Linwu Nuo Opera is also known as "Dancing Yue Nuo God" and "Da Chong Nuo Opera", commonly known as "God Lion". It is said that Wang Sineng, the 17th ancestor of Youwan Village, made some creative achievements in the process of learning Nuo sacrifice from his teacher during the Chenghua period of the Ming Dynasty. Later, the villagers of Youwan Village passed it down from generation to generation in their long-term life and labor, and it evolved into today's Linwu Nuo Opera. Linwu Nuo Opera now exists in Youwan Village, Da Chong Township, Linwu County, Chenzhou City, Hunan Province. In history, Youwan Village was remote and closed, with inconvenient transportation, a single farming production method, and extremely difficult living conditions. It is this unique terrain and single living environment that made the Nuo Opera of Linwu Youwan Village passed down from generation to generation and spread to this day. In 2008, Linwu Nuo Opera was identified as a project in the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hunan Province. Like Nuo Operas in various places, the repertoire of Linwu Nuo Opera is attached to the Nuo sacrifice ceremony. This kind of Nuo sacrifice, which the locals call "Dancing the Divine Lion", is mainly performed by the village, family or individual to pray for good wishes. Nuo opera is generally performed only in the first month of the year. However, Nuo ritual activities can be held whenever there is misfortune in the house, the people and livestock are not prosperous, the family is haunted by strange things, the family members are sick, they encounter danger, or the elderly pray for old age, and they have to repay the "yang longevity wish" when they reach the end of their life, and those who have passed away before the end of their life have to repay the "yin longevity wish" after the end of their life, and couples pray for children and repay the "children wish" after they get their wish. Linwu Nuo opera, with the return of Nuo wishes as the carrier, consists of three parts: Nuo sacrifice "making Nuo wishes", Nuo opera performance and "returning Nuo wishes". The Nuo ritual "making a Nuo wish" requires the magician to invite the gods, chant scriptures, read the wish cards, and tell fortunes. Then, the Nuo mask is opened and the eyes are opened to activate. Before dawn the next day, the Nuo dance is performed outside the village, bridges are built and soldiers are mobilized, and the Nuo gods are returned to their positions after visiting temples and touring the mountains. Making a wish includes the blessing of the benefactor, offering wish cards, the wizard forming a team, setting up an altar and decorating colorful statues, opening the eyes, and mobilizing soldiers. The "main play" of Nuo opera mainly includes "Sanniang Looking for Her Husband", "Passing Three Gates", "Questioning the Land" and other repertoires. In Linwu Nuo opera, there are no "Nuogong" and "Nuomu" commonly seen in other Nuo operas, but it has its own unique characters: Sanniang and Laibao. Linwu Nuo opera is based on the two characters "Sanniang" and "Laibao", which run through the entire Nuo opera performance. The characters in Nuo opera include gods and generals from mythological stories who suppress evil and promote good, such as Erlang Shen, Yaksha, and Tudi, as well as the incarnations of virtue, filial piety, loyalty, and integrity from history, such as Guan Yu in the Three Kingdoms period. The protagonist "Sanniang" is from Baishajiang, Shaozhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province. She is smart and upright. Another protagonist "Laibao" is a monk who works as a monk in Shaolin Temple and travels to the Five Mountains to achieve enlightenment. The last part of Nuo sacrifice is "returning Nuo wishes": returning wishes, including: traveling in the first month of the year, inviting gods, sending soldiers, getting on the horse, and putting on the face; visiting temples; going to the door of the owner of the fortune to kill pigs and sheep and offer sacrifices to gods; entering the door, getting off the horse, getting off the face, withdrawing soldiers, and resting the soldiers and horses; nine gods passing the gate; making wishes (returning wishes); settling the dragon god; beating lions; getting on the horse, sending soldiers, building ships, and collecting evil; beheading little ghosts; 11 rituals such as 11 pouring water and worshipping the god. The benefactors who made Nuo wishes in the previous year will fulfill their wishes in this Nuo ceremony. Nuo rituals have "insert play" performances, such as lion and monkey king performances, which are intended to drive away evil spirits and demons. Among them, "boat cruise" and "demon beheading" are performed at the closing time. At the end of the performance, the Nuo god's mask is arranged by the magician according to the five elements and eight trigrams. After walking the Gang and conferring the gods, the whole process of Nuo opera is completed. The costumes and props of Linwu Nuo opera actors are unique, which is very different from other performing arts and has a unique style. In summary, it has the following basic characteristics: no female actors are used. Among the actors who play the Nuo gods, both male and female roles are played by men, including the literary scene, the martial arts scene, and the accompaniment are all men. The performance venue has different requirements for each link. For example, the Nuo ritual activities