Yueyang Culture

Yueyang, the prefecture-level city of Hunan, is not only fascinating with local culture and human landscapes, but also its colorful ethnic customs, simple folk customs, unique regional culture, such as farming, festivals, costumes, diet and daily life, weddings and funerals, architecture, language, religious beliefs, etc. constitute a rich and colorful folk customs picture for your Yueyang Travel.

Ethnic Groups in Yueyang

There are 51 ethnic minorities in Yueyang City, including Tujia, Miao, Mongol, Hui and Manchu, with more than 12,900 people, accounting for 2.3% of the total population of Yueyang City.

Traditional Villages in Yueyang

• Changxin Village of Changle Town in Miluo City, Yueyang
• Xinshi Village of Xinshi Town in Miluo City, Yueyang
• Huangqiao Village of Shangtashi Town in Pingjiang County, Yueyang
• Zhangguying Village of Zhangguying Town in Yueyang County, Yueyang

Inheritors of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Yueyang

History of Yueyang

The area now called Yueyang has been inhabited for over 3,000 years. It was originally established as a prefecture called Hanchang in 210 AD during the Three Kingdoms period. Under the Song Dynasty (AD 960-AD 1279) it was heavily fortified, with walls 4 miles (6.4 km) in circumference, and became the seat of the military prefecture of Yueyang, whence its present name. During the Taiping Rebellion, its capture by the rebels in AD 1852 was an important stage in their advance up the Yangtze River valley to Nanjing. At the time of the foundation of the Republic of China in AD 1911, it became a county, taking the name Yueyang.

Yueyang Heritage-Huagu Drama

The One Yuan Theater, located in Rongjiawan town of Yueyang, has staged 30 to 50 Huagu Opera shows annually since 2012, with the audience numbers for each show sometimes touching 1,000. Yueyang Huagu Opera originated more than 200 years ago. It is mainly popular in a dozen counties and cities in not just Hunan, but also in the adjacent Hubei province and the eastern Jiangxi province. In its long development process, the opera has widely absorbed features of Yueyang folk tunes and artistic factors of other opera types to form its own style. Traditionally, Huagu Opera had no full-time performing troupes, and was only performed by amateur artists, most of whom were local farmers, during slack farming seasons on temporary stages.

In 2007, Yueyang Huagu Opera was recognized by the State Council, China's Cabinet, as a national intangible cultural heritage for its cultural, historical and artistic significance.

Architecture Culture of Yueyang

Yueyang Tower is an ancient Chinese tower on the shore of Dongting Lake, one of the biggest freshwater lakes of China. Since ancient times, it has been enjoying the good reputation that Dongting Lake is the best among lakes, and Yueyang Tower is incomparable among towers. The building is one of the Three Great Towers in regions south of the Yangtze River. The other two are located in Wuhan and Nanchang. Yueyang Tower itself is with yellow tiles and overhanging eaves. Its roof, covered with yellow glazed tiles, has a smooth curve, just as the general's helmet in ancient China. It is the only ancient building with the helmet roof structure in China. The architecture of Yueyang Tower is very special because it is of pure wood structure with nearly 20 meters high. With the technology of ancient China, such building is very difficult to be constructed. Moreover, the whole tower was built without any foundation beneath it. People in Yueyang jokingly said if there was a crane big enough to hang the tower up, the building can be moved to another place without any damage. Yueyang Tower was destroyed and rebuilt amid several fires or floods. The existing Yueyang Tower was built in the Qing dynasty, more specifically 1880.”