The Miao people's incense jumping is popular in the Miao settlements in Guzhang, Jishou, Huayuan, Fenghuang, Yuanling, Chenxi and other counties and cities in Hunan Province. Luxi County was originally part of the Chu State, and the Chu people "valued lewd worship and believed in ghosts and gods", so the Wu Nuo culture was prevalent. In 2008, the Miao people's incense jumping was identified as a project in the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hunan Province. The Miao people's incense jumping has a long history. The ancestors of the Miao people were frightened by the irresistible power of nature. In order to alleviate the fear, they could only pray for the protection of the gods, so they created gods. From the perspective of the gods worshipped by the incense jumping, there are 360 wooden statues of gods, including the gods of heaven, earth, man, valley, etc.; they also worship the three pure and three empty ancestors and the eight gods. The ancestors worshipped many gods, and their main purpose was to ask for the gods' protection and eliminate disasters. Wang Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty said in the preface of "Supplementary Notes to Chuci": "In the old days, the towns of Nanying in Chu State, between Yuan and Xiang, believed in ghosts and loved to worship gods. They would perform songs and dances to please the gods." From the content of Qu Yuan's "Nine Songs", the time of sacrifice was autumn, and the gods worshipped and the people who presided over the ceremony were the same as the content of the sacrifice of jumping incense. It can be inferred that the procedure of jumping incense had been basically finalized at the latest in the Warring States Period. Due to the development of farming culture and the prosperity of commerce, the procedure of jumping incense has been continuously improved and matured in the inheritance. After the founding of New China, jumping incense was abolished as a feudal superstitious activity. Since then, although there has been no jumping incense activities, the villagers still make fragrant glutinous rice cakes and fragrant tofu in October of the lunar calendar every year, one for themselves and the other for relatives and friends. After the Cultural Revolution, Bajiaoping Village, Liangjiatan Township, was the first to resume the jumping incense activity. The Miao people of Luxi jump incense from mid-September to mid-October of the lunar calendar, which lasts for nearly a month. But the host village only dances for one or three days, because the main character of the incense dance is the old priest, especially the famous old priest with high skills, who is too busy to do it. It takes about a month to dance in this village and then in that village. The grandness of the incense dance held by the Miao people in Luxi is no less than the Spring Festival. "Chenzhou Prefecture Records" states: "On the first day of October, paper-cut clothes are made, and wine and food are prepared to be offered to the tombs. On the full day of the month, farmers worship the God of Grains, which is called Jiangxiang." The main purpose of the incense dance is to worship the God of Grains, and at the same time worship Nuo Gong and Nuo Mu, and some worship Panhu Xinnu. The incense dance is to celebrate the bumper harvest of grains in the year and thank the gods from all sides for their protection; the second is to pray for good weather, bumper harvest, exorcism of evil spirits, prosperity of livestock, and peace of people in the coming year. The Miao people dance incense inside and outside the incense dance hall (also known as the Fengdeng Hall). The incense dance hall has a god platform, and every household puts the fragrant glutinous rice cakes and fragrant tofu prepared in advance on the god platform. The glutinous rice and corn (symbolizing gold and silver) are used to make the shapes of dogs, cows, pigs, sheep and turtles. Small incense cakes are also made and stacked into the shape of a pagoda. Before the incense dance, an old priest will perform a "boat tour". The "boat tour" is a boat made of paper tied with bamboo strips, about three feet long and one foot wide. The performers hold it in their hands or on their shoulders, sing while dancing, and burn the boat and kneel down to worship. The Miao people's incense dance is also a large-scale sacrificial dance. The whole process is mainly based on the solo dance (spinning field) of the old priest, and multi-person dance and group dance are added in between. The most significant difference between it and the Nuo dance is that the Nuo dance is only performed by one person or at most two people, while the incense dance is the organic combination of multi-person dance and group dance by the old priest to form a unique dance. Solo dance: The old priest wears a five-Buddha hat, a Tianshi robe, and holds a banner, a priest's knife, and a cow horn to pray to the heaven and the five gods, chanting words in his mouth while dancing. There are also plots such as issuing a certificate and inviting a god. After reading the formula for inviting the gods, they sing and dance. The lyrics can be several paragraphs, which can be long or short. After singing, the cow horn is blown and the stage is rotated. Multi-person dance: Sending boys is the most exciting part of the incense dance. The boys must be people with parents and children, and there can be nine, twelve, or fifteen people. Each boy brings three bamboo sticks, which are handed over to the old priest to pour the magic water, and then returned to the boy. Then the old priest puts a bowl of clear water on the altar, pinches the formula and chants the mantra. The formula has 49 big and small