Manas
01 · Historical Records
According to documentary records the Manas began to circulate in the sixteenth century and has been handed down by word of mouth for a thousand years. The general survey of the Manas began in the 1960s, in the course of which many singers of the Manas were discovered and various variant texts recorded. Since the 1960s the Kirghiz text of the eight parts of the Manas sung by Jusup Mamay, two hundred and thirty thousand lines in eighteen volumes, has been recorded, collated and published.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Manas is the heroic epic of the Kirghiz, describing the deeds of the hero Manas and his descendants of seven generations, who one after another led the Kirghiz people in struggle against foreign invaders and all kinds of evil forces. The Manas embodies the tenacious and unyielding national character of the Kirghiz and their national spirit of unity and enterprise. It circulates mainly in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in southern Xinjiang and the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang. The Manas is regarded as the soul of the Kirghiz nation, embodying its spiritual strength. Drawing nourishment from the ancient Kirghiz epics and the rich Kirghiz folk literature, it embraces ancient Kirghiz myth and legend, custom songs, folk narrative poems and folk proverbs, gathering the essence of Kirghiz folk literature, and is an encyclopaedia of Kirghiz folk culture with value for many disciplines—literature, history, language and folklore.
The Ili Variant of the Manas
A variant of the Manas sung by epic singers of the Ili region.
Traditional Passages of Semetei
Traditional sung passages of the second part of the Manas.
Manaschi (Epic Singers)
Folk epic singers play an important role in the creation and transmission of the epic.
The Version Sung by Jusup Mamay
The Kirghiz text of the eight parts of the Manas.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Besides this, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in Central Asia are also important areas of the Manas's circulation, and it also circulates in northern Afghanistan.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Manas.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Folk singers play an important role in the creation and transmission of the epic. There are now translations in English, Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Japanese, Kazakh and other languages. With the acceleration of modernisation the transmission of the Manas faces a crisis: several important epic singers have died one after another and the famous singers still living are already past seventy, so that the situation of the epic's transmission is grave. The work of salvaging and protecting the Manas therefore brooks no delay.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jusufu Mamayi 01-0019
- Shaertahong Kadeer 01-0020
- Maimaitiali Alamati 03-0787
- Wurouzi Kadier 05-1995
- Shuolebaixi Sikaka 05-1996
- Jiangnurituriganbayi
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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