Tujia funeral dance is an ancient mass sacrificial dance, which originated from the production and life of primitive ancestors and is used to mourn fallen warriors or dead souls. The Tujia people, who are spread in Shimen County, Hunan, are the first batch of intangible cultural heritages in Hunan Province. Tujia funeral dance is simple and primitive, with many jumping movements; the performance is particularly symmetrical and balanced. There is no static shape during the dance, and it is often performed in conjunction with the Taoist temple. There are relatively fixed music tunes for funeral dance, the main tunes are [Yao] [Yao Niang] [Yao Gu Jie], etc. Some are directly absorbed from folk tunes or ancient labor songs. The drummer sings and the others sing along. The drummer beats the drum to direct and adjust the rhythm. The lyrics of each set are taken from local folk songs and ballads. In 2006, Tujia funeral dance was selected into the first batch of intangible cultural heritage list of Hunan Province. "Fourth-day dance" originated from the production and life of primitive ancestors. According to archaeologists, as early as 16,000 years ago, there were traces of primitive ancestors roasting prey around fire in Yan'er Cave, Zaoshi, Shimen County. Experts and scholars believe that "where there is fire, there is dance", and the ancestors swung left and right due to the heat of roasting prey, forming a rudiment of primitive dance. Later, it gradually evolved into a dance of the ancient Ba people in Shimen. In the long course of history, this primitive dance of the Ba people was used to mourn the fallen warriors and then transformed into a mourning dance to mourn the dead souls of the people. The Tujia mass mourning dance is a ritual to respect the dead and the bereaved family, and also a need for self-entertainment. An old artist in Jiangpinghe Township said: "Dancing is to let the dead enjoy the entertainment of the world again before being buried. The dead cannot just listen to the crying, but also watch some dance to be happy." Therefore, when there is a funeral, the people who dance the funeral often walk dozens of miles of mountain roads to "dance lively all night." The dance is performed in front of the coffin of the deceased. In front of the coffin is a curtain with paintings such as "Two Dragons Playing with Pearls" on it. In front of the curtain is a spirit tablet. Small white flowers are tied to small bamboo sticks. The number of bamboo sticks is determined by the age of the deceased, which is called "Longevity Stick Tube". According to regulations, young and middle-aged people who have children and no elderly people above them can perform funeral dance after death. If these two conditions are not met, they cannot perform it. At the beginning of the dance, the drummer leads the singing and two people dance in pairs. The more people participate, the better. They sing and dance in groups in front of the coffin. The following are the known dance routines: "Four Steps". This is the basic movement of "Four Steps". When two people dance in pairs, they first step on the ground to form two parallelograms, so it is also called "Shengzi Di" and "Stepping on the Line". This movement is used when starting to jump and changing the tune. "Wind Stirring Snow". This is the main routine. The first half sings "Yao Niang Jun Fa" and the second half sings "Yao Gu Jie". "Yao Gu Jie" mainly uses squatting and holding hands. "Phoenix Flashing Wings". It is a more graceful and lyrical routine. "Rolling body". There are full roll and half roll. Full roll means two people turn one circle with their backs facing each other, and half roll means two people turn half a circle with their shoulders facing each other. "Martial arts funeral". This is a more intense routine, also known as "martial arts", which requires certain martial arts training and is more difficult. In addition, there are "beauty combing hair", "crab fighting", etc. In various dance routines, there are many dance postures and shapes that simulate animals in nature and labor production, such as "cow scratching itch", "tiger hugging head", "rhinoceros looking at the moon", "Guanyin sitting on lotus", "hungry horse hanging hoof", "king going down the mountain", etc. "foot on the bottom of the riser, hand holding the chain buckle", the dance pays attention to symmetry and balance, which is its main feature. If the next step is wrong, not only the composition will not be beautiful, but the dance will be messed up, or even can't go on. The individual movement style of the dancer varies from person to person, some are strong and steady, some are stretched and chic, and some are relaxed and lively. But there is a common feature, that is, the whole dance never stops. The artists' motto is: "Sway your head twice, tilt your body twice, shake your body twice, and kick your feet twice." The whole body should be coordinated and continuous, so that it is flexible and beautiful. The steps of funeral dance are simple and primitive, with many jumping movements. It is mainly composed of dance vocabulary of the struggle between man and nature and bionic dance vocabulary. There are relatively fixed music tunes for funeral dance. Except for one or two sentences in the lyrics that occasionally mourn the dead when "taking off", they have nothing to do with funerals, let alone any feudal superstition. Sometimes the previous group is tired and asks the other group to take over, so they improvise: "Change people, change people, let the dancer wipe the sweat off, if you don't dance, I'll dance again, it's hard for one person to carry a heavy burden." The music of the funeral dance is rough and passionate, with the tune of "Yao Jian Er Duo Hao Jun Er Duo Han Mei Ke Fan Rong Tao", and some are directly absorbed from folk tunes, such as "Crab Song" and "Ten Persuasions". These tunes are sometimes fixed tunes of each set, such as "Yao Jian Fa Huan Xiang Li Yao" and "Yao Niang Jun Fen" when dancing the four big steps. Sometimes they are not limited, such as dancing "Beauty Combing Hair" in some places, singing "Yao Gu Jie" and in other places singing "Yao Jun Er Wu Tune is actually the filler in the singing, an ancient labor song, sung by the drummer, and everyone sings along. There are no other instruments, and the drummer is responsible for the rhythm. There are no fixed lyrics for each set, and the lyrics are all taken from local folk songs and ballads. Except for a few words of mourning for the dead at the beginning of the dance, it has nothing to do with funerals, reflecting the Tujia people's optimistic view of life and death, which regards the funeral of the elderly as a happy event. There is no specific costume for funeral dances, and men can dance shirtless when performing martial arts funeral dances. In the past, only men danced, but now women have also begun to dance. In the past, it was only danced at funerals, but now people in some areas also dance when they rest from work. The ancient "Funeral Dance" is gradually changing its nature from a dance for funerals to a dance for mass entertainment. It is one of the first batch of intangible cultural heritages in Hunan Province. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)