Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Social Undertakings (III)
Section 3: Culture and Arts. Culture and arts in Xiangxi have a long history. Paleolithic sites and Neolithic, Shang and Zhou bronze artifacts have been unearthed in the region. Early ballads, ancient myths and primitive art have been passed down. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Chu and Ba cultures gradually penetrated the area, enriching the ancient indigenous culture. Qu Yuan of Chu compiled and adapted the sacrificial...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section III Culture and Art
The culture and art of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture have a long history. Paleolithic sites and Neolithic, Shang and Zhou bronze artifacts have been unearthed in the region. Early ballads, ancient myths and primitive art and other lingering charms have been handed down. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Chu culture and Ba culture successively penetrated the area, enriching the ancient indigenous culture. Qu Yuan of Chu compiled and reworked the 'sacrificial rites and the music of song and dance' 'between the Yuan and Xiang rivers' to compose 'Nine Songs'. Qin left tens of thousands of bamboo slips in the prefecture, so this was by no means a 'barbaric wilderness'. Tang dynasty poet Liu Yuxi learned folk songs in the 'Ba mountains and Chu waters', opening a new realm of 'bamboo branch lyrics'. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the region was influenced by Central Plains culture and Jing-Chu culture, and literature and art gradually arose. The Qing dynasty's 'replacing native officials with appointed officials' brought cultural development. In the early years of the Republic of China, mass culture first drew the authorities' attention. During the Northern Expedition, the dawn of a new culture began to appear. The establishment of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Border Revolutionary Base Area sowed the seeds of revolutionary culture.
After the founding of New China, the culture and art undertakings in the region underwent fundamental changes and became an important component of the socialist cause. In June 1955, the People's Committee of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Prefecture established a Culture and Education Section to manage cultural work. In September 1961, the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Culture and Education Bureau was established. In December 1972, the Prefecture Culture Bureau was established separately. The Prefecture Federation of Literary and Art Circles was prepared in 1963, with a full-time cadre working in the Prefecture Culture and Education Bureau. At the end of 1978, the first committee of the Prefecture Federation of Literary and Art Circles was elected.
I. Cultural Facilities
Before the Qing dynasty, there were very few government-run cultural facilities in the region. During the Republic of China period, popular lecture halls, public libraries and mass education halls were established. Drama performance venues were temples, ancestral halls, guild halls, and so on. After the founding of New China, all kinds of cultural facilities grew from nothing to something, from small to large, from few to many, and from rudimentary equipment to complete equipment. The prefecture's cultural facilities underwent tremendous changes.
Cinemas and Theaters In 1953, the People's Government of the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Region built the People's Cinema in Jishou, the first cinema in the prefecture. By the 1970s, each county town and key township successively built or renovated cinemas and theaters, which both showed films and hosted performances. In the spring of 1980, the Xiangxi Ethnic Cinema was completed, serving as the main venue for major literary and artistic activities in the prefecture. In 1984, it was designated a Class A theater by the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture. Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has always attached importance to the rural film industry. In 2000, the prefecture had 349 rural film projection teams. In 2005, the Xiangxi Ethnic Cinema was rebuilt into the Xiangxi Grand Theater, with a total investment of 28.5 million yuan and a total construction area of 9,552 square meters. By the end of that year, 80% of the main structure had been completed.
Libraries During the Republic of China period, county public libraries had very few books. In 1956, the Xiangxi Miao Autonomous Prefecture Library was established, with reading rooms and 4 stack rooms. In 1976, all counties established libraries. In 1995, the prefecture and counties/cities had a total of 9 public libraries with more than 670,000 books, of which the prefecture library had more than 150,000; and more than 50,000 ancient books, of which the prefecture library had 11,000. That year, the prefecture built 13 township libraries with 10,000 books each. Major universities, secondary schools, and scientific research units also established libraries with relatively large collections. Libraries at all levels actively provided documentary information services for the construction of the 'two civilizations'. In 2005, the prefecture had a total of 9 prefecture- and county/city-level public libraries and 21 township libraries with 10,000 books each, with a total collection of 768,000 books.
Museums In November 1957, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Museum was established. Later it merged with and separated from the Prefecture Cultural Center and the Prefecture Cultural Relics Task Force several times, and in 1989 it was restored as an independent institution. In 1988, the first phase of the Prefecture Museum, built on Haotong Mountain in Jishou City, was completed, covering an area of 4 hectares, with a total investment of 2 million yuan and a total construction area of 4,000 square meters. The museum building is in an antique style with glazed tile roofing. It contains exhibition halls and warehouses. Since the completion of the new museum, it has successively held exhibitions such as 'Xiangxi Ethnic and Folk Customs Exhibition', 'Art, Photography and Calligraphy Works Exhibition for the 60th Anniversary of the Red Army's Long March', and 'Glorious 50 Years—Exhibition of Achievements in the Construction of the Two Civilizations in Xiangxi Prefecture'. In 2005, construction of the Liye Qin Slips Museum was launched. The museum covers 80 mu, with a designed construction area of 6,200 square meters and a total investment of 65 million yuan. It is the core project for the protection and utilization of the Liye Ancient City and will certainly play an important role in the protection and study of the Qin bamboo slips.
Cultural Centers In the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936), counties in the prefecture successively established county mass education halls, integrating culture, publicity, books, sports, health, science popularization, and spare-time education. After the founding of New China, county cultural centers were established one after another. In 1957, the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Cultural Center was established. The duties of the prefecture and county cultural centers were to train literary and artistic backbone personnel, collect and organize folk literature and art, compile and print literary and artistic publicity materials, and guide grassroots cultural activities. After 1980, the prefecture and county cultural centers successively built new premises, improving working and living conditions. In 2005, the prefecture's cultural centers (mass art centers) had 159 staff members.
Cultural Stations In the early 1950s, some counties began establishing rural general cultural stations in relatively concentrated market towns. They gradually increased afterward, and by 1973 every commune had established a cultural station. However, due to unstable personnel, unfunded budgets, and rudimentary conditions, most cultural stations could not carry out activities. After several adjustments, being established and abolished at times, and with some cultural station personnel converted to state cadres and funds allocated to improve conditions, by 1995 the 8 counties and cities had jointly built 208 township cultural stations and 1,059 rural cultural rooms. In 1997, all 221 townships and subdistrict offices in the prefecture had established cultural stations. At the same time, staffing for cultural stations was increased and infrastructure construction was strengthened. In 2005, the prefecture's townships and subdistrict offices were adjusted to 164, and cultural stations were adjusted accordingly.
