Yangasha
01 · Historical Records
Yang Asha is a long narrative song of the Miao current in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou and the neighbouring areas, more than ten thousand lines long, the longest Miao narrative song so far discovered and praised as the most beautiful song of the Miao. Taking the love tragedy of a Miao girl born in the water as its main line, it displays the life and national psychology of ancient Miao society.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Yang Asha is a long narrative song of the Miao current in the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou and the neighbouring areas, more than ten thousand lines long, the longest Miao narrative song so far discovered. Its content is the poignant love story of a warm, kind and wise Miao girl born in the water. Sung in the form of pan songs, it has a distinctive national character, occupies a fairly high place in the literary history of the Miao and greatly promotes the development of Miao ballads, especially narrative songs. With beautiful language and rich imagination it celebrates the Miao people's pursuit of beautiful love.
Sung in the Form of Pan Songs
The main form of singing Yang Asha.
The Love Tragedy of Yang Asha
The core poignant love story of Yang Asha.
The Tunes and Customs of the Various Versions
The tunes of the various oral versions directly related to their customs of singing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Yang Asha has the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of Guizhou and the neighbouring Miao-concentrated areas as its main area of circulation; it is mostly sung in the form of pan songs and is closely bound up with Miao festivals, courtship and gatherings. The versions of Yang Asha in different regions differ slightly in tune and lyric, together forming the vast system of Miao narrative songs. The various versions of Yang Asha supplement and illuminate one another and are among the most representative works of the transmission system of Miao narrative songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The different oral versions of Yang Asha have different ways of singing, the tune and the custom of singing of each version being directly related, which greatly enriches the content and forms of Miao music; Yang Asha is therefore called the most beautiful song of the Miao and has important research value in ethnology, folklore and history. Now the range of Yang Asha's circulation is ever smaller and the great majority of those who can sing it in full are elderly, so that the work of salvaging and protecting Yang Asha is extremely urgent. Salvaging and protecting it is of great value for studying Miao literature, music and folklore.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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