of calling soldiers and inviting gods are all carried out outdoors on the mountains. The "boat" in the program must travel through the village and alleys, around the mountain and tour the gods, and praying for "killing the little ghosts" must be carried out at the three-way intersection outside the village. The Nuo altar set up by Linwu Nuo Opera is exquisitely arranged, integrating the arts of weaving, paper cutting, dyeing and printing, painting, calligraphy, etc. During the Nuo Opera performance, incense and candles are lit, the actors wear masks, and the magician performs with props. There are nine masks in the Nuo Opera, including Sanniang, Land God, Erlang, Yaksha, Laibao, Guanyu, lion, monkey, and Xiaoshen, all of which are carved and painted with camphor wood. The costumes of Nuo Opera come from life, but the performers all wear red flower scarves; its props include small paper fans, small hand towels, sticks (for the land god), broadswords (Guanyu and Erlang Shen each hold one), Yaksha hammer, yellow flag, and dragon dance orb. Before the Nuo sacrifice, the master must place the mask in the right position, set up the incense table, and worship solemnly. After the rituals of inviting the gods, opening the eyes, and starting the horse and calling the soldiers, the actors can wear the mask and enter the Nuo hall to perform the Nuo sacrifice or Nuo opera. Women are generally not allowed to touch or wear masks during the "opening" or "sealing" ceremony. The production, use, and storage of masks are all men's business. In the cultural consciousness of Nuo opera, people believe that when a man wears a mask, it means that the gods have possessed him, and he cannot have any words or behaviors in certain sacrificial activities or in life. The wearing method of Nuo masks in Linwu Nuo opera is different. The common way to wear a traditional Nuo opera mask is to cover the entire face. However, in Linwu Nuo opera, the mask is worn on the forehead during the Nuo ritual and Nuo opera performance, showing the face, and no makeup is used. The actors distinguish certain roles through masks, costumes and beards. For example, the actor who plays "Guan Yunchang" wears a red mask, a battle robe and a long beard on his face; the actor who plays "Lai Bao" wears a cassock. Linwu Nuo opera singing forms are also diverse, including solo, chorus, duet, a cappella, accompaniment, one-on-one and many-on. Rich and varied expression techniques are used to express the various emotions of the characters, such as joy, anger, sorrow, and humor. Although the music of Nuo opera is primitive, it is quite rich, mainly reflected in the following aspects: 1. Folk songs, which are the musical basis of Nuo opera, including folk songs, minor songs, narrative songs, and labor songs, all of which fully reflect the characteristics of local minor songs. 2. Folk song and dance music, each layer of the melody is divided into sections and the upper and lower sentences of the song body are structured, and percussion instruments or suona music are used to transition between sections. Singing is mainly one person singing and the others joining in. For example: the "long guide board" music of Sanniang in "Passing Three Gates". 3. Folk religious music, between Buddhist music and Taoist music, with simple melodies and small interval spans, has the characteristics of Sanskrit and sutra sounds, such as the "two and a half boards" performed by the Nuo god Lai Bao in "Sanniang Looking for Her Husband", which fits the personality of the actor of the Nuo god Lai Bao very well, because Lai Bao is a Buddhist disciple who has left home. 4. Combining oral and chanting, telling a story, singing a song, sometimes adding duets and chorus to the telling or singing, adding suona accompaniment, and the response from the stage and the audience, which further reflects the unique style and solemnity of Nuo opera. For example, the short guide board sung in "Questioning the Land". 5. Characteristics of folk instrumental music. Commonly used instruments include war drums, hall drums, small gongs, large gongs, cymbals, small hairpins, suonas, ox horns and other local instruments. The performance atmosphere is warm and the characteristics are rich. 6. Fixed tunes and gong scriptures. Linwu Nuo Opera tunes and gong scriptures have been continuously developed through the Nuo culture for thousands of years, and have also been infected by the artistic genes of various schools. Basically, they have become a fixed system. For example, the unique music such as "Guoshan Gong", "Youluo", "Yi Chi Koubu", "Yi Jiu Jiu" and "Xia Nanjing" are all very local and unique. As a living fossil of ancient drama, Linwu Nuo Opera expresses primitive worship and life consciousness impulse, reflects the production, life, culture, feelings, spirit and local customs of the local people, and has a high research value in history, folklore, cultural relics, literature, art, religion, drama and other disciplines. Its music is based on folk songs that the local people like, including mountain songs, minor tunes, narrative songs, and labor songs. It has the local characteristics of Linwu and has a high research value and excavation, inheritance and development significance. In 2008, Linwu Nuo Opera was included in the second batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hunan Province. The People's Government of Dachong Township, Linwu County is the main body of protection of the project.