Baoan Shehuo is a kind of folk art activity spreads in the Han population inhabited areas such as Xincheng Village in Baoan town, Tongren County. The Han population in the Baoan area are descendants of the frontiers officers and soldiers who came here successively in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and since the frontiers officers and soldiers brought to the Shehuo from the Central Plains in the Ming Dynasty, they have always inherited the traditional performance form of learning martial arts in the barracks. After the Republic of China, the system of military establishment was abolished, and descendants of military status passed on the old habits, and constantly supplemented and improved the performance content, which became the only performance form with Han cultural characteristics in the Tongren area.
The Baoan Shehuo involves music, dance, Quyi, juggling, etc, and is a comprehensive art performance, including more than 20 traditional performances such as the Shehuo officers, Yangko, Colored dragon, Lion dances, Land boat, Stilts, Plaster Seller, Taiping Drum, Waist Drum, Wujiao (a martial arts performance composed of 5 people), Eight Great Bachelor (dancing and singing by 8 pairs of men and women). Baoan Shehuo can be divided into internal and external, the internal is the main team of the Shehuo, and the external is the auxiliary part that is active on the edge, front and back, and left and right of the infield. The Shehuo is loosely restrained on the comical characters off-site, allowing the performers to use unusual funny and amusing dresses and language to heighten the festive atmosphere.
The drum music of the Baoan Shehuo is composed of Taiping drums, bass drums, gongs and cymbals, provide a unified rhythm for the performance of the Shehuo team, and there are also accompaniments such as sanxian, erhu, banhu fiddle, and flute. The performance time is the beginning of the 9th or 11th of the first lunar month, once during the day and once at night, and ends on the 15th day of lunar month.
On December 16, 2009, the Baoan Shehuo was announced by the the provincial government to be included in the "Third list of national intangible cultural heritage".
