维吾尔族达瓦孜 Darwaz

“达瓦孜”是新疆维吾尔族一种古老的传统杂技艺术，“达”在维吾尔族是“悬空”之意，“瓦孜”是指嗜好做某件事的人，“达瓦孜”便是专指高空走绳。在新疆出现两千多年的历史，衰败于民国时期，新中国成立后，在英吉沙县重新崛起。达瓦孜起源有着许多美丽的传说。相传古时有一种在空中作孽的妖怪，经常呼风唤雨，残害和欺凌百姓，让人民苦不堪言。有一名维吾尔族青年闻听此事，义愤填膺，决心拯民于水火，他在地面上竖起一根30米高的长杆，用一根60米长的绳子连接杆顶，然后赤脚沿着大绳走到杆顶与妖怪展开搏斗刺杀妖怪，拯救了平民百姓。

Dawaz is an ancient traditional acrobatic art of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. In the Uyghur language, "da" means suspended in the air, and "waz" refers to a person who is fond of doing something. Thus, dawaz specifically denotes tightrope walking at high altitudes.

With a history of over 2,000 years in Xinjiang, this art declined during the Republic of China era. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it experienced a revival in Yingisar County. There are many beautiful legends about the origin of Dawaz.

According to legend, in ancient times, an evil monster roamed the sky, summoning wind and rain at will to torment and bully local people, plunging them into deep suffering. Upon hearing of the people’s plight, a young Uyghur man was filled with righteous indignation and resolved to save them from disaster.

He erected a 30-meter-tall pole on the ground and fastened a 60-meter rope to its top. Barefoot, he walked along the rope all the way to the pole’s summit, where he fought and killed the monster, rescuing the common folk.

“达瓦孜”一词最早出现在成书于1072至1074年撰写的《突厥语大词典》中。该书作者穆罕穆德喀什葛里是维吾尔族人民的著名学者，11世纪出生在喀什。在他的著作中有人们表演“达瓦孜”的记载。

The term "Dawaz" first appeared in Diwan Lughat al-Turk(Compendium of Turkic Dialects), compiled between 1072 and 1074. Its author, Mahmud al-Kashgari, was a renowned Uyghur scholar born in Kashgar in the 11th century. His work contains records of people performing Dawaz.

在汉文史籍中明确记载了达瓦孜演出活动，是清朝乾隆喜庆年间的文学家赵翼，其所著的“檐曝杂记”中有一段描述关于当时回人（维吾尔族）走大绳的详细与经过，其走法与现代“达瓦孜”一样，从而证实了在当时就有此活动。

Among Chinese historical documents, clear accounts of Dawaz performances can be found in writings by Zhao Yi, a literary figure during the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty. In his book *Notes Written Under the Eaves*, he gave a detailed description of tightrope-walking by the Hui people (an old term for Uyghurs back then). The stunts they performed were identical to modern Dawaz, proving that this art was already prevalent at that time.

达瓦孜具有浓厚的民族特色。表演入场时，一般骑一匹青马，马头上缀着三色绸彩带，马颈上一串铜铃叮咚作响，马臀盖布上绣有车型图案，马鞍上搭一块漂亮的金丝绒或其他料子的盖布，表演者头戴扁形皮帽，外缠带色的头巾，也有戴顶花帽，身穿袖子和前胸绣有维吾尔传统花边图案的圆领汗衫，绣有花边的灯笼裤，腰带为黑色或紫色，短上衣为紫红色，赤脚。整件服饰的色彩绚丽。通过优美欢快的民族乐曲或者家喻户晓的十二木卡姆传统音乐，营造出热烈喜庆的气氛，造成表演和欣赏的良好氛围，也与表演动作相辅相成，浑然一体。

Dawaz bears strong ethnic characteristics. For the entrance, performers usually ride a dark green horse decorated with three-coloured silk ribbons on its head. A string of copper bells hung around the horse’s neck tinkles. The cloth covering the horse’s hindquarters is embroidered with wheel patterns, and the saddle is covered with an exquisite cloth made of gold velvet or other materials. Performers wear flat leather hats wrapped with coloured scarves, or Uyghur flower hats. They put on round-neck shirts embroidered with traditional Uyghur lace patterns on the sleeves and chest, lace-trimmed balloon trousers, black or purple waist sashes and fuchsia short jackets, and perform barefoot. The costumes are bright and gorgeous. Beautiful and cheerful ethnic folk music or the well-known traditional Twelve Muqam creates a warm and festive atmosphere, offering a pleasant experience for both performers and audiences, and blends perfectly with the stunts on the rope.

达瓦孜表演特点：难度大，可视性强。上升的第一段坡度较陡，约有40度；第二段坡度稍缓，演员在第二段就可以做些前进后退，蹦绳之类的表演动作；第三段开始六、七米基本是平直的，演员的种种杂技动作在这里表演，表演后就直上牌楼，这段坡度最陡约有45度，演员最为吃力。另外第一段有一对斜拉绳，第二段有两对斜拉绳，第三段有四对斜拉绳，目的在于使主绳稳定。

Features of Dawaz performances: highly difficult and highly viewable.

The first ascending section has a steep slope of about 40 degrees. The second section has a gentler slope, where performers can walk back and forth and bounce on the rope. The six to seven metres of the third section are nearly horizontal, serving as the main area for all kinds of acrobatic tricks. After this section, performers climb straight up to the arch along the steepest slope of roughly 45 degrees, which is the most strenuous part. Besides, there is one pair of diagonal stay ropes for the first section, two pairs for the second and four pairs for the third to stabilise the main tightrope.