Uyghur Dasitan
01 · Historical Records
The Uyghur dastan are the general name for Uyghur narrative poems, handed down from generation to generation in the form of performance by the folk narrative artists the dastanchi and current in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. By content and form they may be divided into heroic dastan, love dastan, historical dastan and janamah dastan, representative works including The Legend of Oghuz, Alip and Sanam and Nozigum.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Uyghur dastan are the general name for Uyghur narrative poetry, their content very wide; by content and form they may be divided into heroic dastan, love dastan, historical dastan and janamah dastan, current mainly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Uyghur heroic dastan are fairly long, taking major historical events and heroic legends as their subject matter and reflecting in verse the wars between Uyghur tribes and peoples and the great deeds of heroic figures. The Uyghur love dastan mainly celebrate the faithful love of the hero and heroine and expose the tragedies caused by society's interference in young people's marriage and love. The Uyghur historical dastan take major historical events and figures as their subject and praise the protagonists' spirit of dedication to the people's interests. The Uyghur dastan are performed and handed down from generation to generation by the folk narrative artists the dastanchi.
The Legend of Oghuz
One of the representative works of the Uyghur dastan.
Alip and Sanam
A representative work of the Uyghur love dastan.
Nozigum
One of the representative works of the Uyghur dastan.
Performance by the Dastanchi
The mode of transmission through performance by the folk narrative artist the dastanchi.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Uyghur dastan take the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as their main area of circulation; the gathering places of all-people festivals, the bazaar, the mazar (places of excursion) and places of labour are important venues of dastan performance and transmission.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Uyghur dastan are an important part of the cultural life of the Uyghur people, of important documentary value for studying Uyghur history and also a force not to be underestimated in its entertainment function in today's building of a harmonious society. At present the dastanchi are mainly distributed in such areas with inconvenient communications as Hotan, mostly elderly and infirm, and the living transmission of the Uyghur dastan faces the danger of dying out.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Xiahe Maimaiti 03-0798
- Wubuliaisan Maimaiti 04-1501
- Yibulayingyakefu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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