Rongjiang County is located in the southeast of Guizhou Province, in the middle and upper reaches of Duliu River, bordering Liping and Congjiang in the east, Libo in the south, Sandu and Leishan in the west, and Jianhe County in the north. The ethnic minority population accounts for 84.38% of the total population, of which the Dong people account for 38.38% of the total population. The Dong people did not have written language in history, so there is no special record of the Dong people's big song. The bits and pieces of records in the local historical records in Chinese include "Notes from Lao Xue'an" by Lu You of the Song Dynasty, "The barbarians of Chen, Yuan, and Jingzhou have Ge Ling (the self-name of the Dong people has been identified by the ethnic historians)" and "During the farming off-season, up to 100 or 200 people form a group, holding hands and singing, and several people playing the sheng in front to lead them." The singing scene described in "Chi Ya" by Kuang Lu of the Ming Dynasty, "The Dong people are good at music, singing long songs with their eyes closed, bowing their heads and shaking their feet", is completely similar to the singing of male big songs in the Dong area today. If the "Duoye" recorded in "Notes of Lao Xue'an" is the Caitang Da Ge, then the Dong Da Ge has been circulated in the Dong area in the Song Dynasty. If the "long song with closed eyes, bowing head and shaking feet" described in "Chi Ya" is the scene of singing the Dong Da Ge, then the Dong Da Ge has been popular in some areas of the Dong at least in the Ming Dynasty. Dong Da Ge can be divided into: Drum Tower Da Ge, which is the form of male and female singing groups in different villages singing in the drum tower; Voice Da Ge, which is a wonderful interlude inserted in the process of singing in the drum tower; Narrative Da Ge, a variety of "multi-voice rap" of Dong folk art; Children's Da Ge, which is a multi-voice song sung by children during games and entertainment. Opera Da Ge, which is a multi-voice song sung by Dong opera troupes (teams) when performing Dong opera. As a polyphonic folk song, the Dong Da Ge is rare in the world in terms of its polyphonic thinking, polyphonic form, chorus skills, and cultural connotation. The most important musical feature is the collaborative singing of two parts without a conductor. The interval relationship between the two parts is generally within five degrees, and the singing of the high-pitched part has strong improvisation and individual characteristics in a certain vocal cavity inertia. The most musical and the most expressive of singing techniques and art in the big song is the "sound big song", which mostly simulates the sounds of birds and cicadas in nature, forest waves and flowing water, and forms a unique set of words and sound expressions in long-term practice. This simulation generally appears in the "pulling throat" part that shows the singing and melody. The bass singers sing a long continuous bass in unison on the main tone by means of circular breathing, and two or three high-pitched singers sing solos in turns in a melodic and improvisational way to simulate the singing of natural sounds. The overall range of the big song is within nine degrees, which is the range that any normal adult can sing under normal conditions, and it is also an important condition and prerequisite for the Dong people to "sing for all". At the same time, such a relatively peaceful range ensures that the voice will not be excessively fatigued or damaged during long-term singing, which makes it possible to perform duets that often last for three, five or even seven days. Traditional big songs are all sung in the second dialect of the southern Dong dialect area, and the use of lyrics is closely related to the local language. However, because the lyrics of big songs pay attention to the harmony of rhythm and the precision of words, they are very different from the use of daily spoken language. The lyrics of big songs vary in length, with the shortest being more than ten lines and the longest being hundreds of lines. Regardless of the length, the number of lines is an even number, and the number of syllables in each line is generally an odd number. Each sentence can also be long or short, with the shortest being three words and the longest being more than a hundred words. The structural pattern of big songs can be summarized as "even-numbered lines and odd-numbered sentences, sentences of varying lengths, and lengths that can be large or small", and the rhythm of big songs is particularly particular about what connects such uneven structures vividly. Dong big songs often use three rhyme methods, namely, intra-sentence rhyme, inter-sentence rhyme, and stanza rhyme. "Rhyme within a sentence" means that the last sound of the previous word group in a sentence and the previous sound or the next sound of the next word group rhyme with each other. "Rhyme between sentences" means that the last word of the odd-numbered sentence between the upper and lower sentences rhymes with the even-numbered words in the even-numbered sentence. "Rhyme in a section" means that two sentences form a section, and the end of the even-numbered sentences must rhyme with each other, and the rhyme must be consistent throughout. Language has become the foundation of the big song, and the big song tradition has become the most effective way to inherit and protect the language and even culture of the ethnic group due to its reliance on and refinement of language. The drum tower is the symbol of the Dong village and a public place for the Dong people. The drum tower and the drum tower square are important places for the inheritance of the Dong big song. The Dong big song, like other Dong folk songs, is passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, without any written records. The Dong people have a catchphrase that "the Han people have written classics, while the Dong people have no written records and rely on oral transmission." The choir is the foundation of the inheritance of the Dong big song, and the singer is the hero of the inheritance of the big song. Xiaohuang currently has the following singers: Sa Kou, Nai Cuilan, Bu Kaiyin, Bu Yujiao, Bu Longan, Wu Shixiong, Wu Daan, Bu Shengfei, Jia Fuying, Nai Xinlin, Sa Lixian, Nai Anyu, Nai Yanjiao, Gong Hua Niang, Gong Meiliang, Wu Xiuguang, Sa Dou, Sa Yinhua, Pan Gong Naisheng, Wu Fuyinxiu, Tianfu Xiuyue, Pan Fuzhong, Wu Guofu, Pan Xiantai, Chen Sa Yanjiao, Pan Jinren, Pan Fenggao, etc. Rongjiang County was opened up in the seventh year of Yongzheng, and the ancient state hall was established in the eighth year. It was not until then that it was officially incorporated into the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and Han culture began to enter this area. During the Jiaqing and Daoguang years, a group of Dong literati who knew both Dong songs and Chinese appeared in the Dong area. Their dual cultural identities prompted them to begin to use Chinese characters to record the Dong language. To this day, many "big song books" that record Dong sounds in Chinese characters are still preserved among the Dong people. Although "recording Dong sounds with Chinese characters" is not mainstream in the inheritance system of Da Ge, male singers who are proficient in Chinese and young people who have attended school are still willing to introduce it into Da Ge teaching or learning. "Recording Dong sounds with Chinese characters" records oral texts in words, which helps to remember and reproduce the lyrics. However, so far, there is no one-to-one correspondence between characters and Dong sounds that is recognized by all Dong people, so it is difficult to faithfully maintain the original sound and original meaning and be fully understood, used and restored by a second person other than the recorder. Information source: Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Center (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) Information source: Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Center (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)