Ewenki Folk Tales
01 · Historical Records
The Ewenki folk tales formed along with the development of the Ewenki people. Because this ethnic group has only a spoken language and no script, its historical changes, customs and knowledge and skills were all handed on by word of mouth from generation to generation; the three tribes—the Tungus Ewenki, the Aoluguya reindeer-herding Ewenki and the Solon Ewenki—differ in their ways of production and life, so their storytelling has different emphases, gradually forming a tradition of storytelling on a tribal basis.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Ewenki folk tales are the ethnic traditional culture handed down from generation to generation and spread in oral form among the Ewenki; they cover myths, legends, folk tales, proverbs and jokes, and are a compendium of prose and oral folk literature. There are about a thousand Ewenki folk tales, including stories of heroes of surpassing valour, mythical stories of driving out demons and subduing monsters, and stories of man living in harmony with nature, such as The Sun Girl, Bainacha and The Legend of Hailancha. These richly varied folk tales have circulated widely along with the development of the Ewenki and are the deepest level of emotional exchange between the Ewenki and heaven, earth and nature and between the members of the tribe, conducted through their own peculiar culture. The Ewenki are a people with only a language and no script; their ethnic rise and fall, historical changes, customs and knowledge and skills were all accomplished by word of mouth and inheritance from generation to generation. The Ewenki folk tales have a great store, rich content, a wide range of subjects and a striking cultural individuality, with wide dissemination and great influence among the Ewenki people, characterized chiefly by long history, oral transmission and richness of expression. The Ewenki have three tribes, and the content of the folk tales told differs from tribe to tribe. The Tungus Ewenki tell mainly of Ewenki heroes and legends of Lake Baikal; the Aoluguya reindeer-herding Ewenki, the last to come down from the forests, tell mainly of hunting production and mountain-and-forest myths and legends; and the Solon Ewenki, who live a pastoral life and dwell mixed with other ethnic groups, tell stories of man living in harmony with nature and of ethnic unity, such as the legend of Hailancha. These folk tales have already merged into modern life and become an important ideological basis for educating, guiding and inspiring the Ewenki to love nature, safeguard social harmony and enhance ethnic unity.
The Sun Girl
A representative piece among the Ewenki folk tales.
Bainacha
A representative piece among the Ewenki folk tales.
The Legend of Hailancha
A story of man living in harmony with nature and of ethnic unity told by the Solon Ewenki.
The Storytelling Traditions of the Three Tribes
The storytelling traditions of the three tribes—Tungus, Aoluguya reindeer-herding and Solon—each with its own emphasis.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Ewenki people are distributed mainly in the Ewenki autonomous banner of Hulunbuir city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The circulation of Ewenki folk tales in different places is closely bound up with the local history and way of production and life.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Through the digging and sorting of recent years the relevant protection unit has edited and published such books as The Complete Ewenki Folk Tales, and on the basis of the folk tales has created modern literary and artistic works such as song-and-dance dramas and films. Bearers carry out folk-tale teaching activities by going into the pastoral areas and into the schools, actively advancing the transmission and dissemination of this item. The Ewenki folk tales are the wellspring of Ewenki literature and art and an encyclopedia of traditional culture, containing the values of many disciplines, literature, history, philosophy and folklore. Telling the folk tales in the Ewenki language further promotes the protection and transmission of the ethnic language and, through exchange and fusion, strengthens the forging of a firm sense of the Chinese national community, and has also played a positive role in the local economic and social development.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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