Uyghur Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
In the mid-eighteenth century the central Qing government, in order to consolidate the northwestern frontier, specifically moved Uyghur ancestors from various parts of southern Xinjiang there to engage in garrison farming.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Uyghur folk songs of Ili arose and circulate in Yining City, Yining County, Huocheng County and Gongliu County of the Ili River valley of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as well as in surrounding places such as Usu, Tacheng, Altay and eastern Xinjiang; they are a main constituent part of Uyghur folk songs. They brought folk music in the different styles of their various homelands, and, combined with local tunes of Ili and its surroundings, gradually formed Uyghur folk songs with distinctive Ily characteristics. Uyghur folk songs of Ili are rooted in the fertile soil of the traditional culture of their own people. Accompanied by the production and life history of the Uyghur people as they opened up Ili, they formed a system of folk songs rich in content, varied in mode and distinct in character. For a considerably long historical period the Uyghurs of Ili were called 'Taranchi people', meaning farmers or cultivators. Academic circles at home and abroad therefore also call Uyghur folk songs of Ili 'Ili Taranchi folk songs'. Uyghur folk songs of Ili are formed by the gathering together of a large quantity of traditional folk songs and newly composed ones. Among them the core is a body of twelve sets of close to a hundred traditional folk songs called 'Kona Naksha', meaning classical songs. They follow the musical form of the Ili Muqam, joining several songs and pieces of similar style, and at the same time use a vocal suite form in which folk songs are linked one to another; they are often performed at the Meshrep folk gatherings of Ili. Uyghur folk songs of Ili include linked singing, unison singing and antiphonal singing; accompanying instruments include traditional instruments such as the tanbuer, the dutar, the rewaf and the dap drum, and in modern times Western instruments such as the violin and the accordion have also been introduced.
Kona Naksha classical songs
The twelve sets of close to a hundred traditional folk songs within Uyghur folk songs of Ili are their core constituent part; they follow the musical form of the Ili Muqam, joining several songs and pieces of similar style, and use the vocal suite technique of linking folk songs one to another.
Suite singing at Meshrep
'Kona Naksha' is often performed at the Meshrep folk gatherings of Ili, with a fixed order of linking and of performance.
Accompaniment instrumentation
The accompanying instruments include traditional instruments such as the tanbuer, the dutar, the rewaf and the dap drum, and in modern times Western instruments such as the violin and the accordion have been introduced; the performing forms include linked singing, unison singing and antiphonal singing.
Taranchi folk songs alias
For a considerably long historical period the Uyghurs of Ili were called 'Taranchi people', meaning farmers or cultivators, so academic circles at home and abroad also call Uyghur folk songs of Ili 'Ili Taranchi folk songs'.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Uyghur folk songs of Ili are the artistic expression of the spirit, character, ideas and aesthetic taste of the Uyghur people of Ili; they are the wise crystallization of the local Uyghur people's knowledge of nature, society and experience, an encyclopedia of production and life, and in transmitting and disseminating the history and culture of the Uyghur people of Ili and in promoting social harmony they play a role that cannot be underestimated.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Uyghur Folk Songs · Uyghur Folk Songs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Their content is closely tied to real life; besides extolling love, showing the value of labour and creation and portraying the wisdom and kindness of people, it also carries themes such as love of home and the pursuit of freedom and equality, and at the same time condemns bad habits such as ignorance, incompetence and greed. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China Uyghur folk songs of Ili circulated only in musical notation without written records, and were transmitted mainly by master and apprentice or within families. After 1949 the government and all sectors of society carried out a series of collecting, sorting and publishing work on Uyghur folk songs of Ili. Abuduali Dawuti (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Uyghur nationality, born in July 1953, a native of Yining City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Beginning in 1992 he took part many times in cultural evenings and competitions held by the autonomous region, Ili Prefecture and Yining City, and was warmly received by audiences of all ethnic groups. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item Uyghur folk songs. He has already trained a number of students, including Salamu Dawuti, Ani Dawuti, Yalimaimaiti Dawuti and Taxidawuti.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Tudi Niyazi 05-2124
- Abudouwali Dawuti 05-2125
- Hailiqiemu Tiemuer 05-2126
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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