Mongolian Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
Gorlos Mongol folk songs are folk songs composed by Mongol folk artists of successive generations out of real people and real events; they arose and are current in Gorlos Mongol Autonomous County, Jilin Province, and most of them were formed between the early twentieth century and the 1940s.
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. Gorlos Mongol folk songs can be sung without accompaniment or with instrumental accompaniment, the accompanying instruments commonly used being the morin khuur, the four-string fiddle and the Mongol zheng. In performance the singer may both sing and play, or may perform together with a number of accompanying musicians. Gorlos Mongol folk songs take varied forms, chiefly including nilin dao (feast and banquet songs of praise) such as Taoketaohu, The Song of Genghis Khan and In Praise of the Horse; yinaga dao (love songs) such as Longmei, Miss Gao and Sister Jin; Surgalin dao (songs of admonition) such as Father Khan's Yoke, A Mother's Instruction to Her Son and Echen Khatun; gaomu daling dao (songs of resentment) such as Jiangmei, the Second Girl and Ao Si'er Ma; haori mindao (wedding songs) such as the Sha'entu Banquet Song, Jinliang and The Parents' Heart; huhu te yin dao (children's songs) such as Bolulai and The Song of the Twelve Animals; taihailin dao (sacrificial songs) such as Segunai Du and The Spirits of the Ten Directions; together with bo dao (Mongolian shamanic songs) and andai dao (andai songs). In general there are many short tunes and very few long tunes in Gorlos Mongol folk song. In nearly a century of development, Gorlos Mongol folk songs have spread widely among the people.
Taoketaohu
Altogether 128 Gorlos Mongol folk songs have now been collected, and among them are representative works such as Taoketaohu and Longmei.
Longmei
Altogether 128 Gorlos Mongol folk songs have now been collected, and among them are representative works such as Taoketaohu and Longmei.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to the occasion of performance, Gorlos Mongol folk songs may be divided into tulin dao and yulin dao: tulin dao are the principal songs sung on formal and solemn occasions, while yulin dao are the subsidiary songs sung outside formal occasions. According to their musical features they may again be divided into uritu dao and baoguyin dao: uritu dao are long-tune folk songs and baoguyin dao are short-tune folk songs. Long-tune songs have a free rhythm and deep feeling, with the broad and hearty artistic character of the long tune; short-tune songs have an even rhythm and a relatively narrower range, with the improvised and flexible artistic character of the short tune. Gorlos Mongol folk songs are a surviving remnant of the ancient folk culture of Gorlos and embody the national spirit of the local Mongols, so that they have important historical and cultural value.
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
Altogether 128 Gorlos Mongol folk songs have now been collected, and among them are representative works such as Taoketaohu and Longmei. In recent decades, as society has changed, the space in which Gorlos Mongol folk songs survive has continually contracted, inheritors have grown ever fewer, and many pieces are in danger of being lost, so that rescue, protection, excavation and sorting out cannot wait.
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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