Yang Ge

The "yangge" originates from rice planting and farming. Also, it has some connection with ancient eulogizing songs in sacrifices to the God of Farm. During its development, it incorporated much from the farming songs, "Lingge" (a kind of folk song), folk wushu (a form of physical culture), acrobatics and traditional operas. At last, it became a kind of folk dance. By the Qing Dynasty, the "yangge" had spread widely across the country. People divide it according to areas or its form, for example, the "Drum yangge" in Shandong, the "yangge in northern Shaanxi", the "local yangge" in Hebei, Beijing and Liaoning, the "Manchurian yangge" and the "stilts yangko". Other forms Such as the "Huagu (Flower Drum)", "Huadeng (Festive Lantern)", "Caicha (Tea-Leaf Picking)" and "Yingge" are popular in Guangdong and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
In northern Shaanxi Province, the Lantern Festival is called "Nao yangko". The yangge team of each village, led by the umbrella holder, dance with the rhythm of the drums. They dance either in large groups, or in two or three-person groups. Some even go visiting peasant families. In this way, they celebrate the coming spring and express their wish for a harvest year The umbrella holder must be good at singing traditional songs and composing new songs impromptu so that they can meet the demand in different places. When he sings, the others will repeat his last sentence. The performance is simple and lively. During the Lantern Festival, a "Zigzagging Yellow River Lantern Formation" is set. Common people enter it with the yangko team and enjoy all kinds of performances. The activity is for getting rid of ghosts and disasters.