Houqinghe

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Houqinghe, Male, Mongolian, from Tongliao, Inner Mongolia, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Mongolian Folk Songs (Ⅱ-105). The tradition is documented in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Mongolian Folk Songs in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia: Horqin narrative folk songs are current mainly on the Horqin grasslands in the east of the Inner Mongolian grasslands, and the banners, counties and city districts under the jurisdiction of Tongliao city are their core area of transmission; they are mostly accompanied by such instruments as the four-string fiddle, sanxian, yangqin, morin khuur and chaoer. They are of greater length than the folk songs of other regions: more than a dozen take over two hours to sing, and The Song of Zhang and Wang even exceeds twenty-four hours. Their performers are mostly folk singers of the grasslands, who sit in a circle playing and singing at festivals, banquets and in the slack season of herding and farming, and hand the songs down from generation to generation. Mongolian narrative folk songs are first attested in the Yuan dynasty, the most famous of them being such works as the Alaiqinbu Song and the Song of the Fawn. It was not until the late Qing dynasty and the early Republican period that this strikingly individual national art form underwent unprecedented development on the Horqin grasslands; the sheer number of its songs and the richness of their content are extremely rare in the history of Chinese folk song.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Houqinghe is anchored in the documented technical standards of Mongolian Folk Songs in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia. Within the documented technical tradition of Mongolian Folk Songs in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia: Mongolian folk songs are rich in content, free in rhythm, delicate in feeling, high and resonant in melody, extended and winding, and leave a long lingering aftertaste. They fall into two kinds, the long-tune folk song and the short-tune folk song. Long-tune songs are generally sung in Mongolian; they are of great length, draw the breath out long and are deep in feeling, their use of the shake ornament is subtle and distinctive and their melodies far-ranging, and both melody and vocal style show the breadth and vigour of grassland folk song. Short-tune songs are current mainly in the half-farming, half-pastoral districts where Mongols and Han live in mixed settlement, are mostly sung in Chinese, are short in length, have an even rhythm and a fixed metre, readily use reduplicated syllables, and have simple lyrics and a free, flexible manner. Horqin narrative folk songs, abbreviated to “Horqin folk songs”, are a form of narrative folk song handed down generation by generation among the Mongols; they are current mainly on the Horqin grasslands in the eastern part of the Inner Mongolian grasslands. In the long historical period that followed, however, Mongolian narrative folk songs, especially the long narrative folk songs, very nearly died out. Horqin narrative folk songs have a lively rhythm and content close to everyday life; long texts are usually sung again and again to short, finely crafted musical phrases, accompanied by such instruments as the four-string fiddle, sanxian, yangqin, morin khuur and chaoer. Their tunes are sharply characterised, frequently employing rich altered notes, borrowed chords, modulation and the alternation of modes, so that their melodies are clearly distinguished in style from the folk songs of other peoples and regions. Horqin narrative folk songs basically all have relatively complete story lines, and their subject matter is commonly the love of men and women, longing for home and kin, and the legends of heroes; their lyrics are generally far longer than those of folk songs in other regions, more than a dozen of them taking over two hours to sing, and The Song of Zhang and Wang even exceeding twenty-four hours. Representative works of Horqin narrative folk song include Gada Meilin, Danabala, Han Xiuying, Taogetaihu and Zhanabala Jinima. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Gada Meilin": Representative works of Horqin narrative folk song include Gada Meilin, Danabala, Han Xiuying, Taogetaihu and Zhanabala Jinima. "Danabala": Representative works of Horqin narrative folk song include Gada Meilin, Danabala, Han Xiuying, Taogetaihu and Zhanabala Jinima. "Han Xiuying": Representative works of Horqin narrative folk song include Gada Meilin, Danabala, Han Xiuying, Taogetaihu and Zhanabala Jinima. "Taogetaihu": Representative works of Horqin narrative folk song include Gada Meilin, Danabala, Han Xiuying, Taogetaihu and Zhanabala Jinima.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Houqinghe was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Mongolian Folk Songs, with Tongliao, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Mongolian Folk Songs in Tongliao, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Tongliao, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Tongliao Ethnic Gewu Troupe as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Houqinghe (Tongliao, Inner Mongolia) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Houqinghe · China ICH Official Archive