Weiwuerdaolangmaixirefu
01 · Historical Records
The Dolan Mexrep has a long history; it is said to have originated in the native culture of the Western Regions and to have been deeply influenced by Islamic culture.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Maigaiti County lies in the southwestern part of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; this is a typical settlement area of the Uyghur people, and about 89 percent of the population are Dolan Uyghurs, who excel at singing and dancing. The Dolan Mexrep mainly depicts scenes of the Dolan Uyghur people hunting in the wild, celebrating the harvest, and living in joy, and it includes Dolan muqam singing, mass recreational dance, feasting, literary and artistic performance, and various games. Some experts believe that in the period when the ancestors of the Uyghurs were engaged in fishing, hunting, and animal husbandry, songs and dances that gave impromptu expression to lofty aspirations in open country, among the mountains, on the grasslands, and in the farmyards had already come into being. Over the long course of social and historical development, the Dolan Uyghurs continually enriched the Dolan Mexrep with material drawn from life, forming a distinctive Dolan culture. It has always preserved the strong primordial character of the native songs and dances of the Tarim region, and it remains an important component of the daily life of the Dolan Uyghurs.
Four settings of the festive gathering
Ritual and life-occasion festivals, farm work gatherings, social meetings and other customs make up four distinct types of performance.
The Dao Lang Muqam pieces
Dao Lang Muqam singing forms the musical backbone: one section sung, then danced, the voice and footwork sharing a single rhythm.
Dao Lang hand drum, rawap and qalun
Drumming, playing, singing and dancing work together: the hand drum sets the beat while rawap and qalun carry the tune.
Improvised song and dance in yards and fields
Keeping the raw character of Western Regions song and dance, performers improvise on the spot, filling the whole yard as the crowd grows.
Talipu Kuwan's line of pupils
Over three decades the inheritor trained close to fifty successors, some of whom now teach the art in vocational schools.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is not restricted by environmental conditions, time, or the number of participants; its procedures are strict, its types are numerous, and its content is rich and varied. According to its nature and function, it can be roughly divided into four types: festival and life-cycle ceremonies, agricultural and pastoral production, social activities, and other folk activities. The Dolan Mexrep is mainly transmitted among the Uyghur people of the Dolan region, centered on the area from the Yarkand River to the Tarim River basin on the northwestern edge of the Tarim Basin, with its transmission most widespread in Maigaiti County. Maigaiti is the place where the Dolan Mexrep is transmitted most widely. About 90 percent of the county's population are Dolan Uyghurs skilled in song and dance, and the Mexrep spreads along the village roads, farmyards, and bazaars of the oasis — held indoors around a raised platform in the courtyard, and equally at weddings and at the wheat harvest. It is not particular about the date, the number of people, or the venue: at the field's edge, under the trees, or in the farmyard, it can begin at any time; a few people start dancing, onlookers naturally close into a circle, and once one circle is in full swing the next group takes over. Here the transmission of craft relies on instruction from master to apprentice: Talipu Kuwan both performs and plays the Dolan hand drum, the Dolan rawap, and the kalun, and over more than thirty years he has trained nearly fifty successors, some of whom now teach the Dolan Mexrep in vocational schools.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Xinjiang Weiwuerzumaixirefu · Xinjiang Weiwuerzumaixirefu · Xinjiang Weiwuerzumaixirefu · Xinjiang Weiwuerzumaixirefu.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Because the movements of the Dolan Mexrep dance are endlessly varied and warm and unrestrained, with many participants and no restriction by time or place, it has become the main way of cultivating folk artists of the Dolan Mexrep and of cultivating the sentiments of the Dolan people. The Dolan Mexrep is an encyclopedia for studying the history, social life, and spiritual outlook of the Dolan Uyghurs; excavating, rescuing, and protecting the Dolan Mexrep will play a positive role in promoting the building of spiritual civilization in Xinjiang, enriching the cultural life of the people, raising their qualities, promoting the all-round development of the person, and building a harmonious socialist society. Talipu Kuwan (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Uyghur ethnicity, born in November 1949, from Maigaiti County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Multi-talented, he not only performs the Mexrep but also plays instruments indispensable to the Dolan Mexrep, such as the Dolan hand drum, the Dolan rawap, and the kalun; his skill at drumming, plucking, singing, and dancing is consummate, with a strong ethnic and local character, fully embodying the essence of the traditional culture of the Mexrep. Over more than thirty years of transmission he has trained nearly fifty successors; some of his disciples now teach the performance skills of the Dolan Mexrep in vocational schools, so that the skills of the Uyghur Dolan Mexrep have been passed on and continued. He is a representative inheritor of the Uyghur Dolan Mexrep, an item of national-level intangible cultural heritage of the fifth batch. He has been invited to take part in theatrical evenings of all kinds at the national and autonomous-region level, and has won many awards; he has considerable influence among his peers and among the general public.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Aili Yibulayin 04-1966
- Talipu Kuwan 05-2989
- Ailiyasi Gayiti 05-2990
- Kazimuhadeer
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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