"Dancing Spring Oxen" originated in Jingkou Town, Xinyi, and became popular in Jingkou, An'e, Zhusha, Chashan, Hongguan and other places in Xinyi. Later, it flowed into Rong County, Guangxi, Yulin, Beiliu, Hepu and other places bordering Jingkou, Xinyi. According to the Records of Xinyi County in the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, "To welcome the spring, perform dramas and drums, welcome the earthen oxen at the Spring Ox Pavilion, and the scholars and women watch for fun." At first, the ox was made of clay and named "earthly oxen", which could not dance. Later, a local scholar named Li (name unknown) imitated an ox according to the Spring Oxen picture in the "Da Zi Tong Shu", made the ox head out of bamboo and paper, and stitched the ox body with dark gray cloth with black swirl-shaped hair patterns. 23 men and women sang the Niu Niang Tune, and one person danced the ox head and one person wore a cow's clothes and danced the ox tail for the Spring Oxen. The eight-tone gongs and drums led the way, with the Spring Oxen in the middle and the dance team behind, dancing while walking, and performing in each village in turn. During the performance, the spring ox first circles, digs its hooves, shakes its horns, flicks its tail, and rolls in the mud. It then dances like a lion dance accompanied by singing. The movements are relatively simple. Behind the spring ox, a dance team consisting of several or even dozens of male and female oxen perform various agricultural activities, with young people accompanying with wooden leaves. Every time the spring ox team arrives at a house, they first dance the spring ox to show their congratulations. Then, the male and female oxen sing and dance. The lyrics are all five- or seven-character couplets, divided into upper and lower sentences according to the dialect rhyme. The singing style is the cow mother tune, accompanied by gongs and drums. The rhythm is harmonious, the charm is long, and it is easy to understand. The themes are mostly about teaching people how to behave in the world, respect the elderly, the prodigal son's return, thrifty housekeeping, and raising good oxen, urging plowing and planting, intensive cultivation, from plowing and harrowing to soaking seeds, planting seeds, and transplanting seedlings, etc. The agricultural records of the four seasons and the characteristics of the solar terms have a wide range of themes and strong educational knowledge. After the dance, villagers often bring tea and glutinous rice cakes to comfort the villagers. "Dancing the Spring Ox" is a symbolic song and dance in which farmers praise the hard work of the ox and pray for good weather and good harvest. Xinyi's "Dancing the Spring Ox" was popular in the late Qing Dynasty. The performance venues developed from the Spring Ox Pavilion set up in the towns to the open space, drying yard, ancestral hall or landlord hall in the village. The performance time is generally between the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival. After 1979, the Spring Ox Dance developed from a model performance to a real-life performance. The main actors were the cowherd and the cowherd. Since then, the Spring Ox Dance has evolved into a "cowherd drama". From a seasonal amateur art performance activity to a professional or semi-agricultural and semi-artistic commercial performance. The characteristics of the Spring Ox Dance are a strong breath of life, simple movements, mostly simulated movements of life, and the dynamics and habits of the cow, which are vivid and free. The scenes of agricultural activities are lifelike and basically reproduce real life. The actors walk "circle steps", "fragmented steps", and "cross steps" to the rhythm of gongs, drums and music, which are easy to master and use. The Spring Ox Dance is performed during the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival. The dancing cow team beats gongs and drums and dances with the Spring Ox to visit the village and wish a happy new year. They first perform in a flat and open place in the village, and then visit each household to wish a happy new year. There are five performers: one cowherd, two cowgirls, and two cow dancers (male). The cowherd whips the cow and the cowgirl holds a fan and waves a towel. The whole dance is divided into four sections: Section 1: New Year greetings. Amid the sound of drums and music, the cowherd, cowgirl and the Spring Ox sing and dance to celebrate the New Year with the villagers. Section 2: Ploughing. In the "Spring Ploughing Song", the cowherd puts on the yoke of the ox, drives the ox to plow and harrow the field. After harrowing the field, the cowherd removes the yoke to rest, the Spring Ox eats grass on the side, and the cowgirl performs sowing and transplanting. Section 3: Playing with the ox. The Spring Ox runs wildly and the cowherd catches up and tries to put the ox rope through, but is hit by the ox's horns and falls, and the cowherd is helpless. In the song "Love Oxen", the Cow Girl caresses the Spring Oxen, and the Oxen obediently goes to the river to play in the water and scratch itself freely. The Cowherd takes advantage of the situation to strangle the Oxen's head, puts on the ox rope, and leads the Oxen to rest. Section 4: Harvest. In the song "Harvest", the Cow Girl happily harvests and threshes the grain, and dances with the Oxen by lifting the golden grain to celebrate the harvest.