In addition, the "Xiangxi Ethnic Culture City," organized and built by the Prefecture Culture Bureau, and the "Xiangxi Ethnic Culture Industry Center," organized and built by the Prefecture Ethnic Affairs Commission, are key ethnic cultural facility construction projects of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, and were designated by the Prefecture Party Committee and Prefecture Government as projects for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the prefecture in 2007. At the end of 2005, the Xiangxi Ethnic Culture City completed its overall master plan and design, and construction of the first phase began. The Xiangxi Ethnic Culture Industry Center, jointly built by the Prefecture Ethnic Research Institute and Hunan Dahong Investment Co., Ltd., covers a land area of 8,720 square meters; the building consists of a 6-story podium and a 28+1-story tower, making it the tallest building designed and under construction in the prefecture. At the groundbreaking ceremony on November 3, 2005, Li Dezhu, Director of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, and Shi Zhen, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and Head of the Provincial United Front Work Department, attended the ceremony. By the end of that year, part of the pile foundation work was completed.
II. Literature and Art
The literature and art of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture are the richest in local and ethnic characteristics, and have always attracted the attention and favor of the world. Folk literature has a long history, folk music and dance are rich and colorful, local opera and quyi come in diverse varieties, and folk arts and crafts are dazzlingly varied. From this fertile soil of ethnic and folk culture and art, generation after generation of artists and literati have been nurtured. After 1949, the Chinese Communist Party's "Double Hundred" policy and "Two For" direction prompted the ethnic and folk literature and art of the prefecture to radiate dazzling brilliance. With the spread of education, the cultural level of the people of all ethnic groups rose continuously, and batch after batch of new talents grew up vigorously, playing a tremendous role in building socialist culture with Chinese characteristics, promoting ethnic unity and cultural exchange with foreign countries, developing tourism with ethnic customs, and building a major prefecture of ethnic culture.
(I) Ethnic and Folk Literature and Art
1. Folk Literature
Tujia Folk Literature. Xiangxi Tujia folk literature can be divided by language style into two major categories: prose works such as myths, legends, and stories, and verse works such as songs and ballads.
Among Tujia myths, those still circulating and relatively famous include creation myths such as "Zhang Guolao Made the Sky, Li Guolao Made the Earth"; myths fixing the sun and moon such as "Luoyu Shoots the Sun"; flood myths such as "Rongni Busuo"; myths of ethnic and clan reproduction such as "Eight-Bu Great King" and "Grandpa Eagle and Grandma She"; and myths of production, culture, and belief such as "Five Grains Goddess" and "The Tulaosi Obtains the Scriptures." Legends include figure legends such as "The Hairy Man of Kedong" and "Old Official Xiang"; historical legends such as "The Legend of Wu Zhuchong" and "The White-Nosed Tusi"; and animal and plant legends such as "Why the Ox Has No Upper Teeth" and "The Horse Mulberry Tree"; in customs and folk crafts, almost every custom and every folk craft has a legend. Stories are the great bulk of Tujia oral literature. Heroes, witty figures, fools, misers, mountains and rivers, animals and plants, fox spirits and ghosts, fantasies and longings, and every aspect of life and love all enter into the stories. In addition, Tujia prose oral literature also includes jokes, fables, and so on.
In ethnic festivals, weddings and funerals, fishing and hunting, farming, young people's courtship, and even chance encounters with strangers, the Tujia people use songs at all times and in all areas of production and life to transmit culture, exchange thoughts, convey emotions, and joke and laugh, forming their own rich and colorful song culture and song customs. The Tima songs and Hand-waving songs sung on special occasions such as thanking the gods and sacrificing to ancestors, fulfilling vows and dispelling evil, and Tiaonian Hand-waving are sung in the ancient Tujia language, and only the ethnic priests—the Tima—can perform them fully. Other folk songs are sung in modern Tujia or in Chinese, and are popularly called "mountain songs." Mountain songs sung in Chinese form the mainstream of Tujia folk songs. Tujia folk ballads, divided by content, include ritual songs, love songs, labor songs, current-affairs songs, life songs, children's songs, and long narrative poems. Their ritual songs include Tima songs, Hand-waving songs, song-source songs, beam-raising ritual words, bridal lament songs, funeral hall songs, and so on. Tujia young people have always used songs as matchmakers in love; if one cannot sing mountain songs, it is hard to cross the gate of love. "Cutting firewood on the great mountain needs no knife, carrying water from the great river needs no gourd; courting a sister needs no matchmaker's words, mountain songs build the bridge of marriage. ... 'Dark clouds in the sky chase dark clouds, wind on the ground blows around the bamboo grove; singing mountain songs to test sister's heart, I make mountain songs my matchmaker.'"
The forms of Tujia folk songs range from one line to many lines, with the seven-character four-line form as the most basic genre; the "five-sentence song" is the most distinctive. Folk songs use rhyme, with 14 and a half rhymes in total, namely he, de, lai, tian, wang, fu, hua, gao, qi, fei, hong, ren, ci, tou, and er (half a rhyme).
Miao Folk Literature. Xiangxi Miao folk literature can be divided by language style into three major categories: first, prose literature; second, verse literature; and third, chant-and-recitation (verse-and-spoken) literature.
Miao prose literature includes myths, legends, stories, fables, and jokes. Its myths combine the characteristics of the plains and lakes with those of the Jiangnan mountains, and belong to the Sanmiao mythological system. The myths concentratedly reflect the ancient Miao ancestors' simple knowledge and understanding of natural objects and phenomena, especially myths about floods, the creation of heaven and earth, and the origin of species, which have very high literary and research value. The main contents of creation myths include: heaven-and-earth creation myths, with representative works such as "Creating Heaven and Earth" and "Cutting the Sun Tree and Moon Tree"; human-origin myths, with representative works such as "The Fallen Heavenly Maiden"; flood myths, with representative works such as "Apei Guoben." Their legends and stories are mainly centered on heroic figures. Heroes are the epitome of a people's bravery and wisdom, and naturally should be the main subjects praised and commemorated by all. The main contents include: ethnic-origin legends and stories, with representative works such as "Nai Gui Ma Gou" and "Divine Mother and Dog Father"; ancient hero legends and stories, with representative works such as "Pouguo Shao and the Yellow Emperor Dividing the World"; legends and stories of uprising and struggle figures, with representative works such as "The Story of Shi Liudeng" and "The Story of Wu Bayue"; and other legends and stories, including custom legends, local legends, animal and plant legends, life stories, fairy tales, fables, jokes, and so on.
