Naadam Festival
01 · Historical Records
The Haixi Mongol Nadam originated in the Jihai (lake-worshipping) rite of the twenty-nine Mongol banners at Qinghai Lake. The Jihai rite began in the tenth year of the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty (751), when the emperor conferred on the god of Qinghai Lake the title of Duke of the Expanses and sent envoys to offer ritual sacrifices. According to the Genghis Khan Stone Inscription, as early as 1225, after Genghis Khan's western campaign defeated the Khwarazmian realm, he held a grand Nadam gathering at the place called Buhasuqihai.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Nadam is a traditional mass festival of the Mongolian people, and the Nadam of the Haixi Mongols in Qinghai Province is held in rotation among Delingha City, Ulan City, Dulan City, Golmud City, Da Qaidam, Mangya, and other areas of the Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Nadam of the Xinjiang Mongols is a traditional festival of the local Mongolian people, popular mainly in Hejing County, Bohu County, and Heshuo County of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County of the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, and some counties (and cities) of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. The Xinjiang Mongol Nadam is held each year on June 23 of the Gregorian calendar and lasts one to three days. The traditional program of the gathering includes folk dance performances, Mongolian long-tune singing, Jangar epic chanting, folk instrumental playing, handicraft displays, ethnic costume performances, and wrestling. As society has developed, the forms and contents of Nadam have been continually enriched; besides the three traditional contests of horse racing, archery, and wrestling, it has added goat-grabbing, ethnic costume performances, Jangar singing, bonfire evenings, theatrical performances, and handicraft fairs and sales.
The fair around the twenty-third of June
The Xinjiang fair opens on the twenty-third of June and lasts one to three days, with herding households bringing tents, horses and cooking gear.
Local customs around Hejing, Bohu and Huoshuo
The fairs of Hejing, Bohu and Huoshuo anchor the Bayingolin season, each with its own riding skill and singing style.
Goat grabbing and Jangar narration
Goat grabbing tests horsemanship at full gallop while Jangar narration tests storytelling, one for strength and one for words.
Costume display and handicraft stalls
Costume displays put the finest robes, saddles and silver side by side, while stalls sell felt, leather and embroidery on the fair's edge.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Nadam of the Bayingolin area is not run as a system separate from that of Haixi, but is a local version of the same grassland practice transplanted to the Tarim Basin. Its area of popularity is concentrated in Hejing County, Bohu County, and Heshuo County of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture; extending west it reaches Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County of the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, and farther west some counties and cities of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. In each locality the festival is held around June 23 of the Gregorian calendar, spread over one to three days, coinciding with the hottest period on the grassland, and horse racing, wrestling, and archery are all scheduled in the half-day after the sun has begun to sink. This region is where Han agricultural lands and grasslands interlock across Xinjiang; the contestants are mostly herders of various ethnic groups competing on the same field, so costume performances and vendors' fairs therefore carry more weight on the festival grounds than on the grasslands of the interior.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Naadam Festival · Naadam Festival.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In Xinjiang, the meshrep and the Nadam are often held on the same day and in the same venue: one is for dancing, the other for contests, and the spectators sit beneath the same tents. Events added in recent years, such as Jangar chanting, goat-grabbing, bonfire evenings, and handicraft fairs, have moved the grassland's etiquette of receiving guests into the daylight hours. Their use lies not only in liveliness: costume performances put each family's tailoring skill on display for comparison, and the fairs turn herders' pelts and handiwork directly into cash, so the festival serves at once as an appraisal of craft and as a market.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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