The drum-kicking yangge, which is popular in Shenchi County in the northwest of Shanxi Province, is also called the earth stall yangge. As a unique, traditional, and small-scale rural mass cultural performance form, it is deeply loved by the masses and has strong vitality. There are currently four theories about its origin. One is that it is said that the Liangshan heroes accepted the official imperial edict after they wiped out the peasant righteous army Fang La. The Ruan brothers realized that the court was corrupt at the time, and the imperial edict to Liangshan was to use the righteous army. Once they were used up, the heroes would have nothing to do, no food to eat, and their future would still be bleak, so they refused to accept the imperial edict. As a result, the court and the local government were still afraid of the Ruan brothers, fearing that they would make a comeback in the future, and decided to arrest the Ruan family and execute the whole family to eliminate future troubles. After hearing the news, the Ruan brothers decided to run away with their family, but how to avoid the eyes and ears of the court and escape the pursuit of the government became the primary problem. Faced with the restlessness of the whole family, the Nguyen brothers did not know what to do. Finally, Nguyen Xiaoqi came up with a plan: the whole family disguised themselves, the young and middle-aged men played the first and second pairs of drums, the young women played the flower pullers, the old, weak and disabled followed closely behind to form the rear octagon, and the other middle-aged and strong men played the drum beaters, that is, the drummers, and escaped after a little training. It is said that the living devil Nguyen Xiaoqi himself was the flag-teller, leading the whole team and responsible for tipping off. Since the whole family was good at water, in order not to attract the attention of the government, they specifically looked for land routes, knocking and beating, kicking all the way from their hometown, walking during the day and sleeping at night, eating dew covered the sky, crossing five or six provinces and regions for thousands of miles, and kicking all the way to the current Vietnam, so that they could survive. This is also the reason why the surname Nguyen is the most common in Vietnam in the future; secondly, this performance form is said to be the appearance of the Liangshan heroes when they entered the village for reconnaissance during the three attacks on Zhujiazhuang in "Water Margin"; thirdly, it is said to come from the story of the three attacks on Damingfu in "The Water Margin of Loyalty and Righteousness", saying that the first and second pairs of drums are Nguyen Xiaoqi, Nguyen Xiaowu, Nguyen Xiaoer, and Liu Tang, and the string flag is Shi Qian; fourthly, it is said that during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, farmers in a certain place held a "wine reward temple fair" and sang "thank you drama" after the autumn harvest. A local righteous man invited all kinds of male and female heroes to eliminate violence and protect the good. In order to commemorate this event, the activity process was compiled into this form to commemorate it. This kind of hard-kick performance art is now mainly spread in Shenchi, Shanxi, and there are also some rural activities in Shuozhou and Wuzhai. Composition and classification. The drum-kicking yangko is composed of about 30 people including drum road, front octagon, back octagon, string flag, singer, handler, and miscellaneous workers. The drums and drums are dubbed by them throughout the performance of the Yangko team. The instruments are only drums, gongs, cymbals, and drums. It is similar to the "martial arts field" of the theater troupe, with drums as the main instrument. There are about 7 people. During the performance, the drums and drums are placed in the front square of the Yangko team, facing the drummers. When walking, they walk in front of the drum team. The drum team is divided into the front octagon and the back octagon. The front octagon includes the first pair of drums, the second pair of drums, and the corresponding four pullers. The back octagon refers to the eight people behind the front octagon. The roles are Mr. Guan, the romantic young man, a pair of merchants (a peddler and a plaster seller), a hairy boy, a hairy girl (there are also stupid boys and stupid girls), and an old couple. The role of these eight people is to embellish and set off, and their movements are more elegant and naughty than the first eight characters; Luomao is the center of the whole team. Because he is the honorary leader, in order to show his uniqueness and conceal his identity without any restrictions, he appears as a clown, jumping around and delivering messages; singers can be full-time or part-time, and they are singers with fixed drum beats as tunes; Jingshou is the leader in the actual sense, similar to the captain, the head and deputy head of the troupe, usually 12 people, in charge of the administrative affairs of the whole team, external exchanges, etc.; odd jobs are to boil water, carry drums, and look after props, usually about 3 people. Makeup and performance. The costumes and makeup of Shenchi Kick-drum Yangko are basically similar to those of the male, female, clean, mo and chou roles in opera. The four people in the front octagonal Kick-drum Yangko wear scarves and folded heads, heroic mirrors, flying sideburns, and full beards. They wear black jackets, colorful pants, waist wraps, waist skirts, and black boots (now generally Jiefang sneakers). They are dressed in the costumes of Wusheng (Jing role) and the facial makeup is a big five-colored face. One point should be highlighted: power! The costumes and makeup of Lahua are basically similar to those of the female roles in opera, and the props are silk handkerchiefs and flower fans. The costumes and makeup of the back octagonal roles are consistent with the characteristics of the roles they play. The three-colored face or monkey face is worn by the Luomao, and the silver brush is held in hand, dressed as a man or a woman, and the movements are like monkeys. The performance of Kick-drum Yangko is carried out according to the drum beats of the drum road, that is, kicking starts when the drum is heard. The number of drum beats is similar to the board name in opera, which is the key to changing the kicking method and formation. The main formations of drum kicking include Wulei formation, plum blossom formation, single digging cloud, double digging cloud, Tiandipai, jumping four gates, warm field, sea fishing, pulling mountain formation, etc. The characteristics of pulling flower are turning, dropping needles, and walking quietly. The action must be fast and agile. If it is slow, on the one hand, it will delay the kicking drum action of her partner, and on the other hand, there is a possibility of being kicked by the partner. The performance of the back octagon is mainly walking and twisting. As long as the individual can show the characteristics of their own appearance, they can do it. But they have one thing, except for special formations, they cannot walk in front of the front octagon. The characteristics of the movement of Luomao are free to move and stay still. He can drill in any space and penetrate everywhere, but his range of activities is generally "middle". The singer is also called the singer of Yangko. He can be a part-time or full-time member of the drum team. Performance process. The performance of the Yangko team is performed on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year, a special festival with strong ethnic characteristics. Of course, the local officials' whim and need to do this to cheer up are not included. The performance process usually lasts 46 days and is divided into three stages: starting the yangko, blasting the yangko, and stacking the yangko. Here is a brief introduction to the performance process of the yangko team from Mafang Village, Shenchi County. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)