The Zhijiang Nielong Dance is a unique form of dragon dance in my country's dragon dance series, also known as the "single dragon" dance. The whole dragon is danced by one person, plus the dancer, there are only two people in total. When dancing, its wonderful skills and unique drum music accompaniment express the dragon's spirit, energy and spirit vividly and lively. In the hearts of the Dong people, the Zhijiang Nielong Dance is a symbol of vigor, vitality, rapid development and auspiciousness. It is mainly spread in Fujiatuan Village, Tuqiao Township, Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, Hunan Province and the surrounding Yanggongmiao Township. In 2008, the Zhijiang Nielong Dance was identified as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list items in Hunan Province. The Nielong Dance originated from the Tian family of Fujiatuan Village, Tuqiao Township, Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, that is, the Nielong Dance is the clan lantern art of the Tian surnamed people in Fujiatuan Village. The total population of the Tian surname in Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County is more than 4,700, distributed in Tuqiao, Yanggongmiao, Xindianping and other towns. There are more than 800 people in Fujiatuan Village. Due to the poor transportation in the birthplace of the evil dragon, this unique dragon dance has a narrow range of spread. Except for the township and some surrounding towns, it is difficult to see it in other places. At the same time, because the old clan leader stipulated that the skills could not be passed on to outsiders, except for the Tian clan, other surnames could not learn dragon dance, resulting in fewer and fewer people who can dance the evil dragon nowadays. Behind the Tian clan village in Fujiatuan, there is a high mountain called Diaopengjie, with undulating dragon veins winding eastward. The Tian clan has been worshipping the mountain for generations. According to legend, one year, a golden chicken on the mountain laid an egg, but it had not been born for 49 days. It was in unbearable pain and kept "clucking" day and night. Unexpectedly, it attracted a big yellow snake. The golden chicken was frightened and spread its wings to escape, and laid a big egg at the same time. The yellow snake wanted to eat the egg, but because the egg was too big to swallow, it coiled in the nest and wrapped the egg tightly in it. Unexpectedly, a few days later, the egg was hatched, and a monster with a snake head and a chicken body emerged from it. Seeing this, the big yellow snake hurriedly left. The monster came out to look for food. When it flew over the village, it was discovered by people, who were amazed. Unexpectedly, a rare insect disaster occurred that year, and hundreds of acres of rice fields were harvested. Later, a fortune teller said that it must be an evil dragon that came out of nowhere and brought disaster to the world. If you want to live a peaceful and peaceful life, you can only use bamboo strips to make a dragon shape, light a candle in the belly, use treasures to open the way, and perform dragon dance to influence the evil dragon to change evil and do good. From then on, every spring and early autumn, there was a habit of dancing the evil dragon during festivals, and the evil dragon was also influenced by people and became the patron saint and protector of the villagers. Zhijiang evil dragon dance became popular in the late Sui and early Tang dynasties. Every Spring Festival, there is a custom of dancing dragons to celebrate festivals and a good harvest. From the second day of the New Year, dragon dance New Year celebrations accompanied by joyful gongs and drums appeared in various villages in the Dong village, adding a strong festive atmosphere to the annual Spring Festival. Later, due to the migration of Han, Miao and Tujia people, they brought their own local culture, and the common long dragon dance also entered the ranks of dragon dance. Due to the arrival of the long dragon, the evil dragon looked stingy in momentum. Therefore, the folk artists of the evil dragon dance made bold innovations in the dance method, and improved it in various postures such as leaping, rolling, twisting, exploring, leaning, and shaking, making it more flexible and powerful, but only strong people can dance it. From then on, the evil dragon dance became the highlight of the dragon dance, rather than the foil of the long dragon. The local farmers in Fujia Tuan Village called the "evil dragon dance" the single dragon dance and the inferior dragon dance. There are two dancers, one dancing the dragon and the other dancing the treasure. There are two forms of "single treasure dragon" and "double treasure dragon". That is, the treasure dancer holds one or two treasures. And the "double treasure dragon" is even more dazzling. Its basic steps include: snowflakes covering the top, ancient tree roots, Qingshan cow wagging its tail, kite turning over, and yellow dragon wrapped around the waist. After years of continuous processing and transformation by folk artists, it has now developed into a folk dance art with