Miao drum dance is a dance of the Miao ethnic minority in western Hunan.
Introduction to Miao drums:
There are two types of Miao drums in Xiangxi: celebrating years and celebrating gods. With the changes in the Miao people’s aesthetic taste and the inheritance of drum music, they are usually held on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Every year around the Spring Festival, during major events such as catching up with the Autumn Festival, gathering cattle, harvest celebrations, weddings, welcoming guests, etc., they welcome each other with drum music as a special way to express their emotions.
Reason:
To trace the origin of Miao drums, the author agrees with the views of Shi Qigui, a Miao scholar. Shi Qigui discussed in the "Field Survey Report on the Miao People in Western Hunan": "The Miao people suffer from race, ethnicity, and environmental problems. Due to political and economic oppression, there is no progress, so the cultural knowledge is relatively behind the others, and the place where they live is among the barren mountains and valleys, where they are rarely close to the Han people. They sit in a well and look at the sky, and they are ignorant.
< p>If you don’t seek a kind of entertainment, it will not be enough to enjoy life, improve your thinking, activate your spirit, and promote your health. The only thing that is beneficial to the human body is drumming. "At this time, the social utilitarian role of Miao drum is fully reflected. .Miao drumming has the most distinctive characteristics of dance, because Miao drumming is often accompanied by dance, and it is a perfect combination of music and dance. In our state, the Miao drumming music is called drumming, which has strong regional characteristics.
Due to the factors of Miao culture, history and aesthetics, Miao drumming constitutes the unique personality of Xiangxi Miao drumming through narrative performance; it reproduces the life of Miao people in western Hunan through vivid dance movements , a picture of labor, it can be said that it is a historical picture of the Miao people in western Hunan.
The Miao drum is a sacred object worshiped by the Miao family; it is a symbol of the Miao tribe. On the way of the Miao people's great migration from the Yellow River to the mountains in the southwest, they threw everything away, but they still retain a drum. Whenever the Miao family encounters a major life-or-death decision, they will hold a grand ceremony of "eating cows and drums". Each drum represents a lineage or tribe of the Miao people. Hundreds of drums sounding in unison symbolizes the unity of all people and the same hatred against the enemy.
The Miao Drum Festival is a traditional sacred festival of the Miao people. According to legend, in ancient times, many-headed monsters harmed the Miao countryside, killing women, devouring children, and doing all kinds of evil. The brave Miao Hou Yaxiong led his companions from the same village to jump into the sinkhole. After seven days and seven nights at the blood station, they finally killed the ferocious multi-headed monster and rescued the beautiful girl Azhu.
The whole village people, old and young, caroused around the blazing fire to celebrate the victory. Yaxiong and other warriors peeled off the monster's skin, turned it into a big drum and beat it vigorously? It is said that this is the origin of Miao drum.