"Lichuan Xiaoqu" is a folk art variety that was born and spread in Nanping and Chaxing areas of Lichuan City. Its birth limit was at least in the late Ming Dynasty. It was a period of development and prosperity in the Qing Dynasty. Many new works were still published during the Republic of China. It was in a stage of decline on the eve of liberation. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it began to recover. In 1971, the Lichuan City Art Troupe used this folk song and performance form to create "Old Yang Sanzhu Qingsongkeng" to participate in the art performance held in Beijing, and won the first prize in music and creation. Later, it successively created "Thousand Miles to Find Wife" and "Discarding Pawns to Save the Car", ushering in the golden period of inheritance and development of "Lichuan Xiaoqu". There are two traditional ways to perform "Lichuan Xiaoqu": one is "singing songs" in the scene, and the other is "singing elegant songs" in the hall. The inheritance of artists includes family-style teams and master-apprentice teaching. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the inheritance team of Xiaoqu only left Yuan Shaoqing of the Yuan family team and Nie Cheng (folk art master) of the Nie family team. "Lichuan Xiaoqu" has a rich variety of tunes, with 39 types and 55 pieces, including 34 singles, 12 minor tunes, and 9 drum songs. The repertoire is very rich, with more than 100 pieces in existence. Traditional repertoires include "Pan Chuang Wang" and "Pa Zi Ge". Lichuan Xiaoqu has unique accompaniment instruments: three pick boards, bamboo drums, bang drums, big tube pianos, and daqin. There are four modern performance methods for Lichuan Xiaoqu: one is quasi-role performance singing, the second is group performance singing, the third is double sitting singing, and the fourth is Xiaoqu drama. Lichuan Xiaoqu has strong national, regional, inheritance, education, entertainment, and simplicity. It has certain academic and practical value for studying Tujia ethnic culture. The singing form of Lichuan Xiaoqu is flexible, divided into three forms: sitting singing, standing singing, and walking singing. It can be performed by one person or two people. It is combined with rap and supplemented by certain performances. There are two traditional performance forms: one is singing elegant songs, which is popular among rural scholars such as private tutors, doctors, and small workshop owners. Before singing, they burn incense and wash their hands, then play the qin and sing, creating an elegant atmosphere. When singing elegant songs, firecrackers are set off at the beginning of the song, and candies are placed on the table. In the middle of the song, snacks such as Yin rice and glutinous rice balls are served, which is a sign of respect. The other form is "singing songs", which means performing in a venue to support the family. It is a single person singing without accompaniment, and the interlude is played with the mouth instead of the qin, which is called drum-pulling songs. The only musical instruments are bamboo drums and three pick boards. After a song is sung, the bamboo drums are turned over as money containers to ask the audience for money. The singing forms of newly compiled songs have developed into three types based on singing elegant songs. One is the quasi-role performance form, that is, some actors dress up and perform in roles, while the rest of the actors enter without roles. The second is the common form of quyi performance, which is two people sitting and singing. The third is a group performance of singing, with 4 to 12 people, without makeup or costumes, and they are the protagonists when they advance and the crowd when they retreat. In June 2007, Lichuan Xiaoqu was selected into the first batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage list of Hubei Province.