Miluotuo
01 · Historical Records
The epic also describes the migration of the people under alien invasion, the tragic course towards the barren hills and dense forests, and the social and historical picture of the appearance of surnames, the end of consanguineous marriage and the yielding of matriarchy to patriarchy. From 1962, sung by eight singers such as Sangbulang and collected and collated by Lan Huaichang, Lan Shujing and Meng Tongshun, the roughly fourteen thousand lines of Miluotuo, the first version, took twenty-seven years to appear in print in 1988, transmitted to the world through its second life.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Miluotuo is a creation epic of the Yao, of the Bunu branch. Miluotuo is the mother goddess of mankind; with wind and air currents she created all things in the universe, the hills, rivers, plains, lakes, seas, forests and living beings. She sent her sons to shoot the sun and moon that laid their tyranny on the people and to cut down the ferocious wild boar, demon monkey and magic tiger that harmed mankind. She taught people how to recognise the sinister and poisonous wicked and the morality of being a person and led the Bunu from darkness to light. The epic expresses the Bunu's wish to conquer and transform nature and their indomitable national spirit and sings of the tragic history of the Yao. The Bunu Yao, more than four hundred thousand in number, live in the mountain areas of Guangxi. The Du'an Yao Autonomous County is a Bunu Yao-concentrated place and one of the centres of the circulation of Miluotuo. On the twenty-ninth day of the fifth lunar month each year, the Zhuzhuo festival, or at marriage, the Yao gather together to chant Miluotuo to show their remembrance of the ancestral mother Miluotuo and their adherence to the customary rules the ancestors laid down. They chant and praise the merits of the Yao ancestral mother Miluotuo in creating all things in the universe and mankind and its national culture and sing the tragic history of the Yao. The epic expresses the Bunu's wish to conquer and transform nature and their indomitable national spirit, singing the tragic history of the Yao.
Miluotuo Creates All Things
The content of the mother goddess Miluotuo creating all things with wind and air currents.
Shooting the Sun and Moon and Removing Beasts
The content of Miluotuo sending her sons to shoot the sun and moon and cut down the wild boar, demon monkey and magic tiger.
The Tragic Course of National Migration
The epic's description of the tragic course of the people's migration to the barren hills and dense forests under alien invasion.
The Zhuzhuo Festival Chanting Custom
The custom of chanting Miluotuo on the Zhuzhuo festival of the twenty-ninth day of the fifth lunar month or at marriage.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Miluotuo circulates mainly in the Bunu Yao-concentrated areas such as the Du'an Yao Autonomous County in Guangxi; on the twenty-ninth day of the fifth lunar month each year, the Zhuzhuo festival, or at marriage, the Yao gather together to chant Miluotuo to show their remembrance of the ancestral mother.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Today this epic is still current orally among the Yao of Du'an. It is important material for studying the creation myth and national history of the Bunu Yao. It praises the merits of the ancestral mother Miluotuo in creating all things in the universe and mankind and its national culture and sings the tragic history of the Yao. Miluotuo is sung from generation to generation among the Bunu Yao and is a precious national cultural heritage.
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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