The form and development of Anse waist drums are inseparable from the local historical and geographical environment and folk customs. Ansai is located in the northern part of the Yan'an area in Shaanxi Province, a vast area, gullies and ravines, the Yan River meanders through the territory, is a typical loess plateau landscape. Historically, it is a military town, known as the "throat of the upper county", "the key to the northern gate," known as one of the border fortresses to resist foreign invasion. Local people say, as early as in the Qin and Han Dynasties, waist drums were regarded as indispensable equipment by the garrison generals as well as swords, guns, bows and arrows. Encountered enemy raids, the drums alarm, pass the message; two armies against the battlefield, to drums to cheer; victory in battle, soldiers and drums to celebrate. With the passage of time, the drums gradually developed from military use into a folkloric dance when local people prayed to the gods, wished for a good harvest, and celebrated the Spring Festival, thus making the drums have a greater mass, but in the style of drumming and performance, it continues to retain some of the Qin-Han generals' vigorous and heroic posture.
In 1981, in Yan'an City, neighboring Anse County, Liangcun Township, Wangzhuang Village, a small hill called "tomb collapse", the masses in the plowing found an ancient tomb. Which unearthed the same shape, character modeling of the two waist drum portrait bricks, are turned mold molding after firing. By the Yan'an area of cultural relics and archaeology experts, the Department of the Song Dynasty. Portrait bricks shaped by the drummer, the waist sat on a fine drum, side, head to the left after raising the left foot on the ground, the right leg before the cross stirrups, hands a high and low as a hammer drums; the left side of a person for the cymbals, jumping up with both feet, lift the left leg, eyes on the left side, both hands in front of his chest cymbal shape. The drummer is bare-shouldered, wears lantern pants and a colorful sash around his waist, which floats to the bottom of the front. Especially the drummer's movements and image, quite similar to today's Ansai waist drums in the "horse stance stirrups" of the fourth beat and "forward progress" of the second beat. Waist drum portrait brick picture clear, beautiful shape, vividly expressed the Song Dynasty in northern Shaanxi Province, China's waist drum performance, the study of the historical origins and development of waist drums in northern Shaanxi Province, provides a valuable and informative cultural relics information.
Ansei waist drum with its unique style, bold and rugged, strong and unrestrained, magnificent and famous, it organically blended with the rice-planting songs and martial arts action, fully expressed the yellow earth people simple and honest, brave and brave and cheerful and optimistic character. The performance of Ansai Waist Drums is not limited by the venue, nor by the number of people. On the road, in the square, the stage can be performed, can be a single person, can be a pair of playing, but also dozens of people and even hundreds of people playing. The singles leaped and spun across, like a dragonfly, like a swallow in the mud, like a horse galloping, like a tiger showing its power; group playing can change a variety of wonderful patterns, spectacular momentum.
The Ansai Waist Drums are divided into two kinds of drums, namely, the cultural drums, which are mainly twisted and lightly beaten, and the martial arts drums, which are mainly beaten and lightly twisted. Ansai Waist Drums are quick to release and fast to close, changing rapidly, natural and generous, cheerful and smooth, rigid and flexible, flexible, in the development and evolution of the process of dance, martial arts, gymnastics, percussion, wind music, folk songs and so on into one, so that their own from the content to the form of a richer, more ornamental, entertaining.
Ansei Waist Drums are mostly performed in a collective form, and the drummers (called "satchel drums" or "kick drums") are as few as dozens of people, and as many as more than a hundred people. The team includes pulling flowers female corner, umbrella head, savage mother-in-law, savage Han and other roles, and "running donkey", "water boat", such as a variety of small field program composed of a vast folk dance team. In the performance emphasizes the overall effect, requires the action of the unity and uniformity of the formation of the normative changes, mainly through the drummers bold and rugged dance and powerful drumming skills, fully demonstrated in the man born on the Loess Plateau of the masculine beauty of the men.
Ansei waist drums in Ansei County is quite popular, distributed in Tanjiaying, West Hekou, along the river Bay, Zhenwudong and other townships, there are southern and northern factions. 1986, Ansei waist drums were awarded the highest honor in the first Chinese National Dance Competition, and in recent years, it has been in the 11th Asian Games Opening Ceremony, Hong Kong Handover Ceremony and other large-scale activities such as performances, and went to Japan to perform. Ansai waist drum performance town by children or thousands of people together, majestic momentum, superb performance is intoxicated, known as "the world's first drum". 1996, Ansai County was named by the Ministry of Culture as "China's waist drum township".