diamond formulas. After the ritual is over, let each boy drink a sip of water. At this time, the cow horn, big gongs and big drums suddenly sounded, and the whole audience was shocked. Then the master of the altar led the boys to walk the "three gang steps" and dance the "plum blossom pattern". After dancing, the master of the altar led the boys to rotate. Transmitting the five grains dance: Transmitting the five grains dance is the core content of the incense dance. Each household dances the Grain Dance to pray for the blessing of the Grain God, and naturally integrates the "Moving the Land" in the Nuo Opera into the Grain Dance. The person who plays the Land Bodhisattva wears a white beard mask and holds a cane in his hand, performing labor actions such as clearing wasteland and planting, cutting firewood, digging soil, sowing, weeding, and harvesting. Children or adults are randomly pulled to participate in the dance. Onlookers imitate the calls of animals such as finches, cows, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens, and the scene is harmonious and joyful. The land dances and sings. After singing, the remaining seeds from each household are scattered to the crowd. Everyone pulls up their clothes to catch them. The more they catch, the more auspicious it is, which indicates a bumper harvest next year. After the Grain Dance, the land leads the singing of "October Farming Song", and everyone joins in. The Miao ethnic group's incense dance related products include banners, knifes, and ox horns; percussion instruments include gongs and drums, cloud gongs; wind instruments include suona, trombones, etc. The host of the Miao incense dance in Luxi County is the old priest who "passes down the teachings from heaven to heaven, from earth to earth, and from people to people". The way of inheritance from generation to generation is word of mouth; and the flag is an important evidence of inheritance. The old priest without the flag cannot host the incense dance. The representative inheritor of the Miao incense dance is Zhang Qirong from Bajiaoping Village, Luxi County. At the age of 16, he followed the Miao old priest Yang Youfa in the village to learn Wu Nuo skills such as incense dance sacrifice, Taoist temple affairs, and returning Nuo wishes. He officially started working at the age of 35. Since 2003, the Miao incense dance sacrifice hosted by Zhang Qirong has been demonstrated in Miao festivals such as "March 3" and "June 6". In 2007, the cultural department of Hunan Province sent a special person to Liangjiatan Township to film "Nuo Wish" to worship gods, and Zhang Qirong was the host. The Miao ethnic group's incense dance has a long history and rich ethnic characteristics. It is one of the most representative folk customs of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. It is one of the three major sacrificial activities of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Prefecture. It is a high degree of integration of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, witchcraft, and Nuo religious culture and folk martial arts, dance, music, production and life, and characteristic folk customs. It has a great influence on the culture of the Yuanshui River Basin and has strong literary and research value. Zhang Qirong Zhang Qirong Miao ethnic group incense dance is the inheritor of the second batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage projects in Hunan Province. Zhang Qirong, male, Miao, born in 1943, from Bajiaoping Village, Liangjiatan Township, Luxi County, at the age of 16, he followed the village Miao elder Yang Youfa to learn Wu Nuo skills such as incense dance sacrifice, Taoist temple events, and Nuo vows. He officially started working at the age of 35. Miao incense dance has a long history and rich ethnic characteristics. It is one of the most representative folk customs of Miao in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture and one of the three major sacrificial activities of Miao in Xiangxi Prefecture. It is a kind of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and witchcraft...more>>>Zhang QirongZhang QirongMiao incense dance is the inheritor of the second batch of provincial intangible cultural heritage projects in Hunan Province. Zhang Qirong, male, Miao, born in 1943, from Bajiaoping Village, Liangjiatan Township, Luxi County, at the age of 16, he followed the Miao elder Yang Youfa in the village to learn incense dance sacrifice, Taoist temple events, and Wu Nuo skills. He officially started working at the age of 35. The Miao ethnic group's incense dance has a long history and rich ethnic characteristics. It is one of the most representative folk customs of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, and one of the three major sacrificial activities of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Prefecture; it is a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and witchcraft...more>>>Zhang Qirong Miao ethnic group incense dance Zhang Qirong, male, Miao ethnic group, born in 1943, from Bajiaoping Village, Liangjiatan Township, Luxi County, at the age of 16, followed the village Miao elder Yang Youfa to learn incense dance sacrifices, Taoist temple events, and Wushu skills. He officially started working at the age of 35. The Miao ethnic group's incense dance has a long history and rich ethnic characteristics. It is one of the most representative folk customs of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, and one of the three major sacrificial activities of the Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi Prefecture; it is a combination of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and witchcraft...more>>>