Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu
01 · Historical Records
It is said that as early as the Tang dynasty the Kyrgyz people offered the kumuz as tribute to the Tang court. The epic Manas, sung to the accompaniment of the kumuz, records in artistic form the history of the evolution and development of the Kyrgyz people, and has become an extremely important first-hand source for the study of the Kyrgyz nation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The kumuz is an ancient plucked string instrument peculiar to the Kyrgyz people, current mainly in the Kyrgyz settlements of Wuqia, Aheqi and Aketao counties in Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. “Kumuz” is a Kyrgyz word meaning “a beautiful musical instrument”. The kumuz has a very long history, and as early as ancient times there was the saying that “a piece in which no kumuz takes part in the ensemble is not a Kyrgyz piece”. This shows the place it occupies in Kyrgyz music. The kumuz is a three-stringed plucked instrument built entirely of wood, about one metre long, its sound box somewhat flattened and shaped like a pear, with a long slender neck fitted on top. In ancient times sheep gut was used for the strings; in modern times silk strings replaced them, and the pegs are set side by side on one side. The tones it produces have the artistic character of being harmonious and rich, its styles are many and varied, and it can produce a variety of variants. Representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal). The kumuz expresses the joys, sorrows, anger and grief of the Kyrgyz people in its own distinctive way, and in the course of long development gradually became the representative instrument of the Kyrgyz nation and then a symbol of the Kyrgyz people. The kumuz is both the most widely used and most completely transmitted instrument of the Kyrgyz nation and a traditional instrument and musical practice shared by the Kyrgyz of China and the Kyrgyz people of the Kyrgyz Republic; it plays an active part in the transmission and development of Kyrgyz culture and in exchange and cooperation between the two countries in politics, economics and culture.
Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale)
One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal).
Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree)
One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal).
Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal)
One of the representative works of Kyrgyz kumuz art; the representative works include Ye Ying Qu (The Nightingale), Song Shu Shang de Zhuomuniao (The Woodpecker on the Pine Tree) and Zao Liu Ma Ju (The Bay Foal).
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to performing form, kumuz music is divided into solo, duet, two-part ensemble, ensemble and accompaniment; according to the content and manner of presentation it is further divided into set-piece playing, improvisatory playing and narrative singing with playing.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Kyrgyz Kumuziyishu.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years many old kumuz masters have died of illness one after another and the art lacks transmitters, so that some of the variant playing techniques peculiar to the kumuz have been lost and can neither be regenerated nor made up. So that this excellent folk art may continue to exist and develop, it is necessary to take protective measures in earnest and to launch rescue work without delay. Adilbeke Kader (as recorded in the official dossier of an associated inheritor): male, Kyrgyz, born in July 1962, a native of Wuqia county, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Clever and eager to learn from childhood, and especially interested in music, he began to study the traditional Kyrgyz instrument, the kumuz, at the age of twelve; he can play seventeen kumuz techniques and has composed works such as Kuba Chi and Jie En Xi. He has also devoted himself actively to publicising kumuz art, taking part in the various local kumuz performances and promoting and spreading the art. Representative inheritor of Kyrgyz kumuz art in the third national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. While his own technique continued to improve he also trained young people to carry on kumuz art, and has brought up more than twenty inheritors, enlarging the ranks of those who transmit the art. In 2012 he was named an excellent inheritor at the autonomous region level.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Adilibieke Kadeer 03-0888
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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