Lingtai Dengtou Opera, also known as Dengtou Bowl and Bowl Tune, was originally called Gong and Drum Noise. It is one of the unique local operas in Lingtai, Gansu Province. It is named because it uses ancient iron lighting lamps, lanterns, bowls and bowls as percussion instruments, and performs with erhu and yueqin to form a unique musical style. Denzhantou Opera was first popular in Xinji, Longmen, Shangliang, Xinghuo and other towns in Lingtai County, and later spread to Pingliang, Jingchuan, Chongxin, Ankou and other counties and cities in Shaanxi, Qianyang, Linyou, Longxian, Fengxiang and other counties. Therefore, Pingliang Denzhantou Opera actually refers to Lingtai Denzhantou Opera.

The exact age of the Lantern Play has not been examined. From the 15th to the 16th century (the middle of the Ming Dynasty), at the junction of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, during the disaster years, wars broke out frequently, starving people were everywhere, and the victims begged everywhere. When they begged, they wore a string of jujube chips with ropes to accompany them, singing local folk songs and ditties. In the long-term begging activities, a formal and fixed tone was gradually formed. Later, oil lamp bowls and bowls were used to beat knots, which were common in rural areas. The bowls and bowls of lamps were crisp and pleasant to knock, and easy to find, thus becoming a special percussion instrument for the Lantern Opera. After entering the 17th century (Qing Dynasty), the unique singing form of lamp head has been preserved as a folk entertainment, commonly known as singing songs.

Every year, the Lantern Show has become an indispensable part of the local programs, such as the God Greeting Games, praying for rain and blessings, repaying God's wishes, or family weddings and funerals. Dengtuantou Opera belongs to the system of Banqiang Opera. Except that the colors of passing through the door and playing simply are different from those of Qin Opera, the forerunner of Banqiang Opera, the others are roughly the same or similar. The lyrics of this kind of local drama are basically seven character sentences or cross sentences. Some special lyrics, such as nine character sentences and eight character sentences, belong to the evolution of Ban seven character sentences. These chants are flexible and changeable in the board layout combination, which is more conducive to the full play of tone efficiency. Some of these short sentences, as well as its special singing method. The difference in the musical color of the aria is more prominent in the "bitter sound" and "flower sound". "Huayin" has a cheerful, bright, vigorous and powerful tone, and is good at expressing joyful, light, cheerful and cheerful feelings; "Bitter voice" has a deep, vigorous, high and excited tone, and is good at expressing sadness, nostalgia, pain and sadness. This also constitutes the biggest feature of Dengtou Opera's singing.

The repertoire of Dengtou Opera is very rich. Before it was put on the stage, there were more than 400 traditional plays (fold), and more than 100 plays were often performed. Most of these plays were transplanted from the scripts of Qin Opera. There were also plays created by shadow actors, such as Monkeys Meet, Making Trouble in Hell, Burning Li Ru, Liu Muli Eating Noodles, and Xuanren hoeing the Valley. The traditional repertoire of the Lantern Opera can be directly used as a live show on the stage because of its fixed script and different roles.

The bands of the Lantern Show include Wen Band and Wu Band. In the past, due to the limitations of people and financial resources, the band organization was very simple. There were four or five people in the martial arts band, most of whom were one and varied, which was relatively simple. As the Lantern Opera moves onto the stage, the band becomes more complete. Wen Band includes two stringed instruments, banhu or bass erhu, three stringed instruments or pipa, cello or low stringed instrument, flute and dulcimer. Orchestra can also be added when conditions permit; The martial arts band includes lamps, lotus boards, drums, drums, gongs, cymbals, hinges, bangs and other percussion devices. The characteristics of these instruments, together with the lyrics and aria of Dengtou Opera, are more tacit and integrated. Later, the singing of the lamp head was gradually adopted by the shadow play and used for the performance of the shadow play.

According to Records of Dengzhuantou Opera, there were no fewer than ten folk shadow troupes active in Lingtai and surrounding counties and cities in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. At that time, the most influential shadow play troupes of Dengzhuantou mainly included Yang Jinyuan's Xinghuo Shadow Play Troupe, Du Wanlin Shadow Play Troupe, Yang Shimin Shadow Play Troupe, Li Yinglian's Dudian Li's Shadow Play Troupe, and Qijia Troupe in the west of Lingtai, Qianyang and Longxian.

Yang Jinyuan's "Spark Shadow Play Troupe" has made immortal contributions to the development of Lingtai Dengzhuantou Shadow Play. Yang Jinyuan, a native of Xinghuo Village, Lingtai County, whose great grandfather founded the "Shadow Show Class of Mars Temple" in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty; His grandfather, Yang Bingqian, was famous for his lanterns and bowls; His father Yang Minkun and Yang Jinyuan themselves are "all excellent players" of the class. The four generations of Yang family can be called the founder of Lingtai Lantern Shadow Play.

During the development of Lingtai Lantern Shadow Play, Yang Shimin, an old artist, played a role in inheriting and laying the foundation. Yang Shimin, born in 1903, died in 1977. He is from Huaishugou, Shuangliang Village, Shangliang Township, Lingtai County. He had a poor family since he was young and loved opera. He was very talented. He listened to the opera carefully and memorized it. At the age of 19, he could sing a lot of Qin Opera Luan, and taught himself banhu and flute. He could play, pull, play and sing everything. He is most obsessed with shadow play. In the process of watching the play, he learned all the patterns of lamp bowl cavity. At the age of 30, he joined the Qijia Qinqiang Shadow Play Troupe in Qianyang, Shaanxi Province, and taught the Qijia Troupe the lantern bowl tune, making the Qijia Troupe a famous lantern head shadow play troupe in Qianyang and Longxian, and making Lingtai Lantern Head Play popular in Qianyang and Longxian. In 1940, Yang Shimin returned to his hometown to establish Shangliang "Yang's Shadow Play Troupe". In 1958, in order to promote national culture, collate, research and rescue national folk art heritage, Lingtai County changed the Lingtai County Qin Opera Troupe into the Dengzhuantou Opera Troupe, hired Yang Shimin to teach Dengzhuanwanqiang, and put the Dengzhuantou Opera on the big stage. After 1966, Yang Shimin was controlled and criticized, and the lamp head fell into silence. In 1975, Yang Shimin got to know Yang Wanjun of the county literary team at that time, secretly taught him the music, singing, musical instruments and other related contents of the Lantern Play, and used Tianye Qingshazhang as a cover for recording and recording, which finally enabled this Lingtai local characteristic drama to continue to be inherited.

Since the reform and opening up, Lingtai County has attached great importance to the excavation, rescue and protection of intangible cultural heritage, and Lingtai Lantern Show ushered in the spring of prosperity and development. A group of folk artists also bought new equipment, organized classes and clubs to visit villages and villages, and performed while cultivating new people; Lingtai County Lantern Opera Troupe was established under the leadership of Lingtai County Qin Opera Troupe. It has organized the study and rehearsal of more than 30 Lantern Operas, 68 folktales and aria, and many new people's new works have also been put on the stage.

In 2006, Lingtai County Lantern Opera was listed in the provincial intangible cultural heritage list by the Gansu Provincial Government, and a number of provincial, municipal and county intangible cultural heritage inheritors were announced.