The Miao "Youfang Song" is a traditional folk music form that is most loved by young men and women in Miao villages in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou. Most of the Miao people in Guizhou live together in the same village with the same surname. The Miao people have the custom of not marrying people with the same surname and clan, and it is strictly forbidden to seek a mate in the village. Therefore, unmarried young men living in Miao villages in Shibing County, Huangping, Zhenyuan, Kaili and other places go to neighboring villages or farther places in groups of three or five to sing and find a mate during festivals or slack seasons in October of the lunar calendar and February of the following year. This is commonly known as "Youfang". In Miao language, "you" means "string" and "fang" means the village where marriage is held. In Miao language, it is called "Xiayo", "xia" means song, and "yo" means "play", "invite" and "shake", which can be translated as "youfang song", "love song" or "Malang song", etc. The places for youfang activities are mostly "youfangping" (an open space near the village, and some are located on the hillside, also called "youfangpo"), which is specially designed for young men and women to socialize. Due to the differences in cultural habits in different places, various titles and methods have emerged. In Xiangxi and Songtao, Guizhou, it is called "wild love songs", in Southeast Guizhou, it is called "sitting on the flower slope", in Rongjiang, Congjiang, Guizhou and the Damiao Mountain area in Guangxi, it is called "sitting on the moon", in the northwest of Guizhou, it is called "walking on the moon", and in some places it is called "love songs" or "playing with the watch" and "picking flowers". The Miao people's "traveling songs" have a long history. "Continued Literature General Examination" said: "Unmarried Miao men blow the reed pipe and sing lyrics, which is called "jumping on the moon". "Miao Customs Records" says: "Men who are strong but unmarried," "all climb the mountain to look around, blow the leaves to make a yo-yo sound, and the unmarried girls follow them. "The "Yongsui Hall Chronicle Miao Dong Chapter" records: When young Miao men and women fall in love, "men and women invite each other in the wild, and express their feelings through songs. Their fathers and brothers know it but cannot stop them." The "Huangping Prefecture Chronicle" once had such a record: "When playing the sheng, they sing mountain songs. The two colors of the leaves are attracted to the deep ditch and dense green. They whisper to each other, which is called shaking A Mei, also called shaking Ma Lang." "Shaking A Mei" and "Shaking Ma Lang" refer to traveling. Traveling is based on singing duets throughout. A young man and woman generally go through two stages of collective duets and individual contact from knowing each other to getting married. From strangers to familiarity, and gradually to deep feelings, they are all formed through singing duets. The order of this kind of song is generally meeting song, youth song, praise song, courtship song, love song, and farewell song. A relatively simple one-section form is a sentence of music that is repeated infinitely, and only at the end is one or two bars added to sing with the previous words. The song ends with the coda. During the slack season, young boys and girls would learn songs from the love song teacher in their village. The teacher would orally explain the content of each verse and ask them to memorize it word for word. After they learned the love songs, they could sing fluently on Youfangpo without any mistakes. The Miao people have made a rule that men and women from the same clan are not allowed to travel around. They can only travel around and sing duets during the day, not at night. There are many forms of traveling, such as chorus, unison, duet, solo, etc. The content is healthy and colorful, including ancient love songs, meeting songs, lovesickness songs, farewell songs, etc. The language is concise and powerful, the affection is lingering, and the rhythm of the melody is clear. There are rich modes, including one-part, two-part, and three-part modes, with rhythms of 42, 44, etc. The singing is fast and slow, and there are often extended notes and up and down glissandos. The melody is melodious, pleasant, and expressive. The lyrics are mainly improvised, and the duets are not very vivid. The lyrics and music of Youfang songs, group songs, ancient love songs, etc. are closely coordinated and very contagious. By singing Youfang songs, every Miao young man and woman can fall in love and exchange feelings on Youfangpo, express feelings through songs, make friends through songs, express their love to each other, and seek a satisfactory life partner and good news in life. The main inheritors are: Long Heping, male, Miao, family-inherited, Tunshang Group, Tunshang Village, Yangliutang Town, Shibing County. Wu Tongxian, male, Miao, master-inherited, Tunshang Group, Tunshang Village, Yangliutang Town, Shibing County. Lei Anzhen, female, Miao, master-inherited, Group 4, Wuyang Village, Chengguan Town, Shibing County. Wu Tonglian, female, Miao, master-inherited, Group 3, Wuyang Village, Chengguan Town, Shibing County. Shi Guangming, male, Miao, master-inherited, Group 4, Nanmen Village, Chengguan Town, Shibing County. Wu Donghua, male, Miao, master-inherited, Group 4, Zhongsha Village, Chengguan Town, Shibing County. Miao Youfang Song is sung in the Miao language and in a unique love song musical mode. The lyrics are improvised on the spot. The music is beautifully structured and lyrical, and does not require any instrumental accompaniment. The lyrics often use metaphors, personification, contrast, parallelism, exaggeration and other techniques, which provide us with research and historical clues to understand the formation, structure, mode, scale, range, and interval of ancient Miao music. It has very precious cultural and artistic value. Since the reform and opening up, the politics, economy, culture, education and people's values in the Miao area have undergone fundamental changes, and the traditional way of love has gradually lost its original vitality. Today, the traditional cultural phenomena of Miao youth such as singing, traveling on the slope, and choosing a spouse have disappeared without a trace and exist in name only. Miao Youfang Song has also lost the ecological environment for survival and inheritance. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)