pockmarked Han, as the name implies, knows that he is a man with a pockmarked face, and people call him "pockmarked" instead of his first name. He was the most famous stand-up comedian in the early days of Old Tianqiao. This person specializes in making jokes or imitating the hawking sounds of various business vendors in the market, which is very interesting in his performances. He has a sharp mouth, and his rural level is extremely unbearable. If you look at him again, he looks very strange. His face is purple and hemp, and his eyebrows contain some swaying meanings. He puts his hair between his foreheads and holds a broken fan in his hand. Every time I see his lips tilt and his eyes roll around, I can't help but laugh if I don't hear what he says. Sun Baocai, the artist of Tianqiao, once recalled Han Ma's voice and smile and said, "Han Ma's head is like a pear, and his forehead is criss-crossed, like a flower arrangement, and his face is beaming. I put white ash on my face, tied a foot and a long argument behind my head, and pouted in the air in order to make people laugh. He often wears a green coat with a big right skirt, on which five knotted buttons are nailed. He is a big, fat man with a pockmarked face. " "Pockmarked Korea carries a thrush cage in his hand, and wherever he goes, it is lively. When he puts the cage on the ground, people are surrounded. When the people laugh and laugh, they suddenly stop, put their hands in their waist, and then ask for money again. " Sun Baocai's mouth is fierce. He can swear and you can't hear it. For example, when he talked about Miss XXX's ivory bed, he said,' What ivory bed? Before and after the bed, there are dog bones, wolf bones, pig bones, cow bones and all kinds of animal bones. Only the one in the middle of the bed is the elephant!' When he said this, he stood in the middle of the field and scolded the audience all around. Only he was an ivory, and when the audience understood, they had already been scolded. Many people hate him because he loves swearing, but because he scolds skillfully and brilliantly, the audience still likes to listen to him when he is scolded. After the performance every day, Pockmarked Han always earns more money than other crosstalk performers. This is mainly because he speaks crosstalk well, and everyone is willing to listen and give it. Then everyone is afraid of his scolding and dare not give him money.

It is said that Shen Rongxuan, a famous painter, once painted a picture of Pockmarked Han's cross talk in a frame, hung it on the window partition of Dashilan Gengfang or at the entrance of Dongmipu, Meishi Street Road, so as to make a signboard of Qingshui fax, which attracted many people to watch.

Han Mazi's "Guan Kou" (a folk art term. Refers to singing quickly, reciting lyrics or describing many things continuously) and "changing one's mouth" (Quyi terminology. Refers to the use of local dialects) and other basic skills, which complement his unique appearance. It is also a traditional stand-up comedy program such as "Three Myopia" and "Wax Stand". After what he said, it has different charm and funny charm, and even makes people laugh, so every time he finished a paragraph, everyone always threw money at him.

pockmarked Han left a deep impression on the audience by talking about cross talk and asking for money. Most Beijingers who are familiar with Tianqiao know the bald man. Bald man in the basin is the nickname of the artist, and his real name is impossible to test. Because he knocked on the earthen bowl and sang a little song on the overpass, and his head was bald, everyone called him bald.

Bald man himself has two obvious appearance characteristics. One is baldness, and his mane has a little hair. Second, he limped when he walked, just like Tie Guai Li in The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea.

There are historical allusions to singing a ditty on a earthen bowl. Sima Qian's "Historical Records" recorded the story of the king of Qin beating the king of Zhao at the pool meeting, which has been widely known so far. The history of percussion music can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty in ancient times. According to Le Kao in Literature Nengkao, it is recorded that "an ancient brick, shaped like a foot basin or a cover basin, was struck with four sticks." By checking the relevant historical records, we can see that according to legend, when Guan Yao was in prison, an old man struck the soil and sang, "Do it at sunrise, rest at sunrise, dig a well and drink, plow the fields and eat. How can the emperor help me?" This lyric later became an allusion to praise the peaceful and prosperous times. It is also known from textual research that hitting the soil is hitting the ground. After Tang Yao, in the Spring and Autumn Period, Warring States Period, Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty, there were records about percussion and music. For example, the biography of Han Yang Yun contains such words: "After drinking, my ears are hot, and I slap my face to the sky, but I call my dog."

The performance of Baldy Pot is different: he holds a big earthen pot and taps different parts of the earthen pot with a pair of chopsticks, making different noises, tapping out various tones, and adding words and songs made by his mouth to make the bloggers laugh. Sun Baocai said this about Baldy Pot: "Baldy Pot is a freak. His head is bald, with only a few hairs on his horns, and he walks with a limp, like a Tie Guai Li. He is holding a earthen pot, which is two feet in diameter and one foot in depth. He can knock around with a pair of chopsticks, but he can also knock out five tones and twelve rhythms. He knocked and sang, and casually made up words to make people laugh. "

The bald man in the basin struck the earthen basin, and Kankan made a sound. Although it was not harmonious in eight tones, it was clear and graceful, and it was in harmony with the melodies he sang. Tracing back to the source, it was somewhat expensive. Therefore, Yang Manqing, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, praised the bald man in the basin in "Miscellaneous Odes on Tianqiao":

I once saw the bald man in the basin, and the basin struck with rhyme.

nowadays, the market will have a new tune. do you know that Qin people are good at this voice?

beating and singing are like beggars, which is beyond me.

Laugh at his vulgarity and ignorance, and make a false impression on Zhuangzhou. Tian Cripple was an old folk artist who practiced barbershop in the acrobatic field of Tianqiao during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. His real name is not available for examination, because he has been an entertainer in Tianqiao for decades and has never revealed his life name to others. It seems that he has hidden reasons, so it is difficult for others to ask.

This man was very skilled in martial arts when he was a child. He was crippled because he kicked too hard. However, some people say that he fought with others and was injured by the other side. No one can tell whether the space is right or wrong. However, it is not easy for people with broken legs to practice various technical movements on the bars. Every day, he took an apprentice to the Tianqiao performing arts venue, first set up the bar, and then let his apprentice perform one or two tricks first as an introduction.