One said that waving dance originated from religious sacrificial activities. Tujia people respect their ancestors and love their leaders. In order not to forget the achievements of their ancestors, they created a wave dance to commemorate them. The custom of waving hands and offering sacrifices in Laifeng and other places is still preserved here. Except for Ba Shen in some places, most of the sacrificial objects are the toast kings, such as Peng Gong, Tian Renhao and Xiang Laoguan, all famous people with surnames in Tujia history from the Five Dynasties to the Song Dynasty. "To live as an Englishman, to die as a god" [Inscription of the Hand-shaking Hall at the Temple Fort in Zhongzhai, Hedong Township, laifeng county in the fifth year of Jiaqing (18)] The Schumann Teaching Plan has been published for ten years: "Pabai ancestors, beating drums to sacrifice." Therefore, it is considered that waving dance is a kind of dance for Tujia people to sacrifice their ancestors.
The second theory evolved from White Tiger Dance and Bayu Dance. "Yang Hua Guo Zhi Ba Zhi" contains: "Ba Shi Yong Rui, singing and dancing are moving. Former disciples admired Ge, so the deceased called it attack, with singing before and dancing after. " According to experts' research, this martial arts master's song and dance is Bayu Dance, and White Tiger Dance is the predecessor of Bayu Dance. The characteristic of "waving hands on the same side" in hand-waving dance is to imitate "walking the dragon and walking the tiger", and its basic action is to show off the white tiger. It is also said that the "spear" and "crossbow" in Bayu dance music contained in Du You's General Code are exactly the same as the military dances such as "A", "Walking" and "Bowing and Archery" in the waving dance, so it is inferred that the waving dance and Bayu dance have the same origin and different branches, and originated from the Zhou Dynasty.
Third, it comes from war. There are many legends among the people. Generally speaking, it is Peng Gong who leads the troops to fight. In order to boost the morale of the army, he ordered his men to seduce the enemy by singing and dancing, or to drive away homesickness by waving and singing. After the victory of the battle, this swing dance spread to the people.
Fourthly, Tujia people naturally like singing and dancing, and waving dance is purely an artistic activity for Tujia people to entertain themselves.
Fifth, in order to conquer nature and resist foreign invasion, the ancient Tujia ancestors used a kind of "waving hands" to strengthen their bones and muscles, which gradually evolved into the later waving dance.
Six said that in Tieluping, Hefeng County, Enshi Prefecture, in the tomb of the Song Dynasty, there were twelve dancing ladies on the edge of a clay pot, some squatting, some swinging from side to side, and some dancing in robes and big sleeves. The dance is very similar to the existing single pendulum, double pendulum, rotating pendulum and ipsilateral pendulum. It shows that in the Song Dynasty, Tujia waving dance was very mature, and it was a group dance. Following to the Qing Dynasty, Tujia waving dance was recorded and described in detail in the local chronicles of laifeng county in western Hubei, Longshan County, Yongshun County in western Hunan and poets' poems.
All the above statements are enough to show that the history of waving dance is quite long, but not enough to show its real origin. It can be seen from the content and characteristics of waving dance that waving dance should originate from labor and social practice. This is the law that art at all times and all over the world follows.