The Hengnan Qiqiao Dragon Dance is a representative dragon dance that is popular in the urban and rural areas of Hengnan. It was first created in Jiulong Village, Jiangkou Town, Dongxiang, Hengnan County. Legend has it that there are nine dragons in Jiangkou. Jiulong means "long for a long time". A long time ago, this place was the hometown of dragons. To this day, there are legends about the gentle and quiet "Molong" (some say Mailong), the vigorous and vigorous "Banlong", and the primitive and simple "Maguailong". The Qiqiao Dragon was originally called the Dog Woman Snake Dragon and was popular in Guiyang and Jiahe, Hunan. In the 1930s and 1940s, it began to be introduced to the upper and lower Wangjia villagers' groups in Yanshou Village, Jiangkou Town, Hengnan County (now). In the 1930s and 1940s, folk artists Liao Maoqiu, Liao Renzheng, Liao Renjia, etc. in Jiangkou Town, Hengnan County, based on the characteristics of Guiyang Dog Woman Snake Dragon and various local dragons, used straw and bamboo sticks to weave the Qiqiao Dragon. The Gou Po She Dragon Dance was studied and created into the Qiqiao Dragon Dance. After three generations of artists' inheritance and development, it has become one of the typical dragon dances in southern Hunan. The Qiqiao Dragon Dance is good at changing and easy to dance. It is short and lively, and the dance is clever. It mainly consists of the following basic patterns: Dragon Leaping Big Four Gates, Dragon Leaping Small Four Gates, Small Dragon Coiling Flowers, Big Dragon Coiling Flowers, Small Dragon Leaping into Water, Big Dragon Leaping into Water, Four Dragons Playing with Pearls, Five-Star Flowers, Single Dragon Rolling Waist, Double Dragon Rolling Waist, Yellow Dragon Flower, Double Dragon Going into the Sea. During the performance of the Qiqiao Dragon, when turning in circles, it turns to the left, when the dragon body falls inward, it turns to the left, and when it falls outward, it turns to the right. Each performance of a pattern is generally from single flower (small flower) to double flower (big flower), and then from double flower to single flower, and each dragon must perform once facing the audience. In addition to the two movements of "Big Four Gates" and "Dragon Going into the Sea", each movement ends with the "Dragon Soaring into the Clouds" movement. Except for the fixed movements in the "Four Dragons Playing with Pearls" pattern, the dragon and pearl dancers have no fixed positions and movements when performing other patterns. Each time the pattern is changed, it is directed by the pearl dancer. The accompaniment music of the seven-piece dragon is Anren Baban. The accompanying instruments include percussion instruments such as suona, drums, big gongs, small gongs, big cymbals, and small cymbals. The instruments and products related to the Hengnan seven-piece dragon performance include: 1. Clothing tops: men's open-collar black and blue cotton plain clothes with white edges. Pants: black and blue cotton bloomers. Socks: black gauze long socks. Belt: yellow cotton belt or long bath towel as belt. Shoes: white cloth woven straw shoes. Head scarf: long white cotton scarf, 3 feet 5 feet long, wrapped around the head several times, with a little protruding on the right forehead. 2. Prop dragon (body): 4, each dragon has 7 sections, with a total length of 45 feet, a width of 1 foot, and a dog tooth edge (dragon foot) of 4 inches. The dragon head is eight feet and five inches away from the second section, the four spaces of the 26th section are six feet and five inches long, and the spaces of the 67th section are seven feet and five inches long. Dragon bones: red cotton cloth, three inches and five inches wide. There are seven dragon handles, the dragon head handle is five feet and three inches long, and the rest are four feet and three inches long. One bead stick and one dragon rope. Dragon head production method: The whole head is wrapped with silk cotton, the upper lip, tongue and lower lip are red, the teeth are made of white paper, the dragon whiskers are wrapped with red and white strips, and the dragon horns are green. Dragon tail production method: The whole tail is wrapped with green silk cotton, and white, red and yellow pigments are used. Draw the pattern and make the wings in red. The inheritance status and pedigree are briefly as follows: In 1930, Liao Maoqiu, a villager of Yanshou Village, Jiulong Township, Jiangkou Town, Hengnan County, became an apprentice in Puma Market in Guiyang and then went to Sanhe Market in the county to do business. During this period, he learned to play with dog, snake and dragon. In