Miao verse literature includes epics, folk songs, children's songs, nursery rhymes, proverbs, riddles, riddle songs, ritual words, and so on. Epics are also called "Miao ancient songs," with representative works such as "Xiuba Xiuma," "Ancient Words," and "Miao Marriage Ritual Words." Whenever grand sacrifices or celebrations are held, Miao priests must recite them on the spot. Traditional Miao folk songs are the main body of Miao verse literature and also of the entire Miao oral literature, and are the oral literary form most loved by the Miao people, numerous in quantity and reflecting a very broad range of life. Classified by content, they mainly include custom songs, bitter songs, resistance songs, wedding and funeral songs, and love songs. Miao li (ritual) words are a wonderful flower in Miao verse literature; they are formulaic expressions used by the Miao people in wedding and funeral rites or festivals, and have extremely rich connotations. When recited, they are cadenced and forceful, like flowing clouds and water, quite capable of stirring people's heartstrings and arousing people's thoughts and feelings
resonance.
Miao chant-and-recitation (verse-and-spoken) literature. This is a literary form in Miao oral literature similar to quyi, with representative works such as "Ox-Eating Song Words" and "Welcoming Brides and Marrying Daughters Song Words."
2. Music and Dance
Tujia Music and Dance. Xiangxi Tujia music and dance have a primitive, ancient, vigorous, and strong style. Their vocal tunes are numerous and involve every aspect of people's lives, embodied in various folk ritual activities for weddings and funerals. They mainly include labor songs, sacrificial songs, narrative songs, bridal lament songs, beam-raising songs, gate-blocking songs, love songs, bitter songs, and so on. There are two major types: single-tune form and linked-tune form. Their dances can be divided into two major categories: religious sacrificial dances and popular life dances. Distinctive dances include the Hand-waving Dance, Eight-Treasure Bronze Bell Dance, and Horse-Jumping Dance. The main accompanying instruments include gongs, drums, cymbals, large cymbals, suona, dongdongkui, and large horns.
Daliuzi. In Tujia language it is called "jiahua ha," and it is a percussion instrumental music much loved in Tujia areas. The instruments consist of a horse gong, first cymbals, second cymbals, and large gong, generally performed by a group of four. More than 150 existing qupai survive, such as the descriptive type: Pounding Ciba, Spinning Cotton, Sister-in-Law Pregnant; the imitative type: Golden Pheasant Spreads Wings, Myna Bathes, Magpie Teases the Plum, Wild Deer Holds a Flower, Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix; and the expressive type: Hall Full of Red, Four Enter the Door, Anqing Tune, and so on.
Dongdongkui. An ancient wind instrument. About 4 cun long, made from mountain bamboo the thickness of a pencil shaft, with one end retaining the bamboo node and a small reed tongue cut, three holes chiseled in the middle-lower part, and the other end cut at a slant to form an opening. Dongdongkui has only four tones—"do," "re," "mi," and "sol"—with a pure timbre, featuring crisp sound and both percussive and tremolo effects, and is especially good at expressing the sound of mountain springs and the singing of small birds. Folk qupai include Baliedong, Naiyuenai, Napake, Ailuoluo, and so on.
Hand-waving Dance. This is a dance performed by the Tujia people when praying for blessings and sacrificing to ancestors, entertaining both gods and people. The Hand-waving Dance has more than a hundred movements, with basic movements including single swing, double swing, and whirling swing. Its characteristic is "swinging the same-side hand," that is, stepping with the left foot and extending the left hand, stepping with the right foot and extending the right hand; next is bending the knees and trembling, sinking on the heavy beat, with the swinging amplitude generally not exceeding the shoulders. The performance movements are roughly divided into three types: first, entertainment movements; second, movements expressing labor and production; third, imitative movements of life. During the dance, one person beats the drum and gong beneath the flagpole, and everyone dances in a circle to the drumbeat, with the formation mostly circular, moving and dancing counterclockwise.
Bronze Bell Dance. Also called "Eight-Treasure Bronze Bell," it is a ritual dance performed by the Tulaosi when "redeeming money." Legend says the "Eight-Treasure Bronze Bell" symbolizes the Tulaosi's precious horse, so the performance movements are mostly horse-related imitative movements. It is divided into two types: "walking dance" and "sitting dance."
Miao Music and Dance. Xiangxi Miao music is mainly vocal, called "Shaosa" in the Miao language, and is a "living fossil" of ancient Shao music. By tune, it is divided into two major types, "Shawu" and "Shaosa," translated into Chinese as high tune and flat tune. Shawu (high tune) is popular in Jishou, Huayuan, Baojing, and other counties and cities. Its melody is strongly lyrical. Its structure consists of upper and lower lines, plus an introduction, inserted lines, and coda. The intervals jump greatly. The rhythm is free, close to sanban. It is sung in falsetto, high and intense. Shaosa (flat tune) is popular in the Miao areas of every county. Its melody is strongly narrative, close to recitation. The intervals do not jump greatly. There are one-section, two-section, and four-section forms of introduction, development, transition, and conclusion. Tunes and lyrics often add padding words as connectors.
Xiangxi Miao instrumental music: percussion includes large drum, small drum, large gong, small gong, baobao gong, large cymbals, small cymbals, bamboo clappers, and bronze bells; wind instruments include suona, double-pipe bamboo suona, lusheng, ox horn, long horn, bamboo flute, tree leaf, sea conch, and wooden-bark horn; string instruments include the ox-horn qin, and so on.
Xiangxi Miao dance is diverse in form, vigorous in posture, and wide in use. In terms of names alone, there are dozens, including drum dance, incense-jumping dance, dragon-welcoming dance, immortal-jumping dance, shield dance, vanguard dance, tea-tray dance, mulberry-picking dance, drum-stepping dance, lusheng dance, nuo-vow dance, and pass-crossing dance. Among them, the drum dance, incense-jumping dance, and dragon-welcoming dance are the most common and the richest in ethnic characteristics.
Drum Dance. In performing the drum dance, although a large oxhide drum is placed on a wooden frame for the dancers to use, each place has its own way of playing. The rhythm of the drum dance is very complex, commonly in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4. When the technique is fully proficient, a 3/8 rhythmic effect can appear. Some performers strike the drum with two wooden sticks about a chi long, while others strike it with bare fists. Double rim accompaniment is commonly used, that is, the right hand strikes twice and the left hand once. The drum dance is roughly divided into flower drum dance, monkey drum dance, reunion drum dance, women's solo drum dance, men's solo drum dance, four-person drum dance, and New Year-jumping drum dance.
Incense-Jumping Dance. This is a sacrificial dance of the Miao people celebrating a good harvest and wishing for favorable weather and thriving livestock in the coming year. It is popular in Luxi, Jishou, Guzhang, and other counties and cities. From the first to the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month each year, each village takes turns "jumping incense" to repay the "Five Grains God."
