In the mouths of the older generation of Wugang people, Nuo opera is called ghost opera. It is the oldest kind of dance to entertain gods, to drive away plague and avoid epidemics, and to express peace. Deng Yi, a Wugang native in the Qing Dynasty who was known as one of the "Five Sons of Hunan", had such a vivid description: "The big drums were beating at the door, and the witches were dancing together. The big witches were mumbling like singing, and the small witches were dancing and dancing. The witches' songs and dances made the gods happy, and the whole house stood up when the gods wanted to come. The host respected the gods and did not disturb them. It was like the blessing from heaven. Yellow sheep and white dog blood were sacrificed, and they were lined up in front of the gods one by one. In the east, bright lights and candles shone, and paper money flew with the wind. The gods went out drunk and full, and they would fly to welcome the gods tomorrow." It can be seen that Wugang Nuo opera was popular in the territory around the middle of the Qing Dynasty. The origin of Wugang Nuo opera can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. According to legend, a prince heard that there were two wizards with great magic skills among the people, so he wanted to test their skills, so he built an underground palace in the palace and invited the ladies of the East Palace and the West Palace, eighteen beauties and seventy-two princes to play music, sing and dance in the palace. One day, the prince said to the two wizards who were invited into the palace, there has been a lot of noise here in recent days, how can the two masters eliminate these evil noises and evil spirits? The wizards concentrated for a moment and heard the sound of singing and dancing. So they took out their magic tools, chanted a spell, and drew a bowl of witch water called "Snow Sand Water", and then sprayed it out. Suddenly, the whole palace was silent. The prince was shocked. While sending someone to send the wizard away, he went down to the underground palace to find out what was going on. As a result, he found that the underground palace was like an ice cellar, and the cold air was overwhelming. All the players, singers, singers and dancers were frozen to death. The next day, the prince ordered a charcoal fire to be lit in the underground palace and invited the wizards again. The two wizards counted with their fingers and begged the king that if they exterminated these "evil voices", their nine clans would not be implicated. After getting the king's agreement, they stabbed the ground with a sword, and as a result, all the heads in the underground palace fell to the ground. The "injustice" created by the king unintentionally caused the souls of all the dead to linger, and the voices of injustice continued to be heard for a long time. The king felt deeply ashamed, and later he had to invite the two wizards again to perform a seven-day and seven-night sacrifice in the palace to comfort all the wronged souls. In this way, the witch songs and dances of the past, like mountain streams, gradually spread down and infiltrated from the palace to the people. Unfortunately, after several dynasties and generations of Nuo opera, today, this mountain stream has shown signs of drying up. The old Nuo opera performers are now old or dead, and the young would rather go out to work and no longer care about earning the performance fee of twenty yuan per show, and have no intention of staying in this ancient traditional culture, causing Wugang Nuo opera to face the crisis of extinction. Wugang Nuo opera performances are divided into two types: external drama and main drama. In history, some plays had simpler plots and characters. Although they used to wear masks to sing, after the late Qing Dynasty, influenced by local operas, some actors gradually changed their masks to painted faces, and the program gradually developed into a drama form, with more gongs and drums as accompaniment, and some string music and high-pitched tunes. These programs are mainly for entertaining people, reducing the rituals of entertaining gods, and are called external dramas in Wugang Nuo opera, also called Yang opera. Yangxi is completely different from Zhengxi. It is lively and relaxed in form, and its language is humorous and simple. The themes are basically based on people's daily lives, reflecting the cleverness and wisdom of the working people. Zhengxi is a sacrificial activity mainly for entertaining gods. Actors must wear Nuo masks, step on the steps, and make Nuo sounds to drive away ghosts and epidemics. The scene is grand and solemn. All Nuo masks are simple and primitive, with special artistic charm, coupled with the religious charm of God consciousness, so they are loved by people of all generations. Nuo masks deliberately depict the characteristics