Tian Yingxi, born in the 19th year of Tujia nationality, is blind and lives in Xujiaba, Sinan County. Although Tian Yingxi has insomnia, he is not only familiar with the full set of lantern tunes, but also has a beautiful singing voice. He has been the lead singer of lanterns for a long time, and he is also skilled in percussion skills. He has gradually become the "lamp head" of Xujiaba lantern opera and is famous far and wide.
In 1953, Tian Yingxi made a bold attempt, writing and performing the Siping opera lantern libretto of "Patriotic Pact on the Door", expressing his love for the Party and Chairman Mao in plain and simple language. In the past, women were never allowed to participate in Xujiaba's lantern singing, and they were not even allowed to watch the lanterns. In 1956, the county's lantern show required women to play female roles. Tian Yingxi mobilized everywhere and finally invited two 15-year-old girls, Xu Chaozhen and Xu Yifu, to come out. He also changed the traditional singing method of "husband and wife" to the singing method of "brother and sister", which has been maintained to this day. In 1958, Xujiaba lanterns attended the provincial cultural performance. The large-scale song and dance "Socialism is Good" created by Tian Yingxi and others won high praise from provincial leaders and experts. In the same year, Tujia actors Xu Chaozhen and Wu Fuying attended the performance held in Beijing under the guidance of Tian Yingxi. The report performance of the National Congress of Cultural and Educational Heroes was awarded an award flag by the State Council. Xu and Fu took photos with Dong Biwu and other party and state leaders and were published on the cover of "People's Pictorial". Ran Qishu, male, 61 years old, Tujia, from Zhangjiazhai, Sinan County. Born in a lantern family, he learned traditional lanterns from his ancestor Ran Shaoyun and his teacher Ran Chonghua from 1951 to 1957. After 1958, he began to perform traditional lantern high-stage opera among the people and created many lantern song and dance programs. The main works include the traditional lantern biography "Suzhou Brother", "Dressing Up", "Golden Flowers Blooming", "Ten Embroidery Ancients", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", etc. He also created lantern songs and dances "Youth Dance", "Zhang The appearance of the village has changed” etc. Now active in Zhangjiazhai and its surrounding towns.