Dragon-Welcoming Dance. The "dragon" symbolizes good fortune. In past eras, the Miao people, hoping to escape hardship, sought happiness through "welcoming the dragon." The dragon-welcoming dance is the Miao people's expression of joy after the "dragon" has been welcomed home. During the dance, the lead dancer (playing the dragon master) holds a porcelain bowl, followed by two people each holding a red or green flag to form a dragon shape; then comes a group of girls, holding flowered umbrellas in the right hand and handkerchiefs in the left, spinning their umbrellas as they dance, indicating that when the dragon comes there must be rain. It is accompanied mainly by the long horn and baobao gong, with gongs, drums, and suona added in unison.
3. Drama and Quyi
Ancient classical dramas include the Tujia Maogusi and the Miao Chiyou Opera. Local opera genres include Miao opera, Yang opera, Nuo opera, Chenhe opera, flower-lantern opera, You opera, and so on, with traditional repertoires numbering in the thousands. The main quyi genres include ancient words and Tima songs. Newly discovered quyi genres include liuzi chant-and-recitation, bamboo clapper tune, Tujia surrounding drum, Waxiang song words, chicken-feather bamboo, and bengbengtuo.
Chiyou Opera. Chiyou Opera is a primitive drama with strong ritual character created by the Miao ancestors. Xiangxi Miao Chiyou Opera is a drama in which a priest plays Chiyou to drive away wild ghosts.
Nuo Vow Opera. Repaying the Nuo vow is a sacrificial ritual shared by Tujia, Miao, and Han. Its core ritual is inviting the disciples of the Taoyuan Cave Nuo altar to descend into the Nuo hall to cancel the householder's good vow, while performing plays that bestow blessings, sweep away evil, and expel demons, hence the name "Nuo Vow Opera." Nuo plays include "Opening the Cave," "Moving the Scout," "Moving the Vanguard," "Moving the Mountain-Opener," "Moving the Calculator," "Moving the Eighth Lord," "Moving the Monk," "Moving the Earth God," and "Moving the Judge," abbreviated as the "Eight Movings." Their performance has three characteristics: first, primitive and crude; second, strongly shamanistic; third, strongly marked by matrilineal traces.
Maogusi. In Tujia language it is called "Papuka" (the ancestral grandfather covered in hair). The performers bind their bodies with palm fiber, bend their knees and hunch their backs, shake their shoulders and sink their buttocks, walk unsteadily, and speak indistinctly. They chant crude song words, joyfully dance rough dances, and perform primitive production and life such as fishing, hunting, farming, and group marriage. This is a ritual drama sacrificing to ancient ancestors, intended to bring down gods and bestow blessings. The repertoire includes "Doing Spring Farming," "Training the Ox," "Forging Iron," "Chasing Meat," and "Seizing the Bride."
4. Arts and Crafts
The folk arts and crafts of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture can be summarized in ten major characteristics: First, there are many categories and numerous varieties. According to preliminary statistics, they can be divided into 12 major categories with over 1,000 different designs and varieties. Second, they have a long history and were once illustrious. As early as the Neolithic period during the Daxi Culture, the pottery-making techniques in the Pushi area of Luxi County were already quite mature. The current Tujia brocade, anciently known as 'congbu', 'xibu', and 'banbu', was used as a precious tribute in various dynasties from the hunting economy period to later periods. The Miao flower belt is said to have been invented by Miao girls thousands of years ago to protect against snake bites. Third, they use local materials and apply them flexibly. Not to mention that the main materials of the crafts are sourced locally; even the dyes used for dyeing and weaving are taken from mountain plants. Fourth, they are handmade and done independently by individual families. Miao women like to wear flowered headscarves, resembling goose-crowned autumn chrysanthemums; from planting cotton, ginning, and spinning to dyeing and weaving, all are done by hand and completed by one family. Fifth, they are exquisite yet simple, judged by the object itself. The exquisite charm of Tujia brocade and Miao flower bands goes without saying. Take shusha (thread-counting embroidery), for example: today it has largely been lost in surrounding areas, yet in the hands of Tujia and Miao women in Xiangxi it is handled with ease, and their works are not only beautiful on the front, but even the reverse side is remarkably true to life. Sixth, prices range from high to low, suiting every taste. Miao weddings place great importance on silver ornaments, with the heaviest reaching over forty jin and costing a great deal. Small bamboo weaving crafts and rattan canes cost just a few yuan each, for you to choose freely. Seventh, there are many patterns, each with its own characteristics. Tujia brocade and Miao embroidery both have more than 100 patterns, among which the Tujia use bagou and yangque flowers, while the Miao use small dragon patterns and butterflies as their distinctive designs. Eighth, men and women divide the work, each excelling in their own strengths. Women focus on fine handwork such as spinning, weaving, and embroidery, while men do the dirty and heavy work of carving, weaving, dyeing, and silverware, and are mostly called craftsmen. Ninth, there are many artisans, and the skilled gather together. There are so many folk artists of all kinds that they cannot be counted; among them, as many as 6 have been awarded the title of folk arts and crafts artist by UNESCO. Tenth, each has its own strengths, and they are relatively concentrated. Tujia brocade is represented by Longshan Miaoshi, stone carving is most prominent in Yongshun Tawo, bamboo weaving is counted in Baojing Bi'er, the new talent in clay sculpture comes from Guzhang Guyang, Miao painting is found in Huayuan Malichang, Aoshan lanterns are in Luxi Shangbao, tied spring [zha chun] comes from Jishou Qianzhou, and the one with the most categories and the strongest talent is the ancient city Fenghuang.
(II) Inheritance and Promotion of Ethnic and Folk Literature and Art
During the Republic of China period, only a small number of scholars in the prefecture began field investigations of ethnic and folk literature and art, which remained in a state of spontaneous survival or extinction.
