Abstract: Drum dance of Miao ethnic group in western Hunan province is a national-level intangible cultural heritage with representative inheritors at the national,provincial,state,county and municipal levels.The project has been well protected,and has been well applied in ethnic and folk cultural and sports activities,school sports,tourism development and foreign cultural exchanges.However,there are still serious problems such as the aging of inheritors,the imperfect inheritance mechanism,and the challenges from modern entertainment.In order to improve the protection and inheritance effect of the drum dance,some measures need to be taken,such as cultivation of inheritors,creating demonstration area of "two innovation",and diversified and coordinated development.

Key words: intangible cultural heritage, activation and inheritance, drum dance of Miao ethnic group, inheritance and development