Huagu is also called "Huagu" and "Huahui Fire" by the masses because of the handsome appearance and gorgeous costumes of drummers.
During the performance, women beat drums, men beat cymbals and gongs to accompany them, and dozens of little dolls swam around on the drummer's left with colorful umbrellas. Dolls with umbrellas are eight or nine years old, two or three years old, and the younger ones are all held by adults. Families with children in the village are scrambling to participate in the social fire performance, thinking that they can seek the blessing of the gods and buddhas to make their children live a long life and be happy and auspicious.
Flower drum performance is divided into two forms: entrance and venue. At the front of the procession, there was an old man dancing with a flower pole, and the female drummer stood face to face in the middle of the procession. Odd numbers beat the drums and retreat, even numbers beat the drums and advance, then odd numbers advance and even numbers retreat. Ma Gong and cymbals stand in a row facing the drummer on the right, while social gongs and colorful umbrellas stand in a row facing the drummer on the left.
There is no limit to the number of people during the performance, usually ten to twelve drums, and the number of social gongs, colorful umbrellas, horse gongs and cymbals is equal to the number of drums. Live performance, also known as off-site performance. During the performance, the dancer stands in the center of the circle to conduct, the drummer and the cymbal knocker face the dancer to form a two-layer inner ring, the horse gong, the social gong and the colorful umbrella face inward in turn to form a three-layer outer ring, and the * * * becomes a five-layer ring, and the dancer dances while playing.
The female drummers of Huagu are mostly dressed in wudan costumes in traditional operas. Before the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), many women wore flowers, colorful clothes, long cloaks on their shoulders and ten-belt skirts around their waists. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, gongs and cymbals were mostly dressed for military students in traditional operas. In recent years, they have changed to wear uniform yangko double-breasted colored clothes or uniform style and color sportswear.
Most dolls with colorful umbrellas wear new clothes and pants. The colorful umbrellas made by dolls are characterized by flower drums, and they are all made of all kinds of folk daily life embroideries skillfully woven and embroidered by women on weekdays, such as children's shoes, hats, Chinese-style chest covers, bibs, pillowcases, door curtains, pits, tablecloths, insoles, handkerchiefs, embroidered shoes and ten-belt skirts.
Make colorful umbrellas and drums look particularly gorgeous and bright. Some drums are decorated with six or seven layers, and colorful umbrellas are decorated with eight or nine layers of Chinese-style chest covering, bib, red silk and colorful flowers. There is a cotton doll made of cotton on the top of the umbrella, which is beautiful in appearance and full of interest. It can be called a mobile exhibition of folk embroidery crafts.
The flower-covered drum has a steady rhythm and a single dance step, and most of them beat the drum with two hammers at the same time.
Team types change rigorously and symmetrically. The colorful team composed of colorful umbrellas adds local color and performance effect to the performance.
According to Li Senlin, an old artist from Jiulong Village (born in 192 1), ancient painting drums had been active in the local area as early as Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, and several legends were circulated among the people. One said: During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a local military commander named Li, who later lived in Shangshu. This person is honest and upright, and he is honest and clean. Later, he got rid of a heinous corrupt official, offended his boss, was framed by a traitor and was killed. Buried in Kowloon Village after death. In order to remember his achievements, the villagers knocked on flower drums to commemorate him.
Another said: in ancient times, when there was a great drought, the seedlings would die. The county magistrate led the people to pray for rain and pray for God, wishing that as long as rain could alleviate the drought, he would recommend his daughter to the gods. When I left the temple, it rained cats and dogs, and the people were happy, but the daughter of the county magistrate was captured by scorpion essence. In order to thank the county magistrate for praying for rain and offering women for the people, the people built a temple in the local area as a memorial. On the second day of the second lunar month, villagers held colorful umbrellas, carried sacred buildings and knocked on flower drums to organize various social fires to pray for rain and make wishes.
There is a third legend; Dali County was called "Tongzhou House" in ancient times, and there is the former site of Shayuan City in the south of the county. During the "An Shi Rebellion" in the Tang Dynasty, Princess Changle, the daughter of Xuanzong, was in trouble and hid in the sand garden, where she became seriously ill. There is an old man who is called "Oriental Reality" and his daughter is called "Mo Chounv". The father and daughter boiled the local wild plant Astragalus complanatus into decoction, which cured the princess's illness. Later, a corrupt official, Wu Lai, forced the Oriental real person to give the secret recipe in order to flatter the court, and the Oriental real person was persecuted to death.
Mo Chounv went to Chang 'an in person and cried to Princess Changle about killing her father. The princess thanked the real people in the East for saving her life. She came to Shayuan to get rid of corrupt officials and gave Mo Chounv a flower umbrella. From then on, when local people play flower drums, they have to play umbrellas of various colors to commemorate Princess Changle. These legends add a strong legendary color to the flower drum.