Mongolian Art of Singing: Khoomei
01 · Historical Records
It is said that as early as the thirteenth century, when the art of reciting heroic epics flourished on the Mongolian grasslands, khoomei was already very prevalent.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Beyond this, khoomei also spread far to Mongolia and the Tuva region of Russia. Khoomei is a marvellous singing art created by the Mongol people: in performance the singer uses special vocal techniques to sing two voice parts at the same time, expressed as a combination of a sustained drone and a flowing melody above it, forming a rare multi-voice-part manner of singing. According to research by some scholars the singing art of the northern grassland peoples recorded as “xiao” in many of our ancient books may be the primitive form of khoomei. First, singing of beautiful natural scenery, such as Ode to the Altai Mountains and The Flowing Water of the Ebe River; second, expressing and mimicking the lovely forms of wild animals, such as The Cuckoo and The Black Walking Bear; third, praising fine horses and the grasslands, such as The Four-Year-Old Sorrel Horse. In stylistic terms Mongolian khoomei is mainly short-song music, but it can also sing some brief long-song pieces. Khoomei is an outstanding artistic creation of the Mongol nationality; it is a far-off echo from the depths of ethnic memory, retaining more of certain elements of primitive singing, by which it expresses the Mongolian people's deep philosophical reflection on nature, the cosmos and all things in the world. Because of the limitation of its special singing technique the khoomei repertoire is not very rich; it may be broadly divided into three types: singing of natural scenery, mimicking the forms of wild animals, and praising fine horses and the grasslands, representative pieces being Ode to the Altai Mountains, The Cuckoo and The Four-Year-Old Sorrel Horse.
Ode to the Altai Mountains and The Flowing Water of the Ebe River
Khoomei pieces singing of beautiful natural scenery.
The Cuckoo and The Black Walking Bear
Khoomei pieces expressing and mimicking the lovely forms of wild animals.
Holin Chuur (Xinjiang Mongol Khoomei)
Khoomei as one kind of Xinjiang Mongol chuur music, also called “holin chuur”.
Singing in the Mongol Areas of Settlement along the Altai Mountains
The regional transmission scene in which khoomei circulates among the Mongol peasants and herders of the Altai region of Xinjiang.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Khoomei is one of the kinds of Xinjiang Mongol chuur music, also called “holin chuur”; it may be divided into such types as “overtone khoomei”, “tremolo khoomei” and “composite khoomei”. It is distributed mainly in the Xilin Gol and Hulunbuir grasslands of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the Hohhot area, and may also be heard in the Mongol areas of settlement along the Altai mountains in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Limited by its special singing technique, the khoomei repertoire is not very rich and may be broadly divided into three types.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Art of Singing: Khoomei.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Khoomei is closely bound up with Mongolian history and culture and has important reference value for the study of anthropology, ethnology and folklore. At present khoomei survives only among a very small number of Mongolian peasants and herders; artists of deep artistic attainment have died one after another and transmission lacks people, so it is already in a severely endangered state and urgently needs saving and protection.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Hugejileitu 04-1509
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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