Mongolian Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
Ordos gurug has a very long history; songs such as The Two Steeds of the Holy Ruler, which represent it, mostly arose in the Yuan dynasty and are steeped in the atmosphere of Mongolian life. As for the gurug The Panchen Monastery, since the monastery itself was first built in the late Qing dynasty, it may be inferred that the song arose after the nineteenth century, a full six centuries later than The Two Steeds of the Holy Ruler.
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. Ordos gurug is the oldest form of the Mongolian long tune and belongs to the ancient repertory of court songs. Ordos gurug songs are sung mostly at court or on the occasion of state banquets; their themes are serious, their content orthodox and their manner chiefly didactic. Their content is mostly songs of current affairs, of parents, of the homeland and of steeds, while part of them sing in praise of love. There are rules governing the chanting and the singing of Ordos gurug; it is generally performed at grand and solemn ceremonies, and may not be casually hummed about in ordinary life. In performance three songs are sung as one group, called the “three-branch song” or the “three principal songs”. The music of Ordos gurug is full of a desolate, ethereal and tragic beauty; its melodies are slow without dragging and leisurely without lagging, its rhythm is half hidden and half revealed, its melodic movement leaps and falls in great sweeps, and natural resonance and natural harmony are interwoven throughout.
Wugan Hantai
It is neither the Mongolian long tune nor the Mongolian short tune, but an original ecological song sung in several parts by the herding people; its representative works include Wugan Hantai and The Thirty-Two Mongolian Chessmen.
The Thirty-Two Mongolian Chessmen
It is neither the Mongolian long tune nor the Mongolian short tune, but an original ecological song sung in several parts by the herding people; its representative works include Wugan Hantai and The Thirty-Two Mongolian Chessmen.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is current in the riverside district of Hanggin Banner in Ordos city, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, mainly in Duguitala town and Jirigalongtu town; parts of it are also current in Liangwai, formerly Bayinengge sumu, near the riverside area. It is neither the Mongolian long tune nor the Mongolian short tune, but an original ecological song sung in several parts by the herding people; its representative works include Wugan Hantai and The Thirty-Two Mongolian Chessmen.
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
As a distinctive form of expression of Mongolian classical music and a vivid testament to the transmission of ancient Mongolian civilisation, Ordos gurug is of irreplaceable importance in the study of the early development of the Mongolian people. Besides this, it can also supply material for research in musicology, linguistics, anthropology, folklore and related fields. At present only seventy or eighty Ordos gurug songs survive and very few people can sing them; the danger of extinction draws nearer every day, and effective measures are urgently needed for their protection. Guribasier (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Mongol, born in January 1947, a native of Hanggin Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Influenced from childhood by his maternal grandfather and his mother, he took a keen interest in Ordos gurug, systematically inherited its singing techniques and traditional repertory, and from 1979 began to collect, sort out and study gurug. In 1980 he compiled and printed the mimeographed Folk Songs of Hanggin Banner, in which more than thirty Ordos gurug songs were recorded. In 2008 the book Ordos Gurug was formally published and issued. Representative inheritor of Mongolian folk songs (Ordos gurug), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national-level batch. He has taken part in many cultural performances and won prizes.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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