History records, as early as the Kangxi period, the Northeast has been "on the first day" (the first month of the fifteenth) to do the custom of rice-planting songs. Performing men dressed as soldiers, women and other roles, dancing and singing, all night long. By the end of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, rice-planting songs were already a Spring Festival entertainment activity all over the Northeast. The initiator and organizer of the "rice-planting songs" was either a rich merchant, an administrative agency or a civil organization, responsible for setting up a group of local people who were good at this way of doing things, and purchasing costumes and tools, hiring drumming groups, organizing rehearsals, and planning the performance arrangements, etc. Specific matters were usually carried out by an actor with good performance skills, high prestige, and strong clerical skills, and the "head of the rice-planting songs" was the "head of the rice-planting songs". The "Yangge head" is responsible for organizing the show.
The first day of the first month of the year, every family is busy paying tribute to the New Year, generally from the second day of the year "running rice-planting songs". The form of performance is based on New Year's greetings. In the towns, the rice-planting team to the local government offices and merchants store in the name of New Year's Eve performances, in the countryside is sitting in a big car to the nearby villages, in the village office or rich family mansion performances, but also to pay homage to the New Year's Eve. This kind of performance, the person to be worshiped to prepare cigarettes and tea hospitality, and in the rice-planting team on the way out to the "rice-planting head" reward money, and some have to manage the meal. So the rice-planting team has chosen the object beforehand, at least to be able to afford to give the reward money to go, or else it will be difficult for people to eat and feed the horse all kinds of expenses to be expended. Of course, the performance of the local men, women and children can watch the fun for nothing. In the past, the rural New Year's Eve, one is to figure "happy", the second is to speak face. If a village did not come to the rice-planting team to pay tribute to the New Year, the village will feel unhappy. Therefore, if the village does not organize the rice-planting songs, each family according to the rich and poor to spread money, send people to the village "to catch the rice-planting songs", to add to the village New Year's festive atmosphere.
The style of the Northeast rice-planting songs is known for its hot, cheerful and exuberant performance. Folk say that the rice-planting song according to good called "twisted wave", that is, not only the dance should be beautiful, and waist and hips to swing the amplitude of the big, strong sense of rhythm, the expression should be infectious, in short, can not be bland and exaggerated, in line with the bold and enthusiastic folk customs of the Guandong. In addition, the Yangge's "walking formation" (marching performance formation) should also be lively and fresh. In addition to the usual round field, but also out of the "two dragons spit beard", "Taiji Bagua" and many other patterns, fast and slow, walking and changing, coupled with the bright colors of the actor's clothing, to see people dazzled.
The wonderful part of the rice-planting songs is the stilts, commonly known as "stepping on the high foot". Stilts stick length of two to three feet, the performance is also walking rice-planting steps and formations, to twist fast, twisting happy for good. The characters played in the rice-planting songs include a red and green girl, a small daughter-in-law, an ugly woman smoking a long tobacco bag, a magistrate wearing a gauze hat and wings, a dull-witted "silly pillar", and "staggering donkeys" and "dry boats" with other props. "The performances with other props are all simple, honest and funny. Another type of characters are familiar to the folk novels and operas, such as the four masters and disciples in Journey to the West, the eight peas across the sea, and the common sons and daughters, fishermen, woodcutters, farmers and scholars on the New Year's Paintings, and so on. If the rice-planting team is with "high feet", the latter type of characters are mostly played by stilt walkers. In the old days, rice-planting songs were male, so the female characters are mostly men dressed as women, acting up more bold and spicy, funny and ridiculous.
The most enjoyable part of watching the rice-planting songs is when they are played against each other, i.e., when two rice-planting teams come to a field. Because most of the rice-planting songs at New Year's Eve give money, so according to the unwritten rules, a performance venue can only stay a rice-planting team. If the two teams arrive at the same time, or if the latter team is unwilling to back down, then they can only be divided by their performance skills. The one that performs well and attracts the audience stays, while the one that is not as skillful automatically withdraws. Whenever this happens, the two rice-planting teams have to take out their skills, work extra hard, and twist with all their might, while the audience benefits from the competition and has a great time. In this kind of competition, the musician who plays the suona (commonly known as the trumpet maker) plays a crucial role. Since the rice-planting songs follow the sound of the suona and the gongs and drums, in a certain sense, there is nothing that can't be blown out and nothing that can't be twisted out, so the suona is equivalent to the soul of the rice-planting song team. Excellent trumpet maker, not only will be more tunes, playing skills, but also practiced a lot of stunts, skillful people can be in the blowing at the same time, the two nostrils each inserted a burning cigarette, the top of the head and two arms each put a bowl of water, walking blowing, turning blowing, mounted on the table blowing, trumpet constantly, cigarettes do not extinguish, water bowls do not sprinkle. This kind of stunts usually do not use, encountered want to ask for more money or play against the time to light up, surprise and win. Therefore, all the rice-planting organizations try to hire local famous trumpet makers. Sometimes when they are performing, they will come to another one of the rice-planting songs, and when they hear the trumpet blowing well from a distance, or when they find out that the trumpet maker is a famous master, they will automatically "wilt away".
The New Year's opening of the twisted rice-planting song to the first fifteen to sixteen two days to reach a climax. At this time, the New Year's greetings in the villages and towns have ended, and the merchants and stores on the streets have begun their business for the new year. On the day of the Lantern Festival, the rice-planting teams have been concentrated in the local busiest and most lively town streets, parade-style performance. Some of them even organize the "Lantern Officials' Yangge", which is specially designed to blend in with the lantern-viewing atmosphere. The market is bustling with wonderful performances. The actors and actresses who love rice-planting songs also showed their talents in the applause of the audience in the street, and got addicted to rice-planting songs. Because after these two days, they have to remove the colorful clothes, back to the fields and workshops, become a common laborer.