Douguersurong

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Douguersurong, Male, Mongolian, from Xinbaerhuzuoqi, Inner Mongolia, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Urtiin Duu, Traditional Folk Long Song (Ⅱ-3). The tradition is documented in Xinbaerhuzuoqi, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Urtiin Duu, Traditional Folk Long Song in Xinbaerhuzuoqi, Inner Mongolia: The Barga long song circulates mainly in the New Barga Left Banner, the New Barga Right Banner and the Old Barga Banner of Hulunbuir city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and extends with the pastoral life of the Barga Mongols to all parts of the Hulunbuir grasslands. Since the thirteenth century the Mongol people of the Barga tribe have lived in the Hulunbuir region, through which the Greater Khingan range runs from north-east to south-west; the dense forests and the gentle hilly grasslands, rich in products and with fine water and grass, preserved the typical features of a hunting economy.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Mongol ethnic group, born in April 1949, a native of Xin Barag Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He came from an ordinary herding family, and his grandmother Butude was an accomplished singer of Barag long songs. From childhood he learned Barag long songs from his grandmother, and in later years he was fortunate to receive guidance from the Mongolian long-song masters Baoyindeliger and Badma and from his brother-in-law Daoerji. Through years of accumulation he has carried on a large number of Barag long songs that were on the verge of being lost, while his singing technique has gradually matured into a distinctive personal style. He once taught music at the middle school of Ubul Bulag Sum. His signature piece is Bayan Barag de Xiayeren (The Night Watchman of Bayan Barag). Within the documented technical tradition of Urtiin Duu, Traditional Folk Long Song in Xinbaerhuzuoqi, Inner Mongolia: Mongolian long song is the traditional folk song of the Mongolian people, and the Barga long song is one of its typical representatives, circulating mainly in the New Barga Left Banner, the New Barga Right Banner and the Old Barga Banner of Hulunbuir city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Since ancient times this has been a region where the long song circulated, with high pitch and simple form, representative pieces being The Vast Grassland, The Winding Handegai River and Uhertu and Huiten. The Barga long song depicts grassland life with exceptional richness. Its content is the praising of horses, of parents, the remembering and praising of the native place, the praising of heroes, love songs, soldiers' songs, the praising of the holy mountain and the obo, the doting on children and the love of nature. The mentality shown in the Barga long song truthfully reflects the spiritual world of the Barga—uprightness, plainness and a love of nature and of life, positive striving and a wealth of reflection. The Barga long-song folk songs are ancient, vigorous, broad and far-reaching, simple in structure, their overall musical tone noted for pursuing a bold and unrestrained quality; their melody is rough and hard, and their distinctive melodic style is formed through the prolongation of the high register, the extension of the skeleton tones, wide downward turns and the use of the “holoi nogolaa” singing technique. The long songs are mostly in the yu mode, with a soft lyrical colour, well suited to expressing warm and gentle feeling. The structure is relatively short, the lyrics of two-line form, the upper and lower phrases making up a period. On the whole, the singing of Barga long-song folk songs is marked by the pursuit of full volume, strong high register and large angles, with a bold and powerful quality. The Barga long-song folk songs have a deep popular base, with numerous long-song folk singers in all age and occupational groups. According to incomplete statistics, more than three hundred Barga folk songs have come down in the New Barga Left Banner alone, and more than eighty per cent of the banner's herders can sing Barga long-song folk songs. Whether at weddings, on festivals, at gatherings or while herding, people like to use long-song folk songs to express their thoughts and tell their feelings. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Vast Grassland": One of the representative pieces of the Barga long song. "The Winding Handegai River": One of the representative pieces of the Barga long song. "Uhertu and Huiten": One of the representative pieces of the Barga long song. "The “Holoi Nogolaa” Singing Technique": The distinctive melodic style formed through high-register prolongation, extension of skeleton tones, wide downward turns and the “holoi nogolaa” technique.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Urtiin Duu, traditional folk long song (Barag long song), a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. Since becoming president of the Xin Barag Left Banner Long Song Association in 2010, he has devoted himself to transmitting and promoting Barag long songs, has organised a number of training sessions on them, and has trained more than ten bearers of Barag long song.

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. Douguersurong · National Representative Bearer Archive