Adilibieke Kadeer

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Adilibieke Kadeer, Male, Unspecified, from Wuqia, Xinjiang, is a third-batch national representative bearer of Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu (Ⅱ-133). The tradition is documented in Wuqia, Xinjiang. Within the regional tradition and school record of Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu in Wuqia, Xinjiang: According to performing form, kumuz music is divided into solo, duet, two-part ensemble, ensemble and accompaniment; according to the content and manner of presentation it is further divided into set-piece playing, improvisatory playing and narrative singing with playing. It is said that as early as the Tang dynasty the Kyrgyz people offered the kumuz as tribute to the Tang court. The epic Manas, sung to the accompaniment of the kumuz, records in artistic form the history of the evolution and development of the Kyrgyz people, and has become an extremely important first-hand source for the study of the Kyrgyz nation.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Kyrgyz ethnicity, born in July 1962, a native of Wuqia County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Bright and eager to learn from childhood, he was especially drawn to music; at the age of twelve he began studying the komuz, the traditional Kyrgyz instrument, and he can perform seventeen komuz techniques. He has composed works such as Kubanchi and Jieenxi. He has also devoted himself actively to publicising komuz art, taking part in all kinds of local komuz performances and carrying out promotion and outreach for the art. Within the documented technical tradition of Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu in Wuqia, Xinjiang: The kumuz is an ancient plucked string instrument peculiar to the Kyrgyz people, current mainly in the Kyrgyz settlements of Wuqia, Aheqi and Aketao counties in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. “Kumuz” is a Kyrgyz word meaning “a beautiful musical instrument”. The kumuz has a very long history, and as early as ancient times there was the saying that “a piece in which no kumuz takes part in the ensemble is not a Kyrgyz piece”. This shows the place it occupies in Kyrgyz music. The kumuz is a three-stringed plucked instrument built entirely of wood, about one metre long, its sound box somewhat flattened and shaped like a pear, with a long slender neck fitted on top. In ancient times sheep gut was used for the strings; in modern times silk strings replaced them, and the pegs are set side by side on one side. The tones it produces have the artistic character of being harmonious and rich, its styles are many and varied, and it can produce a variety of variants. Representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal). The kumuz expresses the joys, sorrows, anger and grief of the Kyrgyz people in its own distinctive way, and in the course of long development gradually became the representative instrument of the Kyrgyz nation and then a symbol of the Kyrgyz people. The kumuz is both the most widely used and most completely transmitted instrument of the Kyrgyz nation and a traditional instrument and musical practice shared by the Kyrgyz of China and the Kyrgyz people of the Kyrgyz Republic; it plays an active part in the transmission and development of Kyrgyz culture and in exchange and cooperation between the two countries in politics, economics and culture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale)": One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal). "Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree)": One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal). "Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal)": One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal).

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

A national representative bearer of Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. While steadily refining his own skills he has continued to train young people in the komuz tradition, and has trained more than twenty bearers, expanding the ranks of komuz transmission. In 2012 he was named an outstanding bearer at the autonomous-region level.

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. Adilibieke Kadeer · National Representative Bearer Archive