After the founding of New China, party committees and governments at all levels in the prefecture gradually carried out organized work on ethnic and folk literature and art. In the 1950s, when ethnic visiting delegations came to the prefecture, they conducted surveys and studies on the Miao and Tujia peoples. In 1957, after the establishment of the prefectural cultural center, collecting and organizing folk literature and art became an important part of its work. In the early 1960s, extensive collection and organization of folk literature and art was carried out; after another round of in-depth collection and organization in the 1980s, compilations of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture folk tales, ballads, proverbs, drama, music, and dance were edited, printed, and published. In 1986, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Ethnic Ancient Books Office was established, allowing the collection, organization, research, and publication of ethnic ancient books to proceed in an organized manner. Ethnic ancient books that were successively organized and assisted in publication include nearly one hundred works, such as "Field Investigation Report on the Miao of Xiangxi," "Miao Decorative Art," "Miao Marriage Ritual Songs," "Hand-Waving Songs," "Tima Songs," "Ancient Words," "Compilation of Xiangxi Miao Medicines," "Tujia Daughters as Brides," "Highlights of Tujia Customs," "Chinese Tujia Customs," "Tujia Medicine," "Compendium of Yuanxiang Nuo Texts," "Crying Marriage Songs," "Xiangxi Miao Marriage Customs," "Xiangxi Ethnic Customs," and "Lovely Xiangxi—Ethnic Characteristics of the Tujia and Miao"; thousands of ethnic research papers were also published. In 1992, the Prefectural Ethnic Research Institute was established, comprehensively carrying out ethnic research work. In March 2004, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefectural People's Government established the Leading Group for the Protection Project of Ethnic and Folk Cultural Heritage; in April, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was designated a "Comprehensive Pilot for the China Ethnic and Folk Culture Protection Project"; subsequently, the prefectural "Expert Committee for the Folk Culture Protection Project" and the "Folk Culture Protection Center" were established, relevant laws and policies were formulated, and rescue and protection of ethnic and folk cultural heritage was carried out. In 2005, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture applied for 10 items for the first batch of the national intangible cultural heritage representative list, namely Miao drum dance, Tujia brocade, Daliuzi, Maogusi, Hand-Waving Dance, Miao silver ornaments, Chenhe high-pitched tunes, Shebari, the Niu Sacrifice, and the Qianzhou Spring Festival Fair. At the end of the year, they passed review by the Hunan Provincial Department of Culture and were reported to the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China.
Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture attaches great importance to external publicity of ethnic and folk culture and has achieved gratifying results. For example, in April 1953, Ma Guanyuan and Ma Shunda from Luochaojing, Fenghuang County, went to Beijing to participate in the First National Ethnic and Folk Music and Dance Performance, where their Miao men's double drum dance won an award; in August 1955, Long Cailian of Guzhang County was selected as a member of the Chinese Youth Delegation and participated in the Fifth World Festival of Youth and Students held in Poland, where her Miao women's solo drum dance won high praise, taking Xiangxi Miao drum dance to the world for the first time; Long Yingtang, Shi Shunming, Long Julan, Long Juxian, and others further promoted and glorified Miao drum dance and were called "Miao Drum Kings"; in June 2005, the "Dehang·China Drum Culture Festival" was grandly held in Dehang, Jishou City, with drum dance teams from Hunan, Taiwan, Shanxi, Jilin, Guangxi, Hubei, Guizhou, Chongqing, and other provinces and cities participating in performances, further building Xiangxi Miao drum culture. Another example is Tujia brocade, whose famous inheritor was Ye Yucui (1913-1992) of Miao'ertan Town, Longshan County. She wove brocade for more than 70 years in her life and could weave more than 120 traditional brocade patterns. In 1958, five of her brocade wall hangings, including "Developing the Mountain Areas," were selected for exhibition at the World Expo, and later 68 of her works were collected by institutions such as the National Ministry of Light Industry. In November 2005, the Brocade Professional Committee of the China National Arts and Crafts Society and the Tujia Brocade Protection and Development Seminar were held in Liye, Longshan, and Longshan County was designated the "Hometown of Chinese Tujia Brocade Art."
In the collection, organization, and research of ethnic and folk culture, prefecture-native ethnic culture workers such as Shi Qigui, Peng Jikuan, Tian Jinggui, Long Wenyu, Xiang Xiqin, Wu Xinfu, Liu Liguang, Peng Wuyi, Peng Bo, Long Bingwen, Zhou Chunlu, Zhang Yinghe, Liu Ziqi, Peng Rongde, Wang Chengyao, Ye Deshu, Peng Nanjun, Zhang Ziwei, Luo Shi'e, Long Jianzhen, Tang Fangke, Shi Yuanao, Qin Keguo, Tian Danian, Tian Renli, and Tian Maojun made certain contributions.
Ethnic and folk artists made even greater contributions in inheriting ethnic literature and art. The main inheritors still living in 2005 were: Tian Maozhong, Peng Zuxiu, Long Bingwen, Tian Longxin, Long Xingcai, Wu Labao, Long Yingtang, Hong Fuqiang, Peng Nanjing, Peng Yingwei, Zhang Guangming, Tian Renxin, Xiang Rong, Hou Yingjun, Shi Chengye, Liu Dai'e, Ye Shuiyun, Ma Maoting, Nie Fangjun, Liu Dapao, Deng Xinglong, Teng Zhaoyun, Shi Shougui, Peng Jilong, Shi Shizhen, and others.
(3) Literary and Artistic Creation
School education in the prefecture was already established as early as the Jianwu period of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-56 CE); schools flourished increasingly during the Sui and Tang dynasties, and in the Song dynasty schools and academies were established, cultivating a group of local literati and scholars. Unfortunately, due to the great age and backward carriers, their literary works have left us only fragments of poetry and prose. From the Ming dynasty onward, men of letters emerged in large numbers and fine works appeared continuously. During the Zhengde period of the Ming dynasty (1506-1521), Peng Shiqi, the Xuanwei commissioner of Yongshun, personally compiled the "Yongshun Xuanwei Si Zhi," opening the precedent for local historical records in the prefecture; his son Peng Mingdao wrote "Tao Shi Yi Shi"; composing poetry and prose became even more fashionable, and the poetry and prose of Peng Shilin, Peng Mingdao, Shi Ding, Wu Yinzhou, Wu He, and others were quite famous. After the Qing dynasty's "replacement of native officials with centrally appointed officials," within the prefecture "civil governance flourished daily, and people knew to pursue learning." As a result of the downward spread of culture, the prefecture's ranks of literati grew rapidly and expanded, and modern literary creation showed unprecedented prosperity. The bamboo-branch lyrics written by Peng Yongxing, Peng Shiduo, and others were fine lines depicting Wuling customs; the poems of Wang Dao, Shi Tingchen, Long Ji, and others were beautiful in wording and artistic conception; the traditional Chinese paintings of Zhang Shihuai, Gong Ziwei, Zhou Bodan, Zhou Zhengnan, and others, and the calligraphy of Yang Yalin, Tang Renlong, Zhang Jin, Li Xinyi, and others were all praised in their regions. During the Republic of China period, the prefecture had hundreds of literati, calligraphers, and painters, with the poets Tian Xingliu, Xiang Naiqi, and Tian Mingyu and the painter Zhang Yizun being the most famous; in particular, it produced its own literary giant Shen Congwen, marking that written literary creation in the prefecture had entered the advanced ranks of domestic literary creation and exerting a huge influence on later literary creation.
