Mongolian Folk Songs

01 · Historical Records

Ordos short-tune folk songs are current in Ordos city in the south-west of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; the formation of their style can be traced back to the Yuan dynasty.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Mongolian folk songs are rich in content, free in rhythm, delicate in feeling, high and resonant in melody, extended and winding, and leave a long lingering aftertaste. They fall into two kinds, the long-tune folk song and the short-tune folk song. Long-tune songs are generally sung in Mongolian; they are of great length, draw the breath out long and are deep in feeling, their use of the shake ornament is subtle and distinctive and their melodies far-ranging, and both melody and vocal style show the breadth and vigour of grassland folk song. Short-tune songs are current mainly in the half-farming, half-pastoral districts where Mongols and Han live in mixed settlement, are mostly sung in Chinese, are short in length, have an even rhythm and a fixed metre, readily use reduplicated syllables, and have simple lyrics and a free, flexible manner. Unlike long-tune songs, short-tune songs have a short and pithy structure, orderly phrasing, a lively rhythm, a cheerful and animated mood, a vivid musical image and a beautiful and agreeable tune, and they are strongly dance-like. Their melodies are built mostly on the pentatonic scale, but there are also works in which a hidden “shang” degree leaves four scale degrees to form the melody, such as Xie Bu Ren La Ma and Yinshan; there are also not a few six-note songs, such as Sen Ji De Ma, Shantou and Xizhao; and there are in addition seven-note songs, such as Bayin Hanggai. In songs built on six-note and seven-note scales, the two degrees “4” and “7” mostly appear in the melody in the form of passing notes. The modes of Ordos folk music are chiefly the yu mode, peculiar to Mongolian music, with other modes as well, and especially many in the gong and zhi modes. Gong-mode songs include The Golden Lark and Chang'e; shang-mode songs include The Lookout and Wuda Gaole; jue-mode songs include Mu Hai Tan and Ha Di Wen Duo Er; zhi-mode songs include Bayin Hanggai and My Wealthy Younger Brother. In addition, Ordos Mongolian music introduces into folk songs in the traditional five-note mode preludes and interludes in the seven-note mode, which gives it a style quite of its own. Ordos short-tune folk songs use rhymed two-line or four-line forms, with comparatively fixed metre. They are mostly sung improvisationally, accompanied by such instruments as the four-string fiddle, yangqin, flute, sanxian, zheng and morin khuur. The lyrics are simple but not stiff, and reduplicated syllables are widely used for their sound and rhyme.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Ordos short-tune folk songs are current in Ordos city in the south-west of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the formation of their style can be traced back to the Yuan dynasty. Unlike long-tune songs, short-tune songs have a short and pithy structure, orderly phrasing, a lively rhythm, a cheerful and animated mood, a vivid musical image and a beautiful and agreeable tune, and they are strongly dance-like; their melodies are built mostly on the pentatonic scale, there are also not a few six-note songs, and there are in addition seven-note songs, in which the two degrees “4” and “7” mostly appear as passing notes.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs · Mongolian Folk Songs.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Ordos short-tune folk songs record the social history, politics, economy and culture of the Mongolian people of the Ordos region; the national spirit and the ideology of the Ordos people are reflected in them, and they provide vivid first-hand material for research in ethnology, art studies and other disciplines. At present, with the rapid development of society, the original ecological singing style of Mongolian folk songs has changed very greatly and representative inheritors are steadily decreasing. In these circumstances Ordos short-tune folk songs have also fallen into a developmental predicament and are in danger of declining to extinction, so that protective measures are urgently needed. Haleizhen (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): female, Mongol, born in November 1950, a native of Otog Front Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. At the age of 34 she had mastered more than a hundred Ordos short-tune folk songs and the playing of six traditional instruments, and became an Ordos short-tune folk singer who sings while accompanying herself, recognised as such by the local people. Over the years she has recorded more than ten tapes, among them Ordos Folk Songs Sung in Chorus and others. She sings mainly in the middle register, with a timbre that is extended and bold and a colouring that is soft and delicate, full of lingering charm. Her representative pieces include the Ordos short-tune folk songs The Round Cap and The West of Otog. Representative inheritor of Mongolian folk songs (Ordos short-tune folk songs), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fourth national-level batch.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Haleizhen 04-1533
• Guribasier 05-2111
• Suyaletu 05-2112
• Hanmei 05-2113
• Guli 05-2114
• Aoyunbielige
• Houqinghe

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Mongolian Folk Songs (Eerduosi, Inner Mongolia) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Haleizhen · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