of gods, condensing the efforts of folk sculptors from generation to generation, and integrating a rich and colorful family of Nuo masks. These wooden sculptures are finely crafted, exaggerated, and lively. Among them, loyalty, treachery, excellence, oldness, and ugliness are all similar. In the old days, villagers regarded Nuo masks as "gods". There was a set of worship rituals for opening and sealing Nuo masks, and they could not be sloppy. In a place called Longtou Bridge in Longxi Town, Wugang, there is this kind of Nuo opera, which is called "living fossil". Longtou Bridge is located at the foot of Yunshan Mountain, 7 kilometers away from the urban area. It is a beautiful place with beautiful scenery and simple folk customs. It is said that there was a Nuo opera troupe in the village 400 years ago, and it was performed during the annual sacrifice, both in the township and across the county. Nuo opera performance has a certain program, and its characteristics are somewhat similar to the Taoist steps of "stepping on the Gang" and "stepping on the spirit". The performance is very simple, rough, exaggerated, warm and fiery. Most of the characters in the play are Nuo gods. The content is to drive away ghosts and pray for blessings. The plot development is carried out according to the Nuo ritual procedure. The law has ox horns, teacher knives, plaques, teacher sticks, etc. The dialogue, lyrics and works of the script are mostly from reality, often entrusted to the mouth of "gods" to teach and advise the world. There are basically only two types of costumes, one is fiery red, representing men; the other is dark green, representing women. There are special patterns and Taoist symbols on the front and back of the costumes, and the head is wrapped with a red and black scarf. A complete Nuo opera must last three days and three nights, with a beginning and an end. During these three days and three nights, the seven singing styles of Wugang Nuo opera must be performed in turn. Singing is done during the day, and the music is extremely simple, mainly accompanied by gongs and drums, and echoed by human voices; performing is set at night, when people who have worked all day can relax their muscles and bones and drive away fatigue by watching the performance. A Nuo opera troupe that is still relatively active in the mountains and countryside is a family surnamed Chen in Longtou Bridge. His Nuo mask was handed down by the grandfather of his wife's two cousins. It is a relatively complete and long-standing cultural relic, which was collected by the provincial cultural management department in the 1980s. Afterwards, the provincial cultural management department copied a complete set and gave it back to its owner, and gave its owner a bonus of 3,300 yuan. From this time on, the man surnamed Chen began to learn Nuo opera performance from his master, going through wind and rain, and it has been 22 years now. The man surnamed Chen is one of the few people who can perform Nuo opera in Longtouqiao Association, but the set of Nuo masks consisting of 36 masks does not belong to him. Every time he performs, he must obtain the consent of the two descendants of its original owner. This is the most complete and exquisite set of Nuo masks among those who collect Nuo masks in Wugang. The best partner of the man surnamed Chen is his wife. In recent years, she has been running around with her husband, and her skills have improved rapidly. She can even perform the well-known plays of the old Wugang people, such as "Taoyuan Cave", "Da Meishan", "Chong Nuo", "Jiangxianfeng", "Yingshenqu", etc., in harmony with her husband. In her words, it would be great if she had a set of her own. It seems that she is still reluctant to pay the rental fee for those Nuo masks. In the spiritual world of some old people in the past, Nuo opera occupied a relatively important position. This dance ritual with primitive religious colors and totem worship consciousness, which embodies people's good wishes, has become a cross-era cultural phenomenon in the long-standing Wugang culture, namely Nuo culture. In daily conversations and literary works, Nuo words such as "ghost brain", "ghost cub", and "ghost catch" often appear; in many customs and habits, the traces of this Nuo culture are even stronger. If you pay a little attention, you will find that when the newlyweds get married, "pig head" paper-cut flowers are placed on the gifts; when the elderly die a hundred years old, a paper-made "crane" stands on the coffin; during the Dragon Boat Festival, every household sprinkles wine to drive away evil spirits; during the 15th day of the seventh month, every household holds a grand "welcoming old guests" ceremony. All of these are essentially a social phenomenon that has been Nuoized, and its strong penetration of life cannot but be admired.