Originated from Guangda Township, Lai'an County in the late Ming Dynasty, it developed from the farmers' prayer activities to the "gods". At first, it was mainly sung, accompanied by very simple movements, and later formed the prototype of Yangko Lantern. In the Qing Dynasty, the tunes and singing content of Yangko Lantern songs were much richer than before, and the accompanying instruments included flute, erhu, sihu, pipa, sanxian and folk gongs and drums. The tunes of Yangko Lantern are rich and colorful, lyrical and pleasant, the dance movements are soft and simple, relaxed and happy, the lyrics are popular and fluent, and moving. Due to the above characteristics, Yangko Lantern quickly spread to the countryside in Chuzhou, Quanjiao and Jiangsu Province, Jiangpu and Pukou. The masses boast that Yangko Lantern "has nine tunes and eighteen tunes, and the tunes are colorful. It can't be sung for three days and three nights. It is not considered a high skill to sing it." Yangko Lantern is a comprehensive large-scale song and dance. It used to be performed in the square. The number of people on stage ranged from 82 to 32. The roles were divided into "main umbrella", "Tartar" and "Baotou". The main umbrella is the lantern head, holding a string of bells to lead the dance; the Tatar is a male role, wearing arrow clothes, a jacket, a round-top curled black hat, a long braid behind the head, and short boots; the Baotou is a female role, wearing a colorful coat and colorful shoes. The main umbrella costume is the same as the Tatar. The other male and female performers all hold paper fans and water chestnut-shaped lanterns. The performance of Yangko lanterns can be divided into "big field" and "small field". The formations in the "big field" include "string flower formation", "golden dragon coiling pillar", "two dragons playing in the water", "scissors crossing legs" and "stacked arhats"; the programs in the "small field" include "Jiang Taigong fishing", "little cattle", "flower names", "watching lanterns", "selling groceries" and so on. Whether it is a "big field" or a "small field", they all have the characteristics of "play in the lanterns, lights in the play, singing and dancing", so Yangko lanterns are also called "rain and snow". In January 1957, the "Yangge Lantern" rehearsed by Lai'an County was selected as the first folk music and dance performance program in Anhui Province, and won the performance award and the excavation and arrangement award. In 1959, the program was processed and participated in the second provincial music and dance performance, and went to Beijing to perform for diplomatic envoys from 16 countries including Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko. The basic content of Yangge Lantern includes the following aspects: 1. The props of Yangge Lantern are composed of a string of bells, a "head umbrella" (also known as the umbrella of the people), and red and green lights shaped like water chestnuts, a specialty of the water town, plus a folding fan: its role is to string bells as the general conductor of the running performance. The "head umbrella" is the person who leads the lanterns. Costumes: The male role (also known as the Tartar) wears a hat with a brim, made of black satin, with a red top and tassel, satin embroidered Qing Dynasty costumes, thin clothes and fast boots. Main umbrella: a big red ball on the chest. Female role (Yile Baotou, both men dressed as women in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties). A single braid is combed behind the head, light green coat, short waistcoat, cloth shoes. The umbrella is made of bamboo frame, with colorful umbrella cover on the outside and colorful silk tassels on the bottom. The hand lamp is tied into an oval water chestnut-shaped lamp frame, covered with red and green lamp cover, and decorated with green flowers on the top. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the yangko lantern was innovated, the string of bells was eliminated, the "head umbrella", "hand lamp" and folding fan were retained, and the actors' costumes were changed to modern song and dance costumes. 2. The singing form and content of yangko lantern The content of yangko lantern is divided into "big field" and "small field". The formations in the big field include "string flower formation", "golden dragon coiling pillar", "two dragons playing in the water", "scissors crossing legs" and "stacked arhats". The programs in the small field include "Jiang Taigong hooking fish", "little cattle", "flower name", "watching lanterns", "selling groceries", etc. The small field is actually a performance singing. The tunes sung include "golden stacks", "nine links", "fresh flower tune", "eight sections of brocade", "lotus picking" and other folk tunes. The lyrics of Yangko lanterns are: first, "praying", second, "narrating", and third, "lyrics". For example, the lyrics of the narrative category include "the chirping of the sunbirds is all over the sky, and the sound of Yangko is everywhere during the Grain Full season". The lyrics of the prayer category include: "When the Yangko is sung, my heart blossoms, and thousands of grains are returned to the granary to celebrate the harvest". The lyrics include "ten miles of water town, ten miles of songs, ten thousand acres of good fields, ten thousand dan of grain". The instruments accompanying the Yangko lanterns are mainly gongs and drums and string accompaniment, including flute, erhu, sihu, pipa, sanxian, etc. Yangko lanterns have different tunes in different historical periods. The lyrics of the Yangko lanterns after the founding of the People's Republic of China include lyrics reflecting the brilliant achievements of the general line of socialist construction and the great harvest of agriculture. For example, "the commune's granary is sharp, and the members have piled up grains in the sky. Pulling a handful of clouds to wipe the sweat, and smoking a cigarette in the sun" and other new songs and praises. And lyrics to promote the party's principles and policies. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Yangko lanterns were presented on the stage in a joyful and cheerful manner. The lyrics fully reflected and expressed the joyful mood of the vast number of farmers in the waterside villages after the implementation of the production responsibility system. "Hundreds of flowers hold out Yangko lanterns, spring breeze attracts people who play with lanterns, green willows and yellow orioles sing new songs, and thousands of households open the rice gates." Original Yangko lantern costumes and props Baotou: light green Han nationality short casual clothes with a single braid behind the head and a flower on the head. Tatar: satin embroidered Qing Dynasty clothes, with silk ribbons tied around the waist and dragged on both sides of the waist, black short boots on the feet, and a big red silk ball on the chest of the main umbrella. The clothing of the Five Tatars can be one color or multiple colors, except yellow. Hat: made of black satin, with the top and tassel of the hat in bright red. Fan: a general white paper folding fan, with a "phoenix" painted on one side and a "dragon" painted on the other side to symbolize the auspiciousness of dragon and phoenix, and the fan shaft is a big red fan seat. Hand lantern: The lantern is oval in the shape of a water chestnut, with a green cover and red flowers on the top and rice leaves in between. Height 25 cm. Diameter 20 cm. Umbrella: The frame is made of bamboo, with a colorful cover on the outside and colorful silk tassels on the bottom. Costumes and props of the reformed Yangko lantern 1. Costumes: All are modern clothes, with white dance costumes for male characters and pink costumes for female characters. 2. Props: Hand lantern (water chestnut-shaped lantern), colorful fan.