The earliest traceable time of the lanterns in Yao'an County, Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is the Ming Dynasty, and they are widely spread. There is no specific successor or creator, and it is passed down from generation to generation through the words and deeds of parents and the influence of young people. Lantern performances are usually held during the Spring Festival, and farmers organize lantern-playing teams to perform in various villages and households. Yao'an lanterns are mainly composed of "pulling flowers" and "cow songs". "Pulling flowers" is a relatively complete song and dance program that has been passed down to this day in Yao'an lanterns. The basic formation is a circle, also known as "dustpan lanterns" and "tuanchangzi opera". The dance is centered on the challange, with four or five male and female dancers. In the round dance, there are movements such as small fish grabbing water, twisting twists, big flowers, old cows rubbing backs, magpies climbing branches, flies rubbing legs, etc., using the steps of twisting, jumping, lifting, and four-way steps. The postures include eagles drying wings, fishing for the moon from the bottom of the sea, small fish grabbing water, two people facing each other, lions shaking bells, and standing alone on branches, forming the unique style of Yao'an lanterns. "Cow songs" are collectively called "Bazi tunes", which are folk songs sung during spring plowing and planting. The upper Bazi singing style incorporates the love songs of the Yi people in the mountainous areas. The voice is soft and the melody is low and elegant; the lower Bazi singing style has a high voice, loud and brisk. Bazi tunes are duets between men and women, and the lyrics are composed of subject and adverbs. Generally, the subject is two sentences (the upper sentence and the lower sentence), and the adverbs are added in the middle for six or ten sentences. The subject and adverbs are not directly related in content, but in the whole singing style, their melody is inseparable and interdependent. Lanterns are all made up when they are performed. The Tartar and the flower-drawing girls are usually played by beginners, while artists are used to play them when performing excerpts. Accompaniment instruments include gongs, drums, cymbals, small gongs, flutes, erhu, yueqin, and sanxian. In order to promote and inherit the unique Yao'an lanterns, the Yao'an County Lantern Troupe was established in 1956, and the Farmers' Drama Creation Group (now the Farmers' Drama Association) was established in 1983. They have long insisted on creating performances and coaching amateur performance teams. At present, the township and village (neighborhood) committees in the dam area of Yao'an County can convene a lantern song and dance performance team of 20 to 30 people at any time. Yao'an lantern songs and dances are spread throughout urban and rural areas, and can be sung by men, women, old and young, and are an important part of Yunnan lanterns.