The Miao Drum Festival is an ancient traditional festival that is spread throughout Nangao Township, Danzhai County, some villages in Xingren Town, and Qinglang in Zhouxi Town, Kaili City. Danzhai County is located in the western part of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province. It borders Leishan County to the east, Sandu Shui Autonomous County to the south, Duyun City to the west, Kaili City to the north, and Majiang County across the Qingshui River to the northwest. Located on the slope of the southern edge of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, it has a northern subtropical humid and warm climate, with developed karst landforms, forming a landscape of beautiful peaks, peculiar caves, deep river valleys, and lush forests. The Miao ethnic group's drum-turning festival is distributed in Qingjiang, Changka, Wugao, Wubi, Dazhai, Zhuliu, Jiaokai, Yangya, and Sifangshan in Nangao Township; Longpo, Fanyang, Fangang, Yanying, Paizuo and other villages in Xingren Town, as well as Qinglang in Zhouxi Town, Kaili City. Because the skirts worn by women in these areas are of moderate length, they are called the "miao people in medium and short skirts" area, covering an area of more than 300 square kilometers and more than 30,000 people. The Miao people believe that all things have spirits, worship their ancestors, and worship nature. They believe that the gods have irresistible power. Whether it is to eliminate disasters and diseases or to seek children and wealth, they pray for the blessings of gods and ancestors. Therefore, a large-scale ancestor worship activity "eating drums and Tibetans" is held every 13 years. According to the word-of-mouth genealogy of some Miao elders in Jiumen Dazhai and Zhuliu villages in Nangao Township, about fifty generations ago, their ancestors moved to the east bank of the confluence of Zhuliu River and Wuming River at the junction of the two villages today, and "ate" a large-scale "drum-turning festival" there. After the sixth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1728 AD), the Qing army carried out large-scale burning, killing, looting and plundering of ethnic minorities in southeastern Guizhou. In order to implement the plan of "opening up Miao territory", the area around Nangao Township was used as a military fortress, and almost all cattle and sheep were robbed by the Qing army, and the land also belonged to the garrison troops. Since then, the Guzang Festival of killing cattle to worship ancestors has been completely abolished. During the Xiantong period, the Miao people's righteous army led by Ma Dengke occupied Bazhai County (now Danzhai County) for 13 years. Under the tenacious resistance of the Miao people's righteous army, the Qing government was forced to change its strategy. After the Qing government recaptured Bazhai in the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871 AD), it began to change military rule to "rule of virtue". It allocated land to the remaining Miao people according to their population size, settled them, and gave them rewards. At this time, the society had initially stabilized, production was restored and developed, and the lives of ethnic minorities had improved. The Miao villages in various places gradually resumed the Drum Festival. But at that time, each village had only a few cows, and most of them were still owned by the Qing government. Under this circumstance, the ancestor worship activities had to be changed to a new form. That is, once a year, a drum festival was held, and no cattle were slaughtered, only chickens were killed, fish were caught, wine was brewed, and meat was cooked. After the founding of the Republic of China, the Bazhai County government began to authorize the management of Miao affairs in the Nangao area to the local Miao chieftain, and the Miao economy and culture in this area were further improved. At this time, the Miao people in Nangao Township and surrounding areas As the cultural rituals were restored, the original annual drum festival was changed to a two-time drum festival in February and September of the lunar calendar, called "Fanggu", the Miao Drum Festival. The Miao Drum Festival includes activities such as drum sacrifice, feasting relatives and friends, dancing drums, bullfighting, bird fighting, and singing love songs, which lasts for three days. In the early morning of the first day, each family steamed glutinous rice, killed roosters, boiled fish, and fried meat. They placed glutinous rice, sweet wine, fish, chicken, meat and other offerings on the table or in a dustpan, burned incense paper, poured wine, and pinched food to sacrifice to the drum (i.e., ancestors). At the drum head's home, the same offerings were placed in front of the wooden drum. The drum head wore a satin long gown and a bamboo hat with the zongba leaves removed and only the bamboo strips left. He led the people participating in the drum sacrifice to stand, and the drum head recited the prayer, burned incense paper, poured wine, pinched food to sacrifice to the wooden drum, and sprayed the wooden drum with wine in his mouth three times, then hit the drum several times with a drumstick, and the ceremony ended. Then each family and The guests feasted together. At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the drums were played, that is, the wooden drums were carried from the homes to the drum-stepping field at the sand dam of the river at the foot of the village, and they were set up and beaten with a dong dong da da sound. At this time, the girls and boys from the village first came out on the drum-stepping field, formed a circle, and danced to the drum beats, and then the young men and women from the guest village joined in. They danced happily until dusk, then put away the drums and returned to the village for a feast. At noon the next day, the drum-stepping field was crowded with people and it was very lively. Even the middle-aged and elderly men and women, and children who were watching could not help but join in. When there were many dancers, they formed several circles inside and outside. People danced happily like this and dispersed at dusk. On the third day, young men and girls gathered in groups near the village to "noisy" and sing love songs and talk about love. According to the word-of-mouth genealogy of the Miao elders, the main inheritors of the Miao drum-stepping festival are: Niao Dao, The Miao Drum Festival is an ancient traditional festival. It has a profound impact on the historical and social development of the Miao people in the past and present. There are 18 ethnic groups living in the region, including Han, Miao, Shui, Dong, Zhuang, Buyi, and Yi. Among these ethnic groups, they rely on each other in life, exchange what they have and what they don’t have in materials, and influence each other in culture. However, only the Miao people celebrate the Miao Drum Festival. The Miao Drum Festival is a ceremony to worship ancestors before the "groundbreaking" of farm work in the spring of that year. After the festival, the locals are forbidden to play the reed pipe for entertainment, and even the reed pipe must be plugged with cotton balls to prevent the wind from blowing and making sounds. Therefore, the festival has obvious regional characteristics. The Miao people dance to wooden drums during the Drum Festival. The origin of wooden drum dancing is recorded in the Miao ancient songs circulated in the southeastern Guizhou region and Danzhai County. The ancestor of mankind once made a drum that was nine tu long and seven arms thick in the place of "Yedao Biexing". Because the drum was so long and big, the dresses of the drum dancers were often torn by hooks. Later, the drum was sawed into nine pieces and divided among nine people, with each person getting more than one tu. After the division, the others drifted away while rowing across the river, and only the Miao people kept it. When the drums were divided, the Han people were busy doing business and came late, so they only got waist drums made of tenons. "Therefore, the wooden drum of the Miao nationality is more than one tu, while the waist drum of the Han nationality is more than one ka. The ancient song specifically mentions: "The Miao and Han people share the drum, and the Han people do business", etc. These legends make the Miao drum-turning festival important and valuable for historical research. Due to social changes, various new festival activities are frequently held during the Miao drum-turning festival, which has diluted the traditional festival culture of the nation. In particular, the younger generation has received modern cultural education, with different ideological realms, values, and goals. They are unwilling to accept the traditional festival culture of the nation and their awareness has faded. In the 1980s, the festival activities were rich in content and lasted for three days. Now, most villages only hold simple sacrificial ceremonies during the festival, and the activity time is reduced to one day. In addition, there are many people working outside, and few people participate in the festival, so the active atmosphere is not strong. In addition, with the continuous penetration of modern social culture, the Miao drum-turning festival is facing extinction. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)