There are generally two theories about the origin of the lantern dance. One is that the lantern is a symbol of light, and the running lantern means thousands of horses galloping and a new atmosphere. The house where the lantern runs to symbolizes prosperity and good luck for that family. Another theory is that the lantern dance originated from the custom of the Lantern Festival in the first month of the lunar calendar. Various colored lanterns are shining and rotating, and people are inspired by watching the running horses hanging high, so the lantern dance was born. According to the "Sanmen County Cultural Records", the folk art "lantern" of Zhangshuxia Village, Malou Township, which was originally part of Ninghai County, is usually performed in villages and towns at the beginning of the new year. It is a form of so-called "good play" in rural areas. The "horse lantern dance" handed down from the ancestors of Zhangshuxia Village uses bamboo strips to tie four horse racks and four ground lanterns (representing grain carts). The horses are covered with yellow, flowery, white and blue cloth curtains respectively. Pei Yunqing, who is wearing yellow battle clothes, sits on the yellow horse. Pei Yunqing's wife, who plays the role of a female warrior, sits on the flowery horse. Pei Yunqing's two sons, dressed as martial artists, sit on the white and blue horses respectively. At the same time, there is a groom behind each horse, and two pairs of runners follow closely behind the grooms, meaning the imperial grain on the carriages. The performance of the horse lantern dance requires thirteen people. During the performance, the first card has the ancient seal character "Song", and three small lanterns are hung on each side to indicate the way. The performance movements include: octagonal formation, four-corner formation, cross formation, dragon spraying water, winding, etc., accompanied by percussion music. After the percussion music, the Ninghai Pingdiao "Pei Yunqing Delivers Grain" is sung, and then folk songs such as "Mao Ge", "Dan Huagu", and "Xianhua Tune" are sung. The whole horse lantern dance performance takes a total of 1 hour. According to the recollections of the old artist Zheng Youxiu, in 1929, the sixteen-year-old Zheng Youxiu learned to perform the horse lantern dance from Mingyuan Gong, who was already in his seventies. At that time, the performers of the horse lantern dance often lined up in two teams, and the "horses" crossed and galloped to the accompaniment of trumpets, gongs and drums, and sang the ditty "horse lantern tune". Ningbo horse lantern tune is one of the famous folk music in Zhejiang. It is the tune selected when performing the horse lantern dance, so it is called horse lantern tune. The musical accompaniment of Ningbo's horse lantern dance is mostly based on this "horse lantern tune", but there are exceptions. For example, in Shipu Town, Xiangshan County, adjacent to Ninghai, there is a dance called "Yanchang Horse Lantern". In addition to the horse lantern tune, its musical accompaniment also includes tunes such as "Xilefan" and "Sanfan", as well as ditties such as "Xiaobanshao", "Twelve Months Flower Name", "Forty-two Stages" and "Dabaisha", and even excerpts from traditional operas such as "The Yang Family Generals" and "The Legend of White Snake". Sometimes the lyrics of the performance of "Yanchang Horse Lantern" are not fixed and are improvised by the actors.