After the founding of New China, literati literature in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture developed rapidly and improved comprehensively. Native writers and poets emerged like bamboo shoots after spring rain and quickly became a vital force among Hunan-school writers. In the 1950s, new literary talents in the prefecture began to stand out. After 1979, literary and artistic creation welcomed a second spring: middle-aged and older authors regained their vigor and produced many powerful works; young authors were full of spirit and produced a stream of fine works, enabling literary and artistic creation in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture to maintain and carry forward a distinct and unique ethnic style and local flavor, with influence spreading at home and abroad. To this day, prefecture-native writers such as Xiao Li, Tian Jia, Wang Chengdong, Sun Jianzhong, Shi Tairui, Xiang Xiuqing, Yan Jiawen, Cai Cehai, Wu Xuenao, Zhou Wenguang, Peng Rongde, Zhang Xingping, Peng Shigui, and Peng Xueming; painters Huang Yongyu, Huang Yonghou, Wang Yongheng, Yang Guoxun, Long Qinglian, Yang Shengrong, Zhang Yanbi, and Liu Hongzhou; photographer Chen Tingmao; musicians Yi Yang, Li Zhuogan, Hua Laohu, and Huang Chuanshun; singers He Jiguang, Song Zuying, and Zhang Shicui; dancer Hu Mingzhu; playwrights Li Beibing and Zhang Ziwei; and very many others, as well as numerous young and middle-aged literary and art workers, have become famous for their creations, making the literary and artistic garden of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture shine brilliantly. Since 1980, music, dance, fiction, prose, poetry, reportage, plays, fine art works, and artistic performances from Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture have won as many as 90 awards at the national and central ministerial levels. In particular, the newly created large-scale ethnic dance poem "Zahua Nü" and the large-scale ethnic drum dance sound-and-picture work "My Xiangxi" have frequently won major awards in national performances.
After the founding of New China, literati literature in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture developed rapidly and improved comprehensively. Native writers and poets emerged like bamboo shoots after spring rain and quickly became a vital force among Hunan-school writers. In the 1950s, new literary talents in the prefecture began to stand out. After 1979, literary and artistic creation welcomed a second spring: middle-aged and older authors regained their vigor and produced many powerful works; young authors were full of spirit and produced a stream of fine works, enabling literary and artistic creation in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture to maintain and carry forward a distinct and unique ethnic style and local flavor, with influence spreading at home and abroad. To this day, prefecture-native writers such as Xiao Li, Tian Jia, Wang Chengdong, Sun Jianzhong, Shi Tairui, Xiang Xiuqing, Yan Jiawen, Cai Cehai, Wu Xuenao, Zhou Wenguang, Peng Rongde, Zhang Xingping, Peng Shigui, and Peng Xueming; painters Huang Yongyu, Huang Yonghou, Wang Yongheng, Yang Guoxun, Long Qinglian, Yang Shengrong, Zhang Yanbi, and Liu Hongzhou; photographer Chen Tingmao; musicians Yi Yang, Li Zhuogan, Hua Laohu, and Huang Chuanshun; singers He Jiguang, Song Zuying, and Zhang Shicui; dancer Hu Mingzhu; playwrights Li Beibing and Zhang Ziwei; and very many others, as well as numerous young and middle-aged literary and art workers, have become famous for their creations, making the literary and artistic garden of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture shine brilliantly. Since 1980, music, dance, fiction, prose, poetry, reportage, plays, fine art works, and artistic performances from Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture have won as many as 90 awards at the national and central ministerial levels. In particular, the newly created large-scale ethnic dance poem "Zahua Nü" and the large-scale ethnic drum dance sound-and-picture work "My Xiangxi" have frequently won major awards in national performances.
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Federation of Literary and Art Circles gives full play to its functions of liaison, coordination, and service, unites the broad ranks of literary and art workers, and actively promotes the prosperity and development of literary and artistic undertakings in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. In 2005, the Prefectural Federation of Literary and Art Circles had 11 group member units: the Prefectural Writers Association, Musicians Association, Dancers Association, Calligraphers Association, Artists Association, Dramatists Association, Folk Literature and Art Association, Folk Arts and Crafts Society, Poetry Society, Photographers Association, and Film and Television Artists Association. According to 2000 statistics, the prefecture had 1,984 prefectural-level members, 472 provincial-level members, and 79 national members. These members are the backbone force of literary and artistic creation in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.
III. Mass Culture
In production labor and during festivals and sacrificial rites, the people of all ethnic groups in the prefecture have always had mass cultural activities such as singing, dancing, and opera performances. After the founding of New China, various places carried out mass cultural activities in an organized way to enliven people's lives. Entering the 1980s, mass culture was included as an important part of socialist spiritual civilization construction. In the mid-to-late 1990s, mass culture combined with tourism and with the economy, giving mass culture new vitality.
Festival cultural activities. The Tujia, Miao, Han, and other ethnic groups in the prefecture have many traditional festivals, including seasonal festivals, commemorative festivals, and sacrificial festivals, with festivals almost every month throughout the year. When celebrating traditional festivals, people of all ethnic groups spontaneously or in an organized way carry out mass cultural activities, passing them down from generation to generation and making them customary. After 1949, cultural and ethnic work departments at all levels implemented the Chinese Communist Party's literary and artistic policies and ethnic policies, and made running festival cultural activities well one of their important tasks. Whenever there was a festival, they conscientiously organized and carried out healthy and beneficial mass cultural activities. After 1979, relevant prefectural and county departments made great efforts to inherit and carry forward traditional ethnic festival cultural activities, making mass culture shine brilliantly. Among them were the "Third Day of the Third Month Song Fair" in Guliang, Fenghuang County, and Bamaoping, Luxi County; the "Sixth Day of the Sixth Month Song Fair" in Liangjiatan and other places; the "Autumn Catch" in Malichang and other places, Huayuan County; the "Qingming Song Fair" in Danqing, Jishou City; the "Shebari" in Tianjiadong, Guzhang County, the "Zou Chuan Dong" in Hepeng, and the "Horse-Jumping Festival" in Rexi; the "Fourth Day of the Fourth Month" in Luochaojing, Shanjiang, and Tuojiang in Fenghuang County, as well as Jiwei in Huayuan County and Yaxi in Jishou City; the "Tiaonian Festival" in Qianling, Baojing County, the "Ancestor Worship Festival" in Shoubadong, and the "Tiaocong Fair" in Zhongxin; and the "Hand-Waving Festival" in Shuangfeng, Yongshun County, and Nongche and Dianfang, Longshan County, among others, with audiences reaching tens of thousands. After the 1990s, "culture sets the stage and the economy performs," especially in order to build "Charming Xiangxi" and promote "Mysterious Xiangxi" tourism. Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture held mass cultural festival activities themed on ethnic culture every year, such as the "China Hunan (Yongshun) Mengdong River International Rafting Festival," the "China Hunan (Longshan) Tujia Hand-Waving Festival," the "China Hunan (Huayuan) Miao Autumn Catch Festival," "Maps, Searching for the Disappearing Roots—Ten Xiangxi Music Diaries," the "Dehang·China Drum Culture Festival," the "Fenghuang·Shen Congwen Culture and Art Festival," the "Hunan Provincial Ethnic and Folk Culture and Art Expo and the Second Xiangxi Ethnic and Folk Culture and Art Ecological Protection Festival," "Joyful Jishou," and so on, captivating countless friends from home and abroad with mass cultural activities in a thousand forms and large-scale artistic performances.
