The long drum is a typical representative of the folk songs and dances of the Yao people. The long drum is a typical representative of the folk songs and dances of the Yao people. During the performance, the drummer holds the drum waist of the long drum with his left hand and turns it up and down, and then claps it with his right hand, dancing and clapping it. The performance forms mainly include group dance and double dance. The main movements include building a house, making drums, playing drums, imitating animals, and offering sacrifices. The dance is vigorous and simple in style. Some people can also dance the long drum on an eight-immortal table, beating and dancing. It is usually accompanied by suona, gongs and drums, and sometimes singing "Pan Wang Song" to add to the fun. The Yao people in southern Hunan dance the long drum accompanied by reed pipes on October 16th of the lunar calendar every year to commemorate Pan Wang. Legend has it that Panhu, the ancestor of the Yao people, went up the mountain to hunt, fell off a cliff while fighting with a wild sheep, and died on a tree. People hollowed out the tree core, peeled off the sheepskin and covered it with long drums, and beat them day and night to worship Pan Wang. The dance movements represent the diligence and bravery of King Pan and his descendants in opening up Qianjiadong. The low and sad reed pipe music reproduces the painful groans of King Pan before his death. The beating of the sheepskin drum represents revenge for King Pan and punishment of the goat. Singing the song of King Pan represents the remembrance and remembrance of the ancestors by the descendants of King Pan. The long drum is called "Bogong" in the Yao language and has a long history. The "List of Twelve Surnames of Yao People Crossing the Mountain" issued on May 3, the second year of Shaoxing in the Southern Song Dynasty (1644-1911) states: "In front of the emperor's palace, the king wears a long gown with large sleeves, a long waist and a wooden drum, a spotted robe with a red collar, and plays and sings on the pipa." Based on this, the Yao long drum has a history of many years. "Bogong" has 72 sets of big beats, 36 sets of medium beats, and 24 sets of small beats. There are movements such as felling trees, sawing boards, building houses, erecting buildings, production, hunting, etc. It is an indispensable performance activity when worshiping King Pan. In the old days, the Yao people also had to "Bogong" when they went to the government office to file a complaint. Nowadays, whenever there is a wedding, a festival, or a harvest, the Yao village gathers men, women, old, and young to "play the drum". Long drums are divided into three types according to their shapes: small, medium, and large. The small long drum is also called a short drum, about cm long, with a drum waist diameter of cm and a drum head diameter of cm at both ends; the medium long drum is also called a long waist drum or yellow mud drum, about cm long, with a drum waist diameter of cm and a drum head diameter of cm at both ends; the large long drum is also called a competition drum, about cm long, with a drum waist diameter of cm and a drum head diameter of cm at both ends. Long drums are usually made of sand tung wood, and cow or sheep skin covers the drum head. It is about 1.2 meters long, small in the middle, large at both ends, and one end is slightly larger by one third. The wood core is hollowed out, and the two horns are covered with refined yellow sheep skin, and then 6 to 8 dyed hemp ropes are used to tighten the two yellow sheep skins, and then painted with red, yellow, white and other colors, and painted with dragon and phoenix patterns to beautify the drum body. When dancing, the dancers tie the two "drum necks" with a ribbon, hang them on their shoulders, and cross them at their waists. They use their right hand to hit the drums, and their left hand to hit the drums with bamboo sticks. With the beat of the music, the drums make a clanging sound of "bang bang bang". If there are more than 4 people hitting the drums, with the beat of the music, the drums make a deep and exciting sound of "crackling bang bang". If accompanied by ox horns, gongs, and suona, it is like the ancient battles in formation, with drums and horns blaring, mountains and valleys echoing, and people are excited. Long drum dance is divided into "single dance", "double dance", "group dance" and other types. It has 72 performance routines, and each set is divided into several animal details such as "starting the hall" and "moving the hall". Its movement characteristics are rough, brave, unrestrained, strong, vigorous, sturdy, and free and easy. Whether it is jumping, leaping, squatting, rolling, spinning, flipping, jumping, jumping, etc., they all show the Yao people's passionate, strong and brave character traits. The drumming movements of the long drum mostly express production and life content, such as building houses, plowing fields, imitating the movements of animals, etc., which are vivid and full of life. There are two types of drumming: civil and martial. Civil movements are gentle and slow, while martial movements are rough and bold; some people fight against each other, or a large group of people fight in a circle, with a warm atmosphere and loud drum sounds. Most of the long drums reflect the production struggles and living customs of the Yao people, and reflect the thoughts, feelings and ideals of the Yao people. They have a unique style of the Yao people. In terms of performance form and program, they fully show the character traits and temperament of the Yao people. The dance movements are rough, brave, unrestrained, vigorous, and free and easy; the rhythm is bright and agile. The dance vocabulary imitates climbing mountains and ridges, crossing streams and valleys, cutting trees and transporting wood, fighting dragons and subduing tigers, etc., with vivid images and you can understand it at a glance. Yao dances are almost all mass and square dances, and they all have certain props, such as long drums, flower drums, ox horns, parasols, etc., which constitute the style of this ethnic group, are popular among the masses, and are easy to spread. Therefore, there are songs and dances on various occasions such as festivals, weddings, religions, funerals, etc., which are very lively. The Yao long drum dance is a festive dance. On traditional festivals such as "New Year", "Shuagetang" on the 16th day of the 10th lunar month, or on festive occasions such as celebrating a good harvest and congratulating a newlywed, young singers improvise and dance, with a hundred responses, dragons and tigers leaping, and magnificent momentum, which is really spectacular. The Yao people mostly play long drums on the third day of the third lunar month, the sixth day of the sixth lunar month, the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, and the sixteenth day of the tenth lunar month. The Yao people's "Panwang Festival" on October 16th is the most popular. "Returning Panwang's Wish" is a small wish every three years, and a big wish every twelve years; a small wish is made by playing long drums for three days and three nights, and a big wish is made for seven days and seven nights. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, such activities were organized by clans with the same surname. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the long drum was organized by village, and it was not limited to the above-mentioned festivals. The long drum can be played on National Day, Spring Festival or when celebrating the harvest. In 1999 and 2000, Jianghua Yao chief drummers Pan Tianfeng, Pan Yongming, Zhou Decheng and Zhao Gengmei went to Beijing to perform and were received by party and state leaders in the Great Hall of the People. In 2003, Jianghua Yao chief drummers Feng Maolin and Huang Wengui performed at the Second National Traditional Sports Meeting of Ethnic Minorities. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)