Ma Xi cymbals are an ancient and unique Han folk instrumental music that is popular in Ma Xi Village, Wenshui County, Shanxi Province. They are named because the cymbals are the main instrument in the performance. Ma Xi cymbals were originally called "R 咣咣" and are the main instrumental performance form for rain-praying and sacrificial ceremonies in Wenshui. Whenever there is a long drought, the villagers carry the iron monkey statue (Sun Wukong) in Yin Tang Cave (Xia Mountain in the northwest of the village) down the mountain for sacrifice, and "R 咣咣" runs through the whole process. Therefore, there is a local proverb that "If you want rain, find Ma Xi. There is an iron monkey in Yin Tang Cave who loves to listen to Ma Xi's cymbals. If he is happy, it will rain." At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, military musicians with the surnames Xing and Li settled here and made a series of reforms to "R 咣咣", integrating military formations into the performance and renamed it Ma Xi cymbals. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, musicians Xing Yufen and Niu Jugong standardized various technical movements such as "rubbing", "wrong hitting", "pull hitting", and "grinding hitting", organically combining performance movements and performance formations, and integrating them into the folk religious activities of Wenshui to worship the "Ma Yi Fairy", which has been passed down to this day. The performance forms of "Ma Xi cymbals" are mainly divided into: 1. "Harmony between Heaven, Earth and Man" is the main melody of "Ma Xi cymbals", and there are three movements of "Good Weather", "Flourishing All Things" and "Celebrating Harvest". The instruments are big drums, big cymbals, big cymbals, quacks and spinners, which are mainly used for sacrifices and rain; 2. "Chicken Club", which is mostly used in festive scenes such as weddings and birthdays. The performance form is mostly a sitting system with instruments including drums, big cymbals, small cymbals, spinners and gongs; 3. "Dogs Bite Each Other", commonly known as "Dogs Bite Each Other", only drums, gongs and cymbals are used. The playing time can be long or short, and it can be repeated freely to form a question-and-answer effect. It is mostly used in the gong and drum performances in folk community fire. The rhythm of Wenshui "Maxixi" is complex and changeable, and the melody is ups and downs, showing a bold, vigorous, rough, warm, simple and heavy artistic style. It has a high reference value for studying local history and culture, farming and sacrifice, folk customs, instrumental art, etc. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)