Guerlu
01 · Historical Records
By the fifteenth century, two types of guerlu had taken shape, the folk guerlu and the religious guerlu, and it was the religious guerlu that spread more widely. The Biography of Milarepa, compiled in the fifteenth century, is the first monograph in the history of Tibetan literature to collect and organize guerlu in a systematic way, and it pioneered the guerlu literary style.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Guerlu is a genre of narrative singing (quyi) that circulates among the Tibetan people, whose origins can be traced back to the oral poetry of the Tibetan folk in the Tubo period. The Collection of Guerlu of Milarepa became the sign of the formation of the guerlu literary style and a model for this literary genre. The greatest feature of guerlu is the fusion of folk literature and religious music: it conveys the spiritual essence of guerlu literature through the vocal styles of its music. In the course of its development the vocal music of guerlu gradually grew richer, and by now it has reached more than a hundred varieties, becoming one of the most distinctive branches of religious music. Slow pitch, free rhythm and a clearly marked melodic style are the main characteristics of guerlu music. In the beginning guerlu was accompanied by no ritual instruments at all; in the course of its transmission a certain number of ritual instruments were added, such as the dingxia, the damaru (hand drum), the gangling (bone flute) and the great dharma drum. By modern times, guitar and singing bowls had been combined into its forms of performance. Guerlu is a cultural heritage in which folk literature and religious music are perfectly united.
The Milarepa gurlu collection
The fifteenth-century Life of Milarepa was the first book to collect gurlu, and the Milarepa gurlu collection became the model for the genre.
Ritual instruments
Originally unaccompanied, it added ritual instruments such as cymbals, hand drum, bone flute and great drum, and in modern times guitar and singing bowl.
Folk and religious gurlu
By the fifteenth century it had split into folk and religious types, the religious branch spreading more widely from Tibetan oral poetry.
Forty-two generations
Mostly passed down through very few master-to-pupil lines, its traceable lineage runs forty-two generations across the Tibetan world.
Slow, free and marked melody
Its tunes, now numbering over a hundred, are slow, rhythmically free and strongly melodic, uniting folk literature with religious music.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Guerlu circulates in Lhasa, Shannan, Shigatse, Ngari, Nagqu, Qamdo and Jilong County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and it spread together with Tibetan Buddhism to the Tibetan-inhabited areas of Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan and Sichuan. Around the fifteenth century it divided into the folk type and the religious type, the religious type spreading more widely and becoming one of the forms in which the doctrines of the various sects are expounded. Zhikongtai Monastery in Mozhugongka County of Lhasa City is an important place of transmission for religious guerlu; the Drikung Kagyu school there uses guerlu to chant the biographies and admonitions of the founding masters, and the singing is mostly carried out within religious rituals such as dharma assemblies, retreats and dedication rites for the deceased. Because transmission has long been carried on chiefly as a single lineage from master to apprentice, the documented genealogy has by now reached forty-two generations, the vocal melodies number more than a hundred varieties, and modern performances have also incorporated instruments such as the guitar and singing bowls.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present it circulates mainly in Qinghai, Gansu, Yunnan and Sichuan of China, as well as in Ngari, Jilong County, Nagqu and Qamdo of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Guerlu was composed for the purpose of transmitting religious teachings; in the period of the second diffusion of Tibetan Buddhism it played a distinctive role in transmitting the doctrines of the major sects and became a form of religious expression. For the most part guerlu has been handed down through single lineages from a very small number of masters to their apprentices, and the documented genealogy now reaches forty-two generations. It adopts the form of folk song, its content is plain and easy to understand, its metre is lucid and catchy, and it is recited or chanted with ease, making it valuable material for the study of the style of folk literature of its time.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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