Mengzi has been an important military town in all dynasties. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the continuous combination of soldiers and indigenous peoples has gradually opened up the wild land to the Central Plains culture. With the implementation of the policy of changing the chieftain system to the official system and the deepening of the power of the central dynasty, the social economy of Mengzi quickly changed from the chieftain slave system to the feudal landlord system. The prosperous imperial examination system has also created a group of intellectuals from indigenous ethnic groups, thus promoting comprehensive cultural exchanges between the border and the interior. Mengzi Yi Lanterns originated from such a historical and cultural background. Mengzi Yi Lanterns originated from Xinyikong Village (now Yongning Village, Yuguopu Town) on the Changqiao Seaside, the Yi Township, and have been passed down for more than a hundred years. As early as the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, Xinyikong Village had lantern singing activities. Under the advocacy and participation of Yang Hongyi, a scholar in the village, local folk materials were used to write plays, mocking and lashing out at power, revealing the suffering of the people, and conveying the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of the poor and the poor in the rap lantern songs and dances. More than ten plays such as "Little Carp Sea", "Flower Drum Man", "Fishing", and "Sheep Herding" and more than ten tracks such as "Gold and Silver Dots", "Guessing Flower Tune", "Dressing Tune", and "New Year's Greeting Tune" were left. Mengzi Yi Lantern integrates singing, dancing, and drama. The singing and speaking are all in Chinese. Sheng, Dan, Chou, and Mo perform literary dramas together. The plot is lively, the language is humorous, the dance is beautiful, and the music is cheerful. The instrumental music is mainly four-string, three-string, Dianhu, and Jinghu, without percussion. The props are only towels, fans, and flower whips. Sheng, Dan, Chou, and Mo have certain costumes, and the facial makeup emphasizes natural light makeup. With the participation of intellectuals and the tempering of generations of artists, Mengzi Yi Lanterns have become a unique performance style, rich local flavor, and beautiful folk songs. They are deeply rooted in the Yi people on the south bank of the Red River and have lasted for more than a hundred years. Mengzi Yi Lanterns survive and develop in the form of guilds. The early folk lantern festivals had a set of customary rules and etiquette, namely, turning on the lanterns in the New Year, offering sacrifices to the "Tang Wang Lantern God of the Sky-high Beacon Fire", parading with branded lanterns, greeting members from house to house, setting up public performances, and "closing the lanterns" after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Members must be actors and must donate a certain fee every year; when the lantern festival is invited to perform at weddings or funerals, a certain performance fee is collected to subsidize the activity funds and purchase costumes, props and musical instruments. Mengzi Yi Lanterns focus on the principle of realistic creation, advocating that "drama writing should be beneficial to morality, not just for entertainment", and pursuing "singing with charm and dancing with strings" in art. Mengzi Yi lanterns are passed down from generation to generation, and are passed down orally and in heart. They inherit the same master and show their acting skills in different ways. The Yi folk lanterns are widely spread in Jianshui, Kaiyuan, Gejiu and Mengzi counties, and are all passed down by Li Zhan, the second-generation lantern artist in Yongning Village. To this day, Yang Jinhui, the fifth-generation lantern artist in Yongning Village, and his disciples are still active on the traditional Yi lantern stage. In the process of inheritance and innovation, they actively serve the traditional customs of their own nation and the construction of socialist national culture. Yi lanterns are a local folk drama that combines songs, dances and dramas. It has a strong local flavor and unique national style and has a history of more than 100 years. The main traditional dances include "Pulling Flowers", "Flower Whips", "Green Kingfisher Clam Dance", "Bench Dragon", "Playing Flower Drums", etc., which are mostly used for weddings and funerals and focus on entertainment. After a long period of tempering, the Yi lantern dance has formed its own unique performance style in accordance with the aesthetic taste of the Yi people, "both rules and dexterity, and generosity and boldness". Pulling flowers "Pulling flowers" is a "tuanchang" dance in Yi lanterns, which plays the role of opening and calming the scene. In the old days, when dancing "pulling flowers", the man's hand movements seemed to want to touch the woman's chest, while the woman circled around her chest to block it. The whole dance is interesting in the contrast between "wanting to touch" and "hiding and dodging". The current "pulling flowers" has abandoned this meaning and gradually evolved into a multi-person tuanchang dance with varied arrangements, novel and beautiful dance postures, making the opening atmosphere more lively. This dance is a basic combination dance, which can more generally reflect the performance skills and style characteristics of Yi lantern dance. Beating flower whips "Beating flower whips" is also called "beating the king whip", which is a skill dance in Yi lantern songs and dances, and is performed throughout the lantern song and dance "Four Ministers". It can also be danced alone. It can also be entertained by oneself. The music "Guessing Flower Tune" and "Makeup Tune" are relatively beautiful and cheerful. Until now, as long as the Yi people live in areas, whether in mountainous areas or dam areas, they are widely circulated. Green Kingfisher and Clam Dance "Green Kingfisher and Clam Dance" is a performance custom dance with dramatic plots. It is also similar to street live news drama. It began to spread among the Yi and Han people in Mengzi in the mid-1930s. It can be performed at weddings, funerals, and festive occasions. Legend has it that before helping King Wu of Zhou to defeat King Zhou, Jiang Ziya lived in seclusion in the mountains and often fished in the river with a straight hook. One day, he saw a kingfisher chasing and pecking at a clam, so he used the fish he caught to lure the kingfisher and protect the clam. It turned out that the clam was a fairy in the heavenly palace. Because she wanted to return to the human world, she was discovered by the Jade Emperor and punished by turning into a clam spirit to live in the water forever, never seeing the sun, and ordered a god to turn into a kingfisher to monitor the sea and peck the clam to death immediately when it came out of the water. "Green Kingfisher and Clam Dance" expresses this mythological story. In the early days, there were only three actors: Jiang Ziya, the clam spirit, and the kingfisher. Now it has developed into a large-scale square dance for festive occasions. The "Bench Dragon" is a kind of entertainment and fitness dance that uses a long bench as a prop to simulate the tumbling of a "dragon". It was introduced to Mengzi in the early 20th century and widely spread in the Yi area, gradually becoming a lively program of the folk "lantern festival". In addition to being performed during festive occasions, this dance is also performed as a sacrificial dance to pray for good weather and a good harvest when the village "worships the dragon for rain". Playing the Flower Drum "Playing the Flower Drum" is a traditional Yi lantern drama that combines song, dance and drama. It reflects what a pair of Anhui Fengyang Flower Drum artists saw and heard when they went to Yunnan. The lyrics can be improvised and adapted according to the characteristics of the performance area, and the dance movements are cheerful and chic.