Axixianji
01 · Historical Records
In the 1940s, collected, collated and published successively by the poet Guang Weiran and the linguist Yuan Jiahua, it became widely known to the outside world. Its content includes the myths and legends of the Axi people, the origin of heaven and earth and all things and the causes of natural phenomena, love and marriage, the early national life and the hardships of early mankind and the customs of the Axi, and the origin of the Axi Xianji is untraceable. Some scholars hold that it sprouted in primitive society and took shape in feudal society. The Axi Xianji has been transmitted orally from generation to generation to the present.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Axi Xianji, also called the Song of the Axi People, is the creation epic of the Axi branch of the Yi, transmitted orally in the Axi-concentrated area of the Western Hills of Mile county, Yunnan. Because the long poem was created and sung by artists in the Axi language and scattered among the people, it was long unknown to the outside world. The full text is about two thousand lines, made up of the four parts of the introduction, the most ancient times, men and women agreeing to become one family, and the epilogue. The Axi Xianji is the root genealogy of the Axi, embodying their perseverance, valour and wisdom in exploring and understanding nature and reflecting a naive materialism. Because a large part takes the love of man and woman as its main line, describing the Axi's ardent pursuit and longing for pure love and beautiful things and their various views on real society, in the Axi villages young men and women often sing antiphonally to each other in the intervals of farming, making it a means of seeking a mate.
Introduction
One of the four parts of the Axi Xianji.
The Most Ancient Times
One of the four parts of the Axi Xianji, telling of the origin of heaven and earth and all things and the causes of natural phenomena.
Men and Women Agreeing to Become One Family
One of the four parts of the Axi Xianji, taking the love of man and woman as its main line.
Antiphonal Singing for Courtship
The custom of Axi young men and women singing antiphonally to each other in the intervals of farming and seeking a mate through song.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Axi Xianji has the Axi-concentrated area of the Western Hills of Mile county, Yunnan, as its core area of circulation; because it was created and sung by artists in the Axi language and scattered among the people, it was long unknown to the outside world.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It is the manifestation of the spirit and culture of the Axi and provides precious material and a distinctive perspective for studying the history, culture, economy, philosophy, religion, ethics and aesthetic concepts of the Axi, with multi-disciplinary research value. But today those who can sing in the Axi language are ever fewer and those who can fully master the singing of the Axi Xianji are very few indeed; successors are lacking and it urgently needs protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- He Yuzhong 04-1507
- Xiaqixian
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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