Golden Dragon New Year Gongs and Drums
The New Year's gongs and drums were introduced to the 17th group of Qilong Community, Jinlong Town, during the period of "Huguang filling Sichuan" during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. According to the recollections of local elders, the New Year's gongs and drums have gone through several generations without any evidence, and it is only known that they learned the art from Xiao Zihe of Group 1 of Qilong Community. The performers of the New Year's gongs and drums are composed of 5 people (one plays the big gong, two plays the horse gong, one plays the second drum, and one plays the cymbals). Its music scores have been reduced from the original 104 to the current 16; its music has unique local characteristics of western Sichuan, and the music is beautiful and moving; its content is mostly about punishing evil and promoting good, cultivating interest, and urging people to make progress. Due to the three-year natural disaster and the "ten-year catastrophe", the New Year's gongs and drums fell into a trough and were once scattered among the people. In May 1953, the New Year's gongs and drums of Jinlong Town participated in the performance at the Huairen Hall in Beijing, and the performers were personally received and commended by national leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai; in February 1956, they participated in the performance held in the Jintang Auditorium and received good reviews. (No pictures available, please provide them.) (No pictures available, please provide them.)