Market cultural activities. In addition to festival cultural activities, there is another kind of market cultural activity that is carried out more regularly, more flexibly, and more extensively. The prefecture has more than 200 large and small markets. Before the Qing dynasty, antiphonal singing and song competitions at markets had already become customary. After the founding of New China, cultural departments at all levels and various literary and artistic organizations vigorously organized and carried out market cultural activities, publicized the Party's principles and policies, and enlivened the cultural life of the people. After 1979, with the development of the rural economy and the expansion of market trade, market cultural activities became unprecedentedly active. Key cultural departments and literary and artistic groups at all levels built cultural centers at key markets, set up cultural stations, established mountain song stages, broadcasting rooms, blackboard newspapers, wall newspapers, libraries, amateur troupes, film teams, and so on, and the quality of market cultural publicity activities gradually improved.
Under the spring breeze of reform and opening up, many new forms of mass cultural activity appeared in the prefecture, such as campus culture, enterprise culture, community culture, elderly culture, song-and-dance hall culture, and square culture. Various troupes are the vital force of mass culture. In 2005, the prefecture had 35 professional, vocational, and semi-professional troupes, which gave more than 2,500 touring performances in the countryside.
IV. Cultural Relics and Archives
(1) Cultural Relics Management
On this ancient and magical land of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, historical relics and revolutionary relics are very rich in resources, and there are quite a few cultural sites and ancient tomb groups.
In 1956, the Hunan Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee sent personnel to conduct a general survey of historical relics, revolutionary relics, cultural sites, and ancient tombs in the prefecture. In 1957, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Ethnic Cultural Relics Management Committee was established. In the same year, the Prefectural Museum was established. In 1979, the Prefectural Cultural Relics Work Team was established. In the 1980s and 1990s, counties and cities successively established cultural relics management offices. By the end of 2005, the prefecture had a total of 9 cultural relics management institutions and 12 cultural relics collection and protection units; more than 110 cultural and museum workers; one national historical and cultural city (Fenghuang Ancient City), one national historical and cultural town (Liye Ancient City), and one provincial historical and cultural district (Qianzhou Historical and Cultural District); 346 key cultural relics protection units at all levels, including 3 national key cultural relics protection units (the Xizhou Bronze Pillar in Yongshun County, the Laosicheng Site in Yongshun County, and the Liye Ancient City Site in Longshan County), 15 provincial key cultural relics protection units, 40 prefectural key cultural relics protection units, and 288 county- and city-level key cultural relics protection units; and the prefecture's museum collections totaled 13,806 items/sets, including 13 first-grade items/sets, 65 second-grade items/sets, and 295 third-grade items/sets.
Archaeological excavation has been a focal point and highlight of cultural relics work in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Paleolithic and Neolithic sites have been discovered successively at Shangbao and Pushi in Luxi County, Chadong in Huayuan County, Bamao, Longxi and Qingshuiping in Baojing County, Liye in Longshan County, and Hexi in Jishou City, yielding many valuable stone tools and pottery shards belonging to the "Daxi Culture" and "Longshan Culture" remains. At Sifangcheng in Baojing, Baihewan in Guzhang, Bu'ermen and Wangcun in Yongshun, and Liye in Longshan, tombs and hoarded cultural relics spanning the Yin-Shang, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, Qin and Han, Tang and Song, Yuan and Ming, down to the late Qing dynasties have been excavated, numbering in the tens of thousands.
Particularly worthy of special mention is the large-scale rescue archaeological excavation of the ancient city of Liye in the submerged area of the Wanmipo Hydropower Station, carried out from April 2002 to the end of 2005 by the Hunan Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Cultural Relics Management Office of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, in coordination with the construction of the hydropower station. The Liye archaeological excavation was mainly divided into three parts:
First, the excavation of the Warring States city site. The excavated area exceeded 10,000 square meters. The Liye Warring States ancient city was found to be square in shape, covering about 40,000 square meters, with a moat 18 meters wide and a city wall base about 22 meters wide. It measured 235 meters from north to south; along the eastern waterfront, nearly half was destroyed by river erosion, leaving a remaining east-west length of 150 meters and a remaining area of 20,000 square meters. Inside the city, two main roads running north-south and east-west formed the basic layout, with dense buildings distributed on both sides; the remains include house foundations and workshop sites. The city's remains include city walls, moats, water wells, fire chambers, stoves, and ash pits, with a complete range of types and abundant relics.
Second, the excavation of ancient wells. Within this ancient city that had lain dormant for more than 2,000 years, five ancient wells have been discovered. Among them, Well No. 1 was built in the late Warring States period and abandoned at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Its mouth is 3 meters below the surface, square in shape, with sides 2.1 meters long, and the well is 14.28 meters deep. In June 2002, more than 37,000 bamboo and wooden slips were unearthed from Well No. 1. The slips began to appear from the fifth layer (at a depth of 3.8 meters) and were scattered between 5.8 and 13.7 meters below the well mouth. The vast majority of the slips are wooden, with very few made of bamboo; among the wooden ones, most are of Chinese fir. Most are 23 centimeters long (equivalent to one chi in the Qin measuring system), with varying widths. The bamboo slips came from the fifth layer, and their writing bears the calligraphic characteristics of Chu script of the Warring States period. Those from other layers are all wooden slips and are all Qin slips, dating from the twenty-fifth year of Qin Shi Huang to the second year of Qin Er Shi, that is, from 222 BC to 208 BC. Their contents are the government archives of Qianling County, Dongting Commandery, of the Qin Dynasty, involving all levels of society at that time: registration of population, land, taxes, officials, and convict laborers, along with increases, decreases, and the reasons for them; warehouse management and the distribution of grain and salaries; the management of roads, postal relay stations, and ferries and the addition of equipment; the management and allocation of weapons; the transmission and execution of central government decrees; and the handling of ethnic conflicts and civil disputes. The slips are all written in brush and ink, totaling about 200,000 characters, in scripts including ancient seal script, clerical script, and clerical script with regular script elements, most belonging to Qin clerical script. The handwriting is neat, the brushwork fluent, with differences in complexity and varied postures.
