Tibetan Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The chanting of scriptures, also called the “six-syllable mantra song”, is a type of song sung by Buddhist believers when worshipping the Buddha and the bodhisattvas in a monastery.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
In the U-Tsang region mountain songs are called “lalu”, in the Kham region “lu” and in the Amdo region “le”; they are songs sung freely in the mountains and fields. Labour songs are called “le xie” in Tibetan, and there are very many kinds of them, since almost every type of labour has its own particular song. Love songs include songs of affection and love-tea songs, while custom songs include drinking songs, guessing-and-matching songs, wedding songs, archery songs, farewell songs and the like. Xifan Mada Mi mountain songs are a form of Tibetan folk song with a character of their own; they arise and are circulated in Zi'er Township, Kuiduo Township, Yandai Township and other places in the Dahebian area of Jiulong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The Xifan are a branch of the Tibetan people; in Sichuan only a few exist, in Jiulong County, Mianning County and Muli County. Mada Mi mountain songs took shape and developed in the long production and labour of the Xifan people; they already have a history of more than a thousand years. Mada Mi mountain songs were originally lyrical songs, and later gradually developed labour tamping songs, mourning songs, wedding songs and the like. Lyrical mountain songs express feelings directly, voicing a deep love for the homeland and fine expectations; labour tamping songs are used chiefly to relieve the fatigue of work and regulate the mood, and are often sung during production and labour, with men and women in separate lines, one singing and one responding, making a very lively scene; mourning songs have a certain ritual character, and when an old person or other elder of the village dies, those who come to pay their respects often sing mourning songs to express grief; wedding songs are sung during the wedding ceremony, and when the bride's side sees the groom off and the groom's side receives the bride, both sides invite several much-respected old women of the village to sit in rows and sing in antiphonal duets, pushing the festive and lively atmosphere of the wedding to its climax. Six Mada Mi mountain song tunes have been discovered so far, including the wedding songs Ga Er Hong, Suo Mi A Wu and Mi La Zhuo Zhuo, and the mourning songs Cuo Huo Chi, Cuo Jia and Shi Jia. Each Xifan Mada Mi mountain song has four lines of text and is mainly lyrical; nearly all begin and end with the interjection “ma-da-mi-ai”, and combine a leader with solo singing. The music is mostly in three-part form and the melody is deep and melancholy; because the modal range rises and falls greatly, singers of other nationalities find it hard to imitate.
Lyric mountain songs
The original type of Mada Mi mountain songs, expressing feelings directly and voicing a deep love for the homeland and fine expectations.
Labor tamping songs
Used chiefly to relieve the fatigue of work and regulate the mood, often sung during production and labour, with men and women in separate lines, one singing and one responding, making a very lively scene.
Mourning songs
They have a certain ritual character; when an old person or other elder of the village dies, those who come to pay their respects often sing mourning songs to express grief.
Wedding songs
Sung during the wedding ceremony; when the bride's side sees the groom off and the groom's side receives the bride, both sides invite several much-respected old women of the village to sit in rows and sing in antiphonal duets, pushing the festive and lively atmosphere of the wedding to its climax.
Ga Er Hong
One of the six Mada Mi mountain song tunes discovered so far.
Suo Mi A Wu
One of the six Mada Mi mountain song tunes discovered so far.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Tibetan folk songs are the principal form of folk music in Tibetan areas, and can be divided into mountain songs (pastoral songs), labour songs, love songs, custom songs, scripture-chanting tunes and other types. Xifan Mada Mi mountain songs are a form of Tibetan folk song with a character of their own, arising and circulated in Zi'er Township, Kuiduo Township, Yandai Township and other places in the Dahebian area of Jiulong County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The Xifan are a branch of the Tibetan people; in Sichuan only a few exist, in Jiulong County, Mianning County and Muli County. Mada Mi mountain songs took shape and developed in the long production and labour of the Xifan people and have a history of more than a thousand years; they were originally lyrical songs, and later gradually developed labour tamping songs, mourning songs, wedding songs and the like.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs · Tibetan Folk Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Mada Mi mountain songs carry the customs and ways of life of the Xifan Tibetan area and vividly embody the spiritual outlook of the Xifan people, so they have fairly high research value in folklore and ethnology. At present the relatively closed farming production and way of life of the Xifan Tibetan area are changing rapidly, the survival of Mada Mi mountain songs faces a crisis, and emergency rescue and protection are urgently needed.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Ma Jianjun 03-0871
- Hua Ergong 03-0872
- Dawazhandou 03-0873
- Jiangbaqizha 05-2122
- Wudefen 05-2123
- Majinlian
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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