Kazakh Kubuzi
01 · Historical Records
Scholars differ over the origin of the kobyz; the majority hold that both its creator and its transmitter was the sage Korkut. Others maintain, however, that the making of the Kazakh kobyz can be traced back to the eve of the Common Era to about the 3rd century CE, far earlier than the 7th to 8th centuries in which the sage Korkut lived.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The kobyz is an ancient bowed string instrument of the Kazakhs; the body is wooden and consists of a neck, pegs, a bow and a sound box. The kobyz is transmitted mainly among the Kazakh populations within the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Barkol Kazak Autonomous County. The Kazakh kobyz project comprises three parts: the craft of making a kobyz, the art of playing the kobyz, and kobyz pieces. In ancient times the kobyz was mostly used by the Kazakh bakhshi (shamans) in their ritual performances, and was transmitted chiefly through oral teaching from master to apprentice. The kobyz is played with the bow in the right hand, while the left hand sounds the strings with the nail roots of the index, middle and ring fingers; its playing techniques are flexible and varied, including left-hand skills such as vibrato pressing, trill, harmonics, double stops, slides and struck notes, as well as bow skills such as bowed notes, jumped notes and pizzicato, which make kobyz pieces melodious, moving and rich in content. The many different playing techniques make the rhythm of kobyz pieces very rich. Various simple metres, compound metres and mixed metres are common in kobyz pieces. Some pieces drive their development through combined changes of several metres and rhythms, creating a strong artistic effect, and the augmented metres that appear from time to time give the pieces an additional distinctive flavour. Common modes in kobyz pieces include the Do and Sol modes, which have the characteristics of major modes, and the La and Re modes, which have the characteristics of minor modes. Modulation and modal shifting are also important means of driving the development of a piece and of producing artistic expressiveness.
Kobyz making craft
The Kazakh kobyz project comprises three parts: the craft of making a kobyz, the art of playing the kobyz, and kobyz pieces; the body of the instrument is wooden and consists of a neck, pegs, a bow and a sound box.
Kobyz playing technique
The bow is held in the right hand and the strings are sounded by the left hand with the nail roots of the index, middle and ring fingers; there are left-hand skills such as vibrato pressing, trill, harmonics, double stops, slides and struck notes, as well as bow skills such as bowed notes, jumped notes and pizzicato.
Silegem
One of the representative pieces of the bearer of Kazakh kobyz tradition; it has been broadcast by China National Radio and the Xinjiang People's Broadcasting Station.
The Hunter's Sorrow
One of the representative pieces of the bearer of Kazakh kobyz tradition.
Baihaba
One of the representative pieces of the bearer of Kazakh kobyz tradition.
Ancient shamanic use
In ancient times the kobyz was mostly used by the Kazakh bakhshi (shamans) in their ritual performances, and was transmitted chiefly through oral teaching from master to apprentice.
Common modes
Common modes in kobyz pieces include the Do and Sol modes, which have the characteristics of major modes, and the La and Re modes, which have the characteristics of minor modes; modulation and modal shifting are also important means of driving the development of a piece and of producing artistic expressiveness.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
It is also distributed in countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia and Mongolia.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Shayiraxi Jarmuhameti (official archival record of the associated inheritor): male, Kazakh, born in March 1956, native of Qinghe County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. As a small child he learned to play the kobyz solo from his uncle. In 1993 he entered the Xinjiang Ili Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe for professional training. He not only inherited and mastered the traditional art of playing the kobyz, but also the craft of making the kobyz and of other instruments of the Kazakh nationality. His representative works include Silegem, The Hunter's Sorrow and Baihaba; these have been broadcast by China National Radio and the Xinjiang People's Broadcasting Station and have received high praise from listeners. He has been devoted throughout to kobyz performance, the collection of materials and the training of successors. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the Kazakh kobyz intangible cultural heritage project. The ninth-generation inheritor of the Kazakh kobyz. He takes an active part in all kinds of performance activities and has won awards many times. He has founded a society and voluntarily teaches the art of playing the kobyz in local schools, training many successors of the kobyz.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Shayilaxi Jiaermuhamaiti 05-2170
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。