Oroqen Mosukun
01 · Historical Records
Oroqen Mosukun is a storytelling form of quyi that took shape and became current in the Oroqen settlements of the Greater and Lesser Khingan Ranges in Heilongjiang; it formed at the end of the Qing dynasty. Throughout the twentieth century after its formation, Mosukun served as an important means of entertainment and moral instruction for the Oroqen people, and at the same time it carried their national spirit and thought, so that it is of great significance for understanding and studying the society, history, economy, culture and religious traditions of the northern fishing and hunting peoples, including the Oroqen.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
"Mosukun" is an Oroqen word meaning "telling and singing stories". The performance is usually given by a single performer without instruments, who speaks a passage and sings a passage, combining speech and song. Its subject matter is mostly the heroic stories of the "Mergen", and the melodies are mostly not fixed and differ from place to place: what is current in Xunke mostly uses Kuyaruo, what is current in Huma mostly uses Kuyaule, and what is current in Heihe mostly uses Yinjiao; these belong to the "type melodies". There are also cases in which a particular melody is used for a particular item, such as When the Four Seasons Arrive for Ardan Gungundie, By the Ferry Crossing for The Story of the Two Flying Birds, and The Wife's Gift for The Hunter and His Beloved Wife; these belong to the "fixed melodies". There are also cases in which various melodies are freely chosen or borrowed for performance.
Type melodies and fixed melodies
Melodies are assigned either by locality or by item: the Season's Coming for one tale, By the Ferry Crossing for another.
Traditional Mosukun items
Traditional items such as the hero Gepaqian and The Legend of the Deer alternate speech and song.
Mo Baofeng's family line
Mo Baofeng inherited several Mosukun items through four generations of women singers in her family.
Meng Shuzhen's fieldwork
Meng Shuzhen spent a decade recording Mosukun materials on her own funds and edited collections of Oroqen folk song.
Story-telling without instruments
The name means storytelling in song: one performer speaks and sings by turns with no instrument at all.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mosukun is current in the Oroqen settlements of Xunke, Huma, Heihe and other places in Heilongjiang; well-known performers include Mo Haiting, Li Shuihua, Wei Jinxiang, Chute Wen, Meng Delin and others. The same item is not sung to the same melody in different places, so there is a division between "type melodies" and "fixed melodies".
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The artistic transmission of Mosukun has always been carried out orally from teacher to pupil, and traditional items include The Hero Gepaqian, Baobei Nirendigen, Kunmabuku Murendigen and The Legend of the Deer, while well-known performers include Mo Haiting, Li Shuihua, Wei Jinxiang, Chute Wen, Meng Delin and others. But Mosukun today has been struck hard by modernisation, its survival is in crisis, and it urgently needs protection. Mo Baofeng (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): A woman of the Oroqen nationality, born in 1936 in Xunke, Heilongjiang. A hunter. Her great-grandmother Yintai Bai, her grandmother Juxiyan, her mother Sejiyan and others were all well-known folk artists of the locality. Bathed in the atmosphere of her family, she inherited several passages of Mosukun storytelling. In 1983 her work the Saman Dance won the first Heilongjiang Province Minority Arts and Skills Award. Several works she sang, including The Legend of the Deer and The Legend of the Flying Twin Birds, were included in Heilongjiang Folk Literature and the Anthology of Xunke Folk Literature, making a major contribution to the rescue and promotion of Oroqen folk storytelling. Representative inheritor of Oroqen Mosukun of the second national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. In 2006 she was named one of the ten outstanding figures of Heilongjiang folk tradition. Meng Shuzhen (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): A woman of the Oroqen nationality, born in July 1951 in Xunke County, Heilongjiang Province. She grew up immersed in the rich Oroqen culture around her. Between 1979 and 1988 she travelled at her own expense through the Oroqen settlements of Heilongjiang Province and through Alihe, Guli and other places to collect material on Mosukun, the traditional storytelling art. In April 2010 she was appointed specially invited professor at the Music College of Harbin Normal University, where she gave special lectures to the teachers and students of the college. At the Music Department of Heihe University she gave a special report, "Oroqen Traditional Folk Songs and Storytelling", to the teachers and students. Representative inheritor of Oroqen Mosukun of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. Over the years she has devoted enormous energy to promoting the art of Mosukun, trained a large number of pupils, took part in the compilation of Anthology of Chinese Folk Literature, Heilongjiang Volume, and published A Collection of Oroqen Folk Songs of Heilongjiang Province.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Mobaofeng 02-0770
- Mengshuzhen 05-2501
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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