Third, the excavation of ancient tombs and village sites. At Maicha and Daban in Liye, Longshan, and Qingshuiping in Baojing, a total of 236 Warring States tombs and 325 Han tombs were excavated. Exploration and trial excavation were conducted at two ancient sites, Daban and Weijia.
The excavation of the ancient city of Liye, and especially the unearthed bamboo and wooden slips, can be described as "in the north, the Xi'an Terracotta Warriors; in the south, the Liye Qin slips." On November 22, 2002, the State Council issued a notice adding the Liye ancient city site in Longshan to the fifth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.
In addition to rich historical relics, the prefecture also has revolutionary relics unique to the old revolutionary base areas. As is well known, the territory of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture was one of the revolutionary base areas led by the Chinese Communist Party during the Second Revolutionary Civil War. The Lei Family Compound in Tawo Town, Yongshun County, was then the site of the Revolutionary Committee of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Border Province. Faced with the reality of the old revolutionary base areas, collecting revolutionary relics became one of the basic tasks of cultural and museum institutions. Despite financial difficulties, over the past 50 years cultural and museum institutions at all levels throughout the prefecture have actively carried out activities to collect revolutionary relics. By 2005, they had collected more than 2,000 revolutionary relics, more than 1,500 documentary photographs, and more than 300 photocopies of physical materials.
With the continuous strengthening of archaeological excavation and relic collection work, the number of cultural relics has kept increasing, making the burden of cultural relic management ever heavier. In order to manage and protect all kinds of cultural relics well, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, while actively promoting the "five inclusions" of cultural relic protection, also did much painstaking work in cultural relic repair, the sorting of cultural relic materials, publicity activities for cultural relic laws and regulations, and applications for national-level protected units. For example, in cultural relic repair, the most prominent was the investment of nearly 10 million yuan to restore the Fenghuang Southern Great Wall. In addition, special funds were allocated for the repair of the Tuwang Shrine, Zushi Hall, and Baishou Hall in the Laosicheng site, a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, as well as the "Site of the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Committee," the "He Long Command Post of the Shiwanping Great Battle," and the "Site of the Guo Liang County Government," all key cultural relic protection units at the provincial, prefectural, and county levels.
(II) Archives Management
From 1956 to 1957, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture and its counties established archive offices, and archival work gradually separated from document processing work to become a relatively independent undertaking. From 1958 to 1960, the prefecture and counties established comprehensive archives. In June 1959, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Archives was established, sharing one staff with the simultaneously established Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Archives Section, working in the same office, with a total of 5 staff members. During the "Cultural Revolution," archive institutions at all levels were paralyzed, personnel were transferred away, and professional work was interrupted. In June 1980, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Archives Bureau was established, and the prefectural archives was restored at the same time, operating under two signboards with one staff, with a total of 6 staff members. In 2002, the prefectural archives bureau was a fully funded institution at the full bureau level directly under the prefectural party committee and prefectural people's government, managed under the prefectural party committee office, with the bureau and archives operating as one office. By the end of 2005, the prefecture had a total of 20 archival institutions, including 9 archival administrative departments, 9 national comprehensive archives, 1 national specialized archives, and 1 archives room of a large enterprise, with 112 full-time personnel. The total holdings of the prefecture's 9 national comprehensive archives and 1 national specialized archives amounted to 505,003 volumes (books).
In 2002, a new prefectural archives bureau (archives) was built, with a total floor area of 5,000 square meters, integrating offices, archival technical protection, and archival stacks.
The Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Archives has vigorously strengthened infrastructure construction, continuously enriched archival materials with local ethnic characteristics, and initially established an archival information management network, playing its due role in ethnic unity, economic development, and social progress in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.
Emphasis was placed on archival information management. An electronic retrieval room, an open archives reading room, and a current documents consultation center were established successively; automatic fire and theft alarm systems were installed; and equipment such as computers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, scanners, burners, and fax machines was provided, and internal and external local area network websites were opened. By the end of 2005, the prefectural archives had compiled 100,600 item-level open catalog entries and 17,700 document-level entries, and completed the collection and input of a total of 25,428 entries (volumes) of Republican-era archives and revolutionary historical archives catalogs.
By means of regular accession, focused collection, and emergency rescue collection, the archives vigorously strengthened the collection of archival materials. By the end of 2005, the total holdings of the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Archives amounted to 110,000 volumes (books), including documents, photographs, audio-visual materials, physical objects, and other categories of archival materials from the Warring States, Qin and Han, Tang and Song, Ming and Qing, Republican period, and contemporary era. They mainly include ethnic minority archives reflecting the struggle history, folk literature and art, and customs of the Tujia and Miao peoples, Qin slip archives, Ming and Qing archives, Republican-era archives, revolutionary historical archives, New China archives, tourism archives, celebrity series archives, and rare treasures series archives. Among the precious items are ancient Qing paintings, imperial edicts, "Miao Defense Overview," "Qing Officials' Memorials on the Qianjia Uprising," and "Survey Report on the Indigenous Peoples of Xiangxi"; organizational outlines, election laws, and resolutions issued by the Central Soviet Area, the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Base Area, and the Hunan-Hubei provinces; a situation map of the struggle in the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Base Area; Xiangxi Bank currency; public letters of the Eighth Route Army and proclamations of the commander-in-chief's field headquarters; and certificates of combat life and meritorious service of the Chinese People's Volunteers in Korea; texts and photographs of Xiangxi land reform, bandit suppression, and the establishment of cooperatives, and of the celebrations of the 20th, 30th, and 40th anniversaries of the founding of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture; Mao Zedong's calligraphy, prefaces in the hand of Zeng Guofan and Xiong Xiling, and the thread-bound book "Black Wind Collection" by Shen Congwen, and so on, which can fairly comprehensively and truthfully reflect the local characteristics and historical appearance of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Particularly worth mentioning is the collection of audio-visual archives documenting the excavation of the Liye Qin slips in Longshan and some physical archives, which pushed the archival history of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture back to the Warring States period.