Description of Acrobatics Watching and the Significance of Poetics and Folklore in Poems of Song Dynasties

The entertainment life of the Chinese people in Dynasties of Southern Song and Northern Song was diverse, with acrobatics especially loved by the people of the dynasties. By the time of the Song Dynasties, the show had greatly diversified in terms of types and forms, with performances of a temple fair and puppet shows being the most popular. Poets in Song Dynasties preferred to portray the specific event of watching these shows from different perspectives. Thus, the content of the acrobatics and the audience’s feedback were represented completely. Moreover, the attention of people in Song Dynasties to daily life was reflected. Poems of the Song Dynasties with the theme of watching acrobatics demonstrate a triple poetic significance. Firstly, the depiction of the acrobatics in poems expanded the scope of the writing of daily life in Song Dynasties. Secondly, the depiction explored the depth of the writing. Thirdly, it also inherited and innovated the techniques of past narrative poems. Furthermore, poems on this theme also indicated the various folk customs of the dynasties of Southern Song and Northern Song. Therefore, the poems hold unique significance in terms of folklore.