Hada

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Hada, Male, Mongolian, from Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Minzuyueqizhizuojiyi（mengguzulaxianyueqizhizuogongyi (Ⅷ-124). The tradition is documented in Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship in Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia: Horqin Right Middle Banner lies in the heart of the Horqin grassland. The local bowed string instrument-making craft is intertwined with toli, kholboo, uilenger, and Horqin narrative folk songs. Across the banner there are more than twenty workshops of various sizes and over a hundred skilled artisans, more than fifty of whom have become professional craftsmen and instrument makers. The master artisans of this tradition mostly come from families that have made instruments for generations. Hada, for instance, grew up listening to the craft of a group of artisans under the tutelage of Jamba; over more than twenty years in the trade, he has made more than ten thousand sihu, morin khuur, and chor instruments of all sizes, some of which are sold to various parts of China as well as Hong Kong, Macao, and abroad. The morin khuur (horse-head fiddle), the four-string fiddle (sihu), and the chor are all Mongolian bowed string instruments. Their forms are similar but their uses differ: the morin khuur is mostly used for leading and ensemble performances, the sihu is dedicated to accompanying narrative singing, and the chor closely resembles the morin khuur in form. Thus, on a single grassland, the craftsmanship of these instruments is often passed down within the same lineage. These instruments were not created first and then matched with tunes; rather, their forms, pitches, and bowing techniques were mostly tuned to fit the vocal styles. Folk art forms such as kholboo (haolai bao), uilenger (wuli ge'er), and toli (tao li) require one or two instrumentalists to respond to the singing at the side, and the instrumentalists and performers jointly settle the vocal register and bowing method.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Mongolian ethnicity, born in April 1962 in Horqin Right Wing Middle Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. A representative bearer of the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects in ethnic musical instrument making craftsmanship (Mongolian bowed string instrument making craftsmanship). A technician of Mongolian bowed string instrument making. Deeply influenced since childhood by artists such as Tubuxin, Tumen Wuliji and Huriqin Bilige, all disciples of the master craftsman Zanba, he has become one of the most influential bearers of Mongolian bowed string instrument making today. In more than twenty years of making ethnic bowed string instruments he has produced over ten thousand instruments of various sizes, including sihu, morin khuur and chaoer, some of which are sold to Hong Kong, Macao and other regions as well as to the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan. Within the documented technical tradition of Ethnic Instrument Making Craftsmanship in Keerqinyouyizhongqi, Inner Mongolia: The Mongolian bowed string instruments include the chor, the morin khuur, and the sihu. The chor is similar in form to the morin khuur. The morin khuur is mostly used for solo (leading) performance, chamber music, ensemble, and as a concerto instrument with symphony and orchestral bands. In performances of toli, the morin khuur also often serves as a prop in the hands of the performers. The sihu not only accompanies Mongolian narrative vocal styles, but can also take on chamber music, unison, ensemble, and solo roles in folk bands and mixed ensembles, and can compensate for the lack of high range in folk bands. Horqin Right Middle Banner is located in the heart of the Inner Mongolia Horqin grassland. The local Mongolian bowed string instrument-making craft is inseparable from toli, kholboo, uilenger, and Horqin narrative folk songs—intertwined and indistinguishable—and is among the most representative traditional crafts of the banner. Across the banner there are now more than twenty handcraft workshops of various sizes making Mongolian bowed string instruments, with over a hundred skilled artisans, more than fifty of whom have become professional craftsmen and instrument makers. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Building the soundbox": Curved boards or square boxes are glued to form the resonating chamber. "Turning the neck and carving the head": The horse's head, mane and eyes are carved stroke by stroke; a lively head identifies the maker. "Stretching the sound skin": The skin is drawn progressively tighter around the opening, tightening and tuning in step. "Fitting bow and hair": Bow wood and hair are fitted with just enough tension; a mis-set bow dulls the tone at once.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In October 2010 he took part in the first China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo held by the Ministry of Culture and received a commemorative award for bearer demonstrations.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Hada · National Representative Bearer Archive