1. Introduction Dongwang stilts are a traditional stilts performance form that has long been popular in Dongwang Village, Longhe Town, Sucheng District, Suqian City. It has a history of nearly 500 years. Compared with similar stilt dances, it has a long history and unique style and has become one of the folk dances that the local people love to see. Stilts, also known as crutches, are performed by dancers with long wooden stilts tied to their feet. They are highly skilled and lively in form. Since the actors are taller than the general audience on stilts, it is easy to watch from far and near, like a mobile stage performance, so they are loved by the masses. 2. Historical Origin The origin of stilts is generally believed to be derived from the totem worship of primitive clans and is closely related to the fishing life of coastal fishermen. Dongwang stilts mainly originated from Dongwang Village, Longhe Town, Sucheng District, Suqian City, and has a history of nearly 500 years. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522-1567 AD), two folk artists surnamed Dong and Wang fled from Shanxi to Suqian and settled down by the Long River. They made a living by performing for a long time. They brought stilts from their hometown in Shanxi to Suqian. After being passed down from generation to generation and with new development, they formed what people now often call "Dong Wang Stilts". According to the "Suqian County Chronicles", "During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, folk township fairs were extremely popular in Suqian. Township fairs, also known as township temple fairs, are composed of one village or several villages. In the years of peace and harvest, at the end and beginning of the lunar year, they are spread throughout the city and the countryside. There are mostly dragon lanterns, lions, flower drums, dry boats, stilts, floats, horse lanterns, flower baskets, and overlord whips. Among them, flower drums, dry boats, and floats are the most common because of their simple forms. At the county town meeting, there are also programs such as lifting pavilions, building pavilions, windmills, standing shoulders, and stilts, which are particularly special. The audience comes from as far as several miles away." There is a saying among the people of Suqian: "There is a dragon in front of the lion in Liyuan, a dry boat in Zhuoxu pulls its tent, and there are lanterns on the stilts of Longhe River for three miles, and there are pavilions in Sucheng." It can be seen that Dongwang stilts have long been a household name. It is said that Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River six times and stayed in Suqian five times. Every time he watched the performance of Dongwang stilts. Dongwang stilts not only inherited the traditional form and essence of folk dance, but also performed programs such as catching butterflies, sewing flowers, yangko, and walking on scissors. At the same time, it continued to develop and innovate on this basis, and absorbed folk art, singing, cross talk art, local opera, sketches, etc. Especially after the founding of New China, Dongwang stilts played the role of propaganda and education, and combined with actual needs, created a large number of literary and artistic works that eulogize the times. 3. Performance characteristics Stilt dance is common throughout the country, with various performance forms and unconventional styles. The content of the activities is highly flexible and the movements are relatively free. It can be performed in large venues or in the streets. The stilts used now are mostly made of wood, and the performances are divided into single stilts and double stilts. Double stilts are usually tied to the calves to show off their skills; single stilts are held with both hands on the top of the wooden stilts, which is convenient for going up and down, and the movements are humorous. The performances are divided into "civil stilts" and "martial stilts". The civil stilts focus on acting and twisting, while the martial stilts emphasize personal skills and tricks. Dongwang stilts are one of the stilt dances. He inherited the characteristics of Shanxi stilts and developed many new forms. The dancers dress up as various characters, hold props, and step on wooden stilts with their feet, using stilts instead of feet. The actors stand upright and dance to the sound of gongs and drums, constantly changing formations. Those who are good at stilts can walk freely and can do movements such as falling, rolling, and catching butterflies, with exquisite skills. Stilt walking is also divided into "civil stepping" and "martial stepping". Performers may fall, turn somersaults, or act like dragonflies skimming the water, or fight according to the content and plot of the performance, which is called "martial stepping"; those with average skills just dance with the performance team, which is called "civil stepping". There are 1,315 people and 710 band members participating in the stilt performance. The accompanying instruments are mostly gongs, drums, cymbals, erhu, pipa, bamboo flute, sheng, etc. The performance sequence starts with dance. The actors dress up and go on stage with the accompaniment of gongs and drums to create an atmosphere. The actors use stilts to perform some difficult funny programs with acrobatic stunts, which are wonderful and unique. After the dance, the literary drama is performed, which combines speaking, singing and dancing, including rap, crosstalk, sketches, local operas such as Sizhou Opera, Liuqin Opera, Huangmei Opera and Peking Opera, with various forms and lively. Among the performance repertoires, dances include: catching butterflies, passing through flower sews, Yangko, walking scissors, etc.; folk art and dramas include: quick talk, Shandong quick talk, crosstalk and local opera short plays, etc. Traditional repertoires include: Eight Immortals Celebrating Birthday, Chen Miaochang Chasing Boats, Liu Hai Cutting Wood, etc. The actor costumes can be customized at any time according to the needs of the plot; stilt wooden legs, one pair for each person, several colorful flags, several colorful umbrellas, several colorful fans, incense coil dragon sticks, etc. Dongwang stilts performance is lively and colorful. It combines folk tunes, local operas, tradition and modernity. It has a strong local flavor and local characteristics. It is popular in urban and rural areas of Suqian and surrounding areas such as Sihong, Siyang, Shuyang, Suining, Sixian, Huaibei, etc., and is deeply loved by the masses. 