certain performance skills and a romantic color. People with the surname Tian all know that the evil dragon is a dragon with an extremely strange and irritable temper. Therefore, from its production, performance, to the final "transformation into a dragon", there are certain requirements and customs. When making a dragon, after going up the mountain to cut bamboo back, incense is burned and sacrificed on the shrine in the main hall of the clan leader's house before the bamboo can be cut and the strips can be broken. After the evil dragon is made, it is offered to the altar and the most important ceremony, namely "opening the throat", is carried out. The worshiper burns incense, kowtows, recites the blessing, and then lights three incense sticks to burn three small holes in the dragon's throat, which is called "opening the throat". It is said that the dragon with an open throat is spiritual, and when it dances to every household, it will be free of taboos and will not scare the elderly and children. At the end of the dragon dance on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a "transformation into a dragon" ceremony will be held by the stream. The offerings of incense and paper are laid out, and the dragon is placed on the dragon-transforming platform piled with firewood and straw. After the clan leader has finished the ritual, the firewood is lit, and the villagers worship together to send the dragon away and pray for the blessing of the evil dragon, so as to obtain good weather, good harvests in all seasons, and everything goes well. The production process of the evil dragon The dragon body of the evil dragon is made of bamboo strips woven on a six-foot-long bamboo stick into a frame with a snake body and a dragon head, which is then covered with parchment paper, painted with dragon scales, and a candle is lit inside the head. The treasure is made into a treasure frame with bamboo sticks, and a round ball with a diameter of one foot and five inches is woven with bamboo strips, which is covered with red and green silk. A thick iron wire is used to cross the empty frame in the middle of the ball to enable the treasure to roll. A candle is lit inside the treasure. The main color of the dragon head is yellow, and old yellow is the main color. In the past, paper was used for processing, and yellow paper was generally used. The color was painted and a few strokes were simply drawn on it. The strokes were simple and the process was not complicated. With the development of society, the dragon head production process is now sophisticated and the strokes are complex, truly reproducing the level of folk arts and crafts. The front and back jaws of the processed dragon head are indigo blue, the eyes are white, the eyeballs are black, the eyebrows are black and yellow, and the nose is red. There are small melon seed-shaped black blocks on both sides for nostrils, extending from the bridge of the nose to the middle of the head, with a large red disk, gradually forming many small back bones downward. Many patterns are drawn on both sides of the eyebrows with white, like fish scales, and lace patterns are drawn on them with gold powder. In places where there is no painting, gold powder spots are used for decoration. The dragon's horns are painted with three colors (brown on black). The dragon's teeth are white. There is a thin water red line embedded below. The mouth and tongue are bright red, the lips are blue on the top and green on the bottom, and ancient symmetrical patterns are drawn on them, and gold powder can also be used to draw patterns. The dragon's body is yellow, with red radial patterns drawn on it. The dragon's horns are painted green on both sides of the dragon head, and veins are drawn with fine lines. Finally, a red beard is installed under the mouth and on the lips and palate, about 0.4m to 0.5m long. The old-style whiskers of the dragon head are two bamboo strips that are extended and cross and bend backwards. The parallel whiskers are two parallel whiskers that are 0.15cm to 0.2m long. The ears are curved downward, hooked outwards, and extend all the way backwards. The total length is about 0.3cm to 0.4m, and the color is all white. The thickness is required to be about 0.5cm to 0.7cm, slightly thin. The dragon ears are made of paper. Then use red paint to draw the shape of dragon scales on them. The size should be consistent and three-dimensional, and the connection with the dragon head should be connected with paper. The dragon tail is the same as the dragon ears. The dragon fins and tail tip are also green, and the decoration is the same as the dragon body. Since ancient times, Zhijiang has been a multi-ethnic mixed residence dominated by the Dong people. The folk culture and art have a long history, and some authentic Dong folk culture is scattered in the remote towns around it. Among them, the dragon dance custom in Fujia Tuan Village, Tuqiao Township, Zhijiang is one of the most original and representative folk arts preserved today. In 2008, the dragon dance in Zhijiang was listed as the second batch of intangible cultural heritage items in Hunan Province.