The wandering spirit of Bapai Yao

After the ancestor worship ceremony, they began to wander. The "Wandering Gods" team, with four burly boys holding two Zhi Zhu banners (bamboo banners more than ten meters long, with branches and leaves at the tail, hung with red cloth and some white paper, corn and grain), cleared the way. Four gentlemen followed the bamboo flag, holding scriptures, staves, whips, evil knives, money and other instruments. Behind it is a row of umbrellas and a big red flag, which reads "XX row of karaoke bars in XX years to worship the ancestors" and so on. The red flag is at the back, followed by the teams of each room and surname participating in the "Guage Hall" (in the order of drawing lots). The parade queue is dominated by costumes, men, women and children. One of the adult men dressed up as an old man with crutches was supported by two young people. Several women held their infant babies in their arms to commemorate the hardships of their ancestors' migration. In addition, there are Dragon Drum Team, Mundi Team, Gong Team, Horn Team and Wind Band.

In the queue of "wandering gods", the most striking thing is "Fazhen". Two men sat in a chair and carried him. Legend has it that the hero of Fazhen Yao nationality was heroic and invincible in the war and was killed by his friend's jealousy. After his death, he became a ghost and often appeared to bless his people to win the battle, so later generations regarded him as a god. During the parade, "Fazhen" took a chicken in his hand and bit off the head of the chicken, spilling blood all the way.

The "Wandering God" team is vast, ranging from 500 people to 1000 people, cruising the streets along the established route. Along the way, gongs and drums were loud, horns, core columns and guns were intertwined, and it was very lively. The "wandering gods" team finally came to "Getangping" (a field or clearing outside the village). After having a rest and getting dressed, I began to sing. Traditionally, the two elders lead the singing first, and then the others sing in chorus. If there is no elder to take the lead, others can't sing, which is called "elder opening". At the same time, the long drummers with different surnames in each room beat drums and danced. Boys are in groups of three or five, and onlookers sing and show their talents to win hearts. The whole "Getangping" is completely immersed in a happy atmosphere.

After the "Ge Tangping" activity, the "Wandering God" team was a "Wandering God" team, that is, people who participated in the "Beating Ge Tangping" carried the gods of their ancestors back to the village ancestral temple, and the next day was the same as the first day.

Retire from public office. "Retirement from public office" is the last day of "Getangping". When people sang and danced in Getangping and returned home to their hearts' content, Mr. Zong announced the successful conclusion of this "Getangping", and began to evict houses and surnames, and carried the ancestor statues back to the temple and offered them in their original places. The so-called "retirement from public office" is the end of the whole "Ge Tangping" activity.

Paiyao's "Playing Songs Hall" has a long history. It is the grandest and largest traditional folk activity integrating the memorial of ancestors, recalling history, celebrating harvest, rewarding and punishing, spreading knowledge and mass entertainment. It has become the main carrier for Liannan Paiyao to pass on, inherit and carry forward the excellent culture of Yao nationality from generation to generation. In 2006, Lianhetang was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative list.