Exploring the Midu Lanterns

Maidu, once known as Miaodu. Legend has it that it was originally a vast water countryside, walkers are easy to get lost, so the name is "lost", "Maidu". In order to avoid flooding, the Qing Dynasty renamed Maidu. It is like a piece of emerald inlaid in the western Yunnan plateau. Tang Dynasty, Maidu is the Nanzhao Kingdom of the heart of the land. 100,000 more than the Central Plains generals and merchants and travelers, not only to this fertile land has brought the agricultural and commercial technology, but also to this piece of sentimental place spread the Yellow River culture. Thus, there is a saying that "lights come from the Tang Dynasty, and art starts from the Tang Dynasty" in Midu. During the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, the military, civilian, commercial and frontier immigrant activities were continuous, and brought the lingering Yangtze River culture to this place. Through the vicissitudes of history, Midu with its territory of Han and Yi, Hui, Bai and other minority cultures interact and penetrate, synthesize the strengths of their own local ethnic cultures, the essence of the motherland's northern and southern cultures, the formation of a unique local ethnic characteristics of the splendid and colorful traditional culture.

Maidu is the "hometown of lanterns", "hometown of folk songs" and "hometown of mountain songs". The song "The River Runs Through It" originated in Midu. Mr. Yin Yigong, the author of the lyrics and music, was born in 1924 in Mizhi, Midu County. He recalled one evening in the spring of 1947 when he composed this song, saying: "The beautiful melody of the Mizhi sheep-herding tune reminds me of the moon, deep mountains, forest breezes and the meandering river in my hometown, so I took the name of the song, 'The Moon Comes Out Bright and Wide. The editor-in-chief of Yunnan University's Teaching and Singing, Jiang Chao, suggested a better title, "The River Flows", and after the song was published, it gradually spread." Mizhi is not only a place of beautiful mountain songs, but also an important birthplace of Yunnan lanterns. The Dragon Lantern Festival here originated in the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and has a history of nearly 300 years. Every year on the 15th and 16th day of the first month, the masses of 18 villages converge on the great temple of Mizhi, lions, dragons and phoenixes dance on the spur of the moment, men, women, children and old people singing on the same field, day and night carnival, the atmosphere is warm, rare, known as the "Oriental carnival".

Maidu lanterns, folk songs, like a sea of smoke. Maidu lanterns, songs up to more than 400, traditional repertoire of more than 250. Ten Big Sisters", "embroidered purse", "Maidu Mountain Song", "the wind blew the tree head crooked" and so on have been sung for a long time, popular.

Maidu County's successive leaders attach great importance to the inheritance and development of the local ethnic culture, put forward the "singing" Little River Runs Through the Water "and jumping red Maidu lanterns," the slogan of the construction of the local ethnic culture. 1999, from the more than 400 Maidu folk songs selected "Little River Runs Through the Water," as a representative of the 13 songs, filmed a 60-minute movie called "Maidu line". A 60-minute VCD music and art movie called "Maidu Row" was produced and distributed both at home and abroad. Over the past few years, Maidu County has held large-scale lantern exhibitions in the Spring Festival every year, carried out large-scale training for lantern singing cadres and lantern group dance competitions, and has one professional lantern troupe and more than 130 folk amateur lantern teams active in cities and towns all year round.

"When you arrive at Hongyanpo, you will hear singing everywhere" and "Ten people from Maidu, nine will sing lanterns". The place where the river flows - Maidu, is full of local ethnic traditional cultural flavor of the style, showing in front of the world.