Mural guide
In a paved courtyard one performer holds a handstand while another tosses balls and a small dagger into the air, with a red-columned hall at the right and onlookers along the back wall; at the left three seated musicians sit by a drum on a stand and a frame of five bronze bells, beside a cloth holding hoops, balls, sticks and a dagger.
Han Baixi
Ball juggling, fire spitting, handstands and other baixi acts seen on Han pictorial stones
Introduction
Zhang Heng's Ode to the Western Capital names acts such as tripod lifting, pole climbing, ball and sword juggling, rope walking, and swallowing knives and spitting fire. On Han pictorial stones from Nanyang in Henan, deep-eyed, high-nosed foreigners are often shown performing ball juggling, fire spitting, and handstands.