Ningxiang Mashan gongs and drums are a kind of folk wind and percussion music circulated in Ningxiang. It is named after Mashan in Ningxiang County. The music is ancient and has a long history. It was first formed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It is said that it was taught by a wandering monk and was used as a ritual music for temples to beg for food. During the reigns of Emperor Guangxu and Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty, the music of Mashan gongs and drums was greatly developed and improved, forming a music system with rich tunes, unique performance forms, music names, instrument shapes and repertoire connotations, and spread in several counties in Hunan. Mashan gongs and drums have a fresh style, beautiful and generous, with diverse rhythms and a certain rhythm. Each tune is given a vivid name, or records events, such as "Meeting Sister" and "Flying Kites"; or describes scenes, such as "Lotus Out of Water" and "Snowflakes Floating". Regardless of the name or the musical connotation, it expresses a strong rural life atmosphere and a love and yearning for a better life. Mashan gongs and drums are also called "lupi kaitai". The performance form is basically based on five blows and six sounds, with the accompaniment of stringed instruments. There are as few as seven or eight people, and as many as thirteen or fourteen people. On festivals, weddings, funerals and other festive occasions, people often play Mashan gongs and drums while walking on the road, so people also call it "lupi kaitai". The instruments used in Mashan gongs and drums are basically large and small suona, flute, bamboo lead, pipe, hall drum, Hanchao, gong, small gong, cloud gong, big tube, Zhonghu, Tonghu, etc. Its performance form is free, and it can be played indoors or outdoors. Mashan gongs and drums have four major characteristics: slow response at the beginning and end, fixed blowing of the tip drum, overlapping harmony of high octave and low octave, and playing together. In the process of spreading, it is characterized by self-learners, mostly voluntary groups in society, and most of them participate in amateur activities because of their hobbies for the purpose of self-entertainment. Mashan gongs and drums are not only popular among the local people, but also praised and affirmed by leaders and experts and professors at all levels. In March 1959, when Peng Dehuai came to Ningxiang for inspection, after watching the performance of "Romance of the West Chamber" by the Ningxiang County Flower Drum Troupe, the band played a Ningxiang Mashan gong and drum "Meeting Sister" to send the audience out of the theater, which was warmly applauded by Marshal Peng and the audience. In 2006, with the approval of the Hunan Provincial People's Government, Ningxiang Mashan gongs and drums were successfully applied for the first batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage lists. Information source: Changsha Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Changsha Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center