late December of the lunar calendar in 1945, Liao Maoqiu's fellow tribesmen, Liao Renzheng and Liao Renjia from Xiawangjiazu, Yanshou Village, Jiangkou, Hengnan, worked as small vendors in Sanhe Market and learned some performance moves. In 1949, Liao Maoqiu, Liao Renzheng and Liao Renjia recalled, researched, innovated and adapted a new dragon dance, Qiqiaolong, to celebrate the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since then, it has flourished and has been passed down to this day. The first generation of inheritors: Liao Maoqiu, Liao Renzheng, Liao Renjia The second generation of inheritors: Liao Yanquan, Liao Renkai, Liao Renzhou, Liao Renwen, Liao Renjin, Liao Maozhong, Liao Renben, Liao Renceng The third generation of inheritors: Liao Bingsheng, Liao Yijian, Liao Xinlin, Liao Yiping, Liao Jinsheng, Liao Renli, Liao Zhongyuan, Liao Yizhong, Liao Xinsheng The fourth generation of inheritors: Liao Yusheng, Liao Chunsheng, Liao Wusheng, Liao Weisheng, Liao Fengsheng, Liao Fulin, Liao Xuesheng, Liao Xinhua, Liao Renbing The action combination routines of Hengnan Seven-Qi Qiao Dragon are mainly entanglement and winding, and the characteristics of entanglement and winding are manifested in the following aspects: Exquisite: The dragon's body is exquisite and dexterous. Each dragon is composed of seven sections, with a length of four feet and one foot and a circumference of one foot and five inches. The dragon dancers are smart and strong, and they need both superb personal skills and overall coordination. Clever: The way of playing the seven-piece dragon combines dance, acrobatics, and martial arts, integrating literature, martial arts, wisdom, and fun. It is good at change, easy to dance, short and lively, and clever in dancing. There are many dragons (it has developed to eight dragons at the same time) but not chaotic. There are more than ten kinds of patterns, such as "dragon flying in the clouds", "dragon coiling in flowers", "worshiping four gates", "dragon rolling waist", "dragon leaping in water", "five-star flowers blooming", and "dragon going into the sea". It is dazzling to look at, and it is endless to think about. Strange: The seven-piece dragon is fresh and unique in conception. From form to content, from movements, moves, scheduling to pictures, it is unpredictable, often making people puzzled in reason and happy in unexpected ways. For example, the dragon rolls waist, each dragon is lined up and arranged on both sides, and the head and tail are wrapped around the dragon body to form a "twisted knot". The dragon dancer jumped up and down, and suddenly became a big lump. What to do? I saw the dragon stick raised, and the dragon dancer shuttled like a spring swallow, drilling and inserting in all directions, and it was untied in an instant. Jie: The Qiqiao dragon soars, coils, runs, and circling quickly and swiftly, and turns and expands in an orderly and orderly manner, sinking, floating, closing, and dispersing, clean and neat. "Jumping through like a whirlwind, gathering into a lump, and dispersing like a flash of lightning" is the unique style of the Qiqiao dragon. The Hengnan Qiqiao dragon dance contains profound aesthetic value because of its flexible and changeable movements, routines, and combinations. For more than 70 years, the Qiqiao dragon dance has been active in the rural areas of Jiangkou and Jiulong in Dongxiang, Hengnan, and has become a traditional project to activate the cultural life of the local people, especially the cultural life of the people during the Spring Festival, and has become a cultural custom. The Hengnan Qiqiao dragon dance integrates physical exercises and dance performances, thus playing the role of "strengthening the physical fitness of the people" and cultivating aesthetic sentiments. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the Qiqiao dragon dance team has performed in the city many times and participated in competitions at all levels, making it more widely spread, promoting cultural exchanges and economic trade between urban and rural areas, and enhancing mutual friendship. The dragon head, dragon quilt, dragon tail and other props of the Qiqiao dragon are exquisitely made and are traditional handicrafts with certain economic value. In recent years, the Qiqiao dragon dance has been introduced to martial arts schools and martial arts halls and has become a good training course. In 2008, the Hengnan Qiqiao dragon dance was identified as a project in the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hunan Province. The Hengnan County Cultural Bureau is the main body of protection of the project.