2016年托福备考：“踩高跷”用英语怎么说

A stilt is made by fitting a footrest on a long stick. People tread on the treadles .tie the stilts onto the legs, then walk on the stilts and make movements. This is called Walking on Stilts.

During the period of Wei, Jin, the Southern and the Northern dynasties, walking on Stilts was performed in the imperial palace mainly as a game of acrobatics. It was spread among the people offer Song and Yuan dynasties.

The folk stilts performance is usually done in the festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Double Ninth Festival. In order to make the performance more attractive, people usually mix the traditional dramas with stilts. Walking on Stilts can be divided into civil and military. The civil stilts means to act the roles in dramas, such as the roles of Tang Seng and his apprentices in the "Journey to the West" and Xu Xian and Lady Bai in the“Legend of the White Snake" and so on. The military stilt means to act the unique skills such as leap in the air and rolls etc. which reflects the characteristics of Walking on Stilts.

Walking on the stilts is a living activity. Even at present, the stilts team could be seen at the fairs or the performances in the traditional festivals. So to speak, Walking on Stilts has become an important Chinese cultural symbol like the Dragon dance, Lion dance and Yangko dance.