1. Pingxiang Nuo has a long history and is widely spread.
When did Pingxiang Nuo originate? Although there is no exact textual research, the unearthed cultural relics and the historical and geographical evolution of Pingxiang can explain the long history of Pingxiang Nuo.
As mentioned earlier, the totem worship of the ancient rice-growing people in China may be one of the earliest symbols of Nuo. Among the Chinese people, Baiyue people who first created rice culture lived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, so it can be said that Nuo culture is also the totem culture of Baiyue people. As early as the Neolithic Age more than 5,000 years ago, there were three Miao ancestors of Baiyue nationality living here in Pingxiang. According to archaeological findings, a large number of stone tools and pottery, such as stone axes, shovels, pottery bowls, Tao Pan, etc., were unearthed at Nantuo site in Changsha, Hunan Province, not far from Pingxiang. From this, we can find the sacrificial symbols of early Nuo. 1974, a site in the late Neolithic age was also discovered in Daanli, Pingxiang. Among the unearthed pottery, there are Yun Leiwen, dragon pattern and mountain pattern. This is the earliest testimony of totem worship in Pingxiang's discovery era, and it can also be said that Nuo culture appeared in Pingxiang.
Secondly, Pingxiang was the territory of Chu State in the ancient Warring States Period, which was closely related to Hunan Province, and was naturally influenced by Chu culture. Chu people are good at witchcraft, and Sanmiao people are good at witchcraft, so in ancient times, there was inevitably witchcraft in Pingxiang. Nuo originated from witchcraft, and it is inevitable that Pingxiang will produce witchcraft culture. As the oldest and verifiable poem in China, Qu Yuan's Chu Ci "Nine Songs" can be found in Pingxiang's Nuo music dance.
In addition, according to relevant historical materials and the introduction of folk Nuo artists, Nuo temples and woodcarving Nuo masks in Pingxiang appeared as early as the Tang Dynasty, and the fairy tales of three Nuo gods, Tang Hong, Ge Yong and Wuzhou, have been widely circulated in folk villages to drive away ghosts and evil spirits. At the same time, according to relevant historical records, Tang, Ge and Zhou were admonishers, who resigned as immortals because of their fatuity (see Book 22, Volume 70 13). Now it has a history of 1000 years, which is a well-documented cultural relic established in Pingxiang during the Taiping and Xingguo years in the Northern Song Dynasty. It can be inferred that there were Nuo activities in Pingxiang not only before the Tang Dynasty, but even back to a longer historical period.
Pingxiang Nuo not only has a long history, but also spreads widely. There is a Nuo temple. Take Nuo Temple as an example. According to the survey, Nuo temples in Pingxiang are all over the east, west and north, especially in xiangdong district on the west road and Shangli County on the north road. Thus, the unique landscape of "five miles and one general (temple) and ten miles and one Nuo god (temple)" was formed. This is a prominent feature of Pingxiang Nuo culture.