Manglai

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Manglai, Male, Mongolian, from Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Polyphonic Folk Songs (Ⅱ-30). The tradition is documented in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia. Within the regional tradition and school record of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia: Chaord circulates mainly in the Mongol areas of settlement of Xilinhot city and Abag banner in the Xilin Gol league of Inner Mongolia. It is mostly sung on occasions of palace ceremonial, temple assemblies and folk banquets and sacrificial ceremonies, and Xilinhot city and Abag banner are the areas where chaord is most densely preserved. It probably originated about the end of the twelfth and the beginning of the thirteenth century and reached its height in the late Ming and early Qing.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Mongol ethnicity, born in January 1947 in Xilinhot City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. National representative bearer of Polyphonic Folk Songs (choor dao, Mongol harmonic singing), a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. A nephew of the long-song king Hazhabu and one of Master Hazhabu's first personally taught disciples, he learned from childhood to sing Mongol long songs in the Abaga-Abaganar style under Master Hazhabu and local folk artists, and from 1970 he studied the singing of holin choor and choor dao. He has now mastered all of the dozen or so surviving choor dao pieces and has inherited Master Hazhabu's singing style and technical skills. His singing is archaic in flavour, rich in nuance and clear in diction. In 2003 he released the solo choor dao album Xuri ban shengteng (Rising Like the Sun). His representative pieces include Shengzhu Chengjisihan (The Holy Lord Genghis Khan) and Xingxing he yueliang (The Stars and the Moon). In recent years he has devoted himself to spreading and transmitting choor dao. Within the documented technical tradition of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia: Multi-part folk song refers to folk songs whose texture and structure take a multi-part form; China's multi-part folk songs are concentrated chiefly among the dozen or so minority nationalities of the Zhuang, Dong, Bouyei, Gaoshan, Maonan, Qiang, Miao and Yi, most of them adopting the two-part form and a small number being three-part and four-part art. Chaord is a distinctive form of singing with a long history, current mainly in Xilinhot city and parts of Abag banner in the Xilin Gol league of Inner Mongolia. It was sung not only in the palace but was also widely used on various occasions in temples, at folk banquets and at sacrificial ceremonies. Chaord is a distinctive Mongol multi-part music: below the melody there is a sustained bass part, and this bass part can only attach itself to the high-register melody and cannot exist independently. In performance one outstanding long-song singer sings the sweet and leaping melody in a high register while several singers sing the bass in a deep throat voice, forming a sustained drone beneath the melody. Chaord uses the gong and zhi modes; its melody is drawn out and its rhythm free, well suited to expressing the indomitable national spirit with which the ancient Mongols struggled to survive in a harsh natural environment. Chaord sets short words to long tunes, and its beginning and ending are of a special form, so that it gives full play to the characteristics of long-song music; its two-part choral art presents a solemn, deep and delicate artistic style, and the extensive use of fifth- and octave-harmony strengthens both the supporting power of the musical function and the artistic appeal, making it relatively distinctive among China's multi-part folk songs. Representative works of chaord include The Holy Lord Genghis Khan, Khud Khile and Sunrise. Chaord is a representative of grassland culture and a crystallisation of Mongol music, attracting attention by the perfection of its melody, the distinctiveness of its harmony, the scientific character of its modes and the complexity of its musical form, and may be called an outstanding example of Mongol folk music. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Holy Lord Genghis Khan": A representative chaord piece and the closing piece sung on solemn occasions such as affairs of state. "Khud Khile": One of the representative pieces of chaord. "The Bass Chaor Part and the High-Register Melody": Chaord has a sustained bass part beneath the melody, sung by several singers in a deep throat voice, forming two-part choral singing.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2009, Manglai was announced in the third batch of national representative bearers for Polyphonic Folk Songs, with Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Polyphonic Folk Songs in Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2008 (batch 2), with Xilinhaote, Inner Mongolia as its declared area, and Xilinhaote Quan MinJianShen Service Center 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. Manglai · National Representative Bearer Archive