Yugur Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The formation of the Yugur folk songs is closely bound up with the history and language of the Yugur. The Yugur forebears may be traced to the Uighurs of the Tang and Song periods; their language belongs to two branches, the “Yaohur” language of the Turkic group of the Altaic family and the “Anger” language of the Mongolian group, so their folk songs share an origin with Uighur and Mongolian folk songs, their lyric metres are similar, and they preserve many common features of ancient languages.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Sunan Yugur autonomous county lies in the middle of the Hexi corridor, at the northern foot of the Qilian mountains. The Yugur use two languages: one called “Yaohur”, belonging to the Turkic group of the Altaic family and closely related to Uighur and Kazakh of the same group; the other called “Anger”, closely related to Mongolian of the same group. Judging from the historical origins and language of the Yugur, their folk songs share the same origin as Uighur and Mongolian folk songs, their lyric metres have many similarities, and they also have many features common to ancient languages. The Yugur folk songs may be divided by subject into narrative songs, love songs and work songs, and by genre and function into short pieces, work chanteys, short tunes, banquet songs, wine songs, felt-rolling songs and songs for suckling the young of the herds.
Narrative Songs, Love Songs and Work Songs
The categories of Yugur folk songs divided by subject matter.
The Felt-Rolling Song and the Song for Suckling the Young of the Herds
Song kinds directly connected with pastoral productive labour.
Banquet Songs and Wine Songs
The ceremonial song kinds of the Yugur divided by genre and function.
Sarimak and The Song of Going Out to Be Married
The western Yugur-language folk songs and wedding songs that bearers such as Du Xiulan and Du Xiuying can sing in full.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yugur folk songs circulate mainly in the Yugur areas of settlement of Minghua, Dahe, Kangle and Huangcheng townships of the Sunan Yugur autonomous county in Gansu and the Huangnibao area of Jiuquan, and extend with the pastoral production and life of the Yugur to the grassland pastures at the northern foot of the Qilian mountains.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
They are an important basis for the study of the folk songs of the ancient northern ethnic minorities, especially Turkic and Mongolian folk songs, and of the cultural history of the ancient northern pastoral peoples, and also the foundation for uncovering and developing the music of the northern minorities. At present Sunan county has sorted and published such books, discs and tapes as the Sunan Yugur autonomous county volume of the Chinese Ethnic Minority Folk Songs (124 pieces), Blessing the Grassland, the Yugur Homeland and The Fragrant Grassland. More than three hundred and ten items of Yugur folk-song material have been collected and sorted. In recent years the Yugur singers, who are the carriers of the folk songs, have grown fewer and fewer, and most folk songs have disappeared with the death of the singers, so saving and protection are urgently needed. (Associated bearer recorded in the official archive:) Du Xiulan, female, Yugur, born June 1943, a native of the Sunan Yugur autonomous county, Gansu. From 1949 she learned folk songs, folk tales, ballads and proverbs with her parents, and afterwards learned such wedding songs as The Song of Going Out to Be Married. She is thoroughly versed in the western Yugur language and has a rough knowledge of the eastern Yugur language; in her stories, folk songs and proverbs there are few Chinese loanwords, the whole being told and sung in Yugur, and she also preserves many Turkic words. She can sing in full such western folk songs, epics and folk tales as Sarimak, The Song of Going Out to Be Married and Laililamao, and sing such eastern folk songs as Bater Saihan, Hait (Dragon Head) Saihan, The Grey Colt, The Old White Horse, The Sandal Tree and The Black Stallion, and can explain the meanings of the archaic words in them. She is a representative bearer of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, Yugur folk songs, and has trained several bearers for the Yugur folk-song item. Du Xiuying, female, Yugur, born October 1940, whose Yugur name is Qumutaer, a native of the Sunan Yugur autonomous county, Gansu. From 1947 she learned the western Yugur-language folk song Sarimak with her parents, and afterwards learned the other eastern and western folk songs and such wedding songs as The Song of Going Out to Be Married. She can sing folk songs fluently in both the eastern and western Yugur languages, with a distinctive charm. She takes an active part in the various traditional folk activities, collects, sorts and studies Yugur history, culture and folk songs, and has recorded a great deal of raw folk-song material; her representative works include Sarimak and The Black Stallion. She is a representative bearer of the third batch of national-level intangible cultural heritage items, Yugur folk songs, and has trained several bearers for the Yugur folk-song item.
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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