4. Stilt production Stilts are mostly made of wood, divided into stilts (long stilts) and stilts (short stilts). Stilts are about 3 feet high and stilts are about 1 foot high. Stilts are very simple to make. Generally, they are made of relatively strong long columnar wooden sticks with a diameter of about 6 cm. The length is usually about 1.60 meters (the length can also be determined according to requirements), the footboard is 0.10 meters wide, and the height from the ground is generally about 0.20 meters (the height from the ground can be determined according to the height of the stilts). The footboard is tied to the calf. Stilts can also be made of bamboo, and the footsticks are tied to the appropriate place with wire. Other requirements are basically the same as the production method of wooden stilts. 5. Dongwang Stilts and Township Meetings Dongwang Stilts have been continuously passed down along with the development of folk township meetings. Its performances have been integrated with folk township meeting culture. Township meetings are the main stage for stilt performances. Traditional folk township meetings are generally based on villages, with one meeting in one village. Larger villages have two meetings or more meetings in one village, and scattered small villages have more than one meeting held in several places. The head of the township meeting is the leader. When the township meeting was first held, the masses elected a person who was enthusiastic about local public welfare and trusted by the masses to be the organizer, called the head of the meeting. The head of the meeting raised funds, and the gentry and merchants donated most of the funds, while the general public donated a small part of the funds. After the funds were raised, the props and tools were purchased, such as flags, gongs, umbrellas, fans, etc. Among them, the "flags" include: Longmen flags, long strip flags, square flags, triangular dragon and tiger flags, with blue dragons and white tigers embroidered on the flags. The umbrella is a large umbrella with colorful patterns such as "Yellow River Formation", "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea", "Flooding Jinshan Mountain", and "Lion Rolling Embroidered Ball" embroidered on it to enhance the momentum. The percussion instruments in the accompaniment include: gongs, drums, cymbals, and cymbals; the orchestral instruments include: erhu, pipa, bamboo flute, sheng, etc. "Fans" include: hand fans, palm fans, etc. In addition, there are incense trays and dragon sticks. Some associations are also equipped with a pair of golden melons, axes, and stirrups facing the sky, commonly known as "half-chao Luanjia" (given by the emperor). The venue of the township meeting (i.e. the rehearsal place) is called "huiwu", also known as "jiawu". The meeting house is mostly used in the village's ancestral hall, temple or temporarily borrowed houses. There should be an incense table, candlesticks, and statues of the Jade Emperor or Tathagata Buddha in the meeting house. Each township meeting is generally "hanging up" on New Year's Eve, which means hanging up the statues of gods, which means the township meeting has begun. Every year from the 16th day of the first lunar month to the second day of the second lunar month, it is called "falling down", and the statues and incense tables are put away, announcing the end of the township meeting. The township meeting rehearsing art programs is called "panhui", and the township meeting with art programs is called "honghui", and the township meeting without is called "baihui". The performance of activities outside the village is called "chuhui" or "canhui" or "paohui". When the two meetings meet, seeing off and welcoming each other with civilized etiquette is called "baihui". "Baihui" is extremely grand. When the two meetings meet, both the host and the guest are polite and the scene is extremely solemn. When the guest township meeting enters the crowd of people lining the road to welcome, everyone concentrates and holds their breath, walks in a uniform and slow manner, the sound of gongs and drums is low, and the incense plate and dragon stick cannot be held too high to show humility and courtesy. When the two sides meet, they bow to each other, and the host retreats slowly and leads the guest to the door of the meeting house. The guest burns incense, worships, and blesses the statue before the performance begins. After the performance, the host lined up at the entrance of the village and sent them off. Sometimes, in order to show the deep affection between the two parties, there will be a scene of "three receptions and three farewells". The so-called "three receptions and three farewells" means that when the host township sends the guest township out of the village, it waits for the other party to come back to pay respect (thank you). After the other party pays respect, they will line up on the roadside to send off again, and their attitude is also very solemn, again and again, during which the gongs and drums are deafening, and the onlookers hug each other, shoulder to shoulder, which is very spectacular. 6. Inheritance status With the dissolution of folk township associations, the traditional Dongwang stilt performance has also lost its stage for survival. Nowadays, it can only be seen in the annual temple fairs or folk art performances. Compared with the traditional performance skills, there are fewer and fewer procedures. Most people who can walk on stilts in Dongwang Village are busy with their livelihoods, or go out to work, or are old. Young people are unwilling to learn, so there are fewer and fewer people who can walk on stilts. Under the active advocacy of Wang Su, Zhang Zhiqian and Zhang Xiumei, three veteran stilt-walking artists at that time, the city and district cultural departments gave strong support and actively helped to form the Dong Wang Stilt Team of more than 30 people, the youngest of whom is 22 years old. We all look forward to this folk art flower blooming more and more beautifully.