Sigangli
01 · Historical Records
Sigangli is an oral literature widely current among the Wa people, with the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County in Yunnan as its centre and current widely in the neighbouring counties and cities and the Wa-concentrated areas of neighbouring countries. Sigang means cliff cave and li means come out, so Sigangli means coming out of the cave. As the Wa creation epic, the whole poem has more than five thousand seven hundred lines and is grand in scale; handed down from generation to generation, its content was continually enriched.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Sigangli is an oral literature widely current among the Wa people, with the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County in Yunnan as its centre and current widely in the neighbouring counties and cities and the Wa-concentrated areas of neighbouring countries. Centred on the legend of mankind coming out of the cave, it reflects the Wa forebears' distinctive interpretation of the universe and the origin of mankind.
The Little Rice Bird Pecks Open the Cave
The core episode of the Sigangli legend of mankind coming out of the cave.
Mowei Sends the Deities
The episode in which the almighty deity Mowei sends deities to help mankind out of the cave.
Transmission by Telling and Chanting
The Wa have no script, so Sigangli is transmitted mainly by oral telling and chanting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sigangli has the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County in Yunnan as its centre and circulates through the Wa-concentrated areas and to the Wa areas of such neighbouring countries as Burma; the Wa have no script, so Sigangli is transmitted mainly by oral telling and chanting from generation to generation. It is sung and transmitted at the sacrifices, festivals, weddings and funerals of the Wa villages, with a distinctive national character.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Sigangli.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It is told that in remote antiquity man was imprisoned in a sealed mountain cave and could not get out; the almighty deity Mowei sent the little rice bird to peck open the cave, the rat to lure away the tiger guarding the cave mouth, and the spider to block the great tree preventing people from leaving the cave, so that mankind could come out of the cave and settle in every place and multiply. Sigangli embraces many Wa folk literary forms such as myth, legend and story, its content touching astronomy, geography and human custom, and is the most important material for studying the Wa forebears' cosmology, world-view and view of life. Holding the Wa's history, culture, art and religion in one, it has important academic value for studying the development of Wa social history and Wa humanistic and moral ideas. Under the impact of the modern way of life the living chain of Sigangli's transmission faces the danger of breaking and urgently needs protection. It is a classic of Wa oral literature and important material for studying the Wa's national origin and traditional culture. Holding the Wa's history, culture, art and religion in one, it is a representative work of Wa folk oral literature.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yansang 04-1502
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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