Salar Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
The ancestors of the Salars migrated eastwards from Central Asia and settled around the Xunhua area, and their folk songs have been sung generation after generation in the villages of the Yellow River valley and between the Jishi mountains; yu'er is a long lyric poem sung in the Salar language and its music has a narrative and lyrical quality, while “hua'er” is generally sung in Chinese, though there are also hua'er sung in the Salar language or blended from Salar, Chinese and Tibetan.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Salar folk songs are a form of traditional musical expression current mainly in the Salar settlements of Xunhua Salar Autonomous County and Hualong Hui Autonomous County of Haidong City, Qinghai Province, and of Yining City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Jishi County of Gansu Province, and other places. Its principal area of diffusion is the corridor of the Yellow River north and south of the Xunhua-Jishi mountain range in eastern Qinghai Province, which is a strategic passage between Gansu and Qinghai: reaching east to the Yellow River valley road and the eastern end of the Jishi Gorge, west to Gongbo Gorge, and south to the upper reaches of Qingshuigou and Jiezigou. Yu'er is a long lyric poem sung in the Salar language, and its music has a narrative and lyrical quality. “Baxi Guliuliu” is said to be an original folk song of the Salar ancestors; it is a love song sung in the language of the ethnic group, which praises the beloved by means of metaphor and simile. “Alima” praises the differing dress of Salar, Mongol, Tibetan, Hui, Tu and other women, and so it circulates among many ethnic groups. “Agu Galaji” has long circulated and tells a tragic love story in the form of alternating singing between a man and a woman. There are also children's songs such as “Huobanmen Kuai Lai Wan”. The Salar people have also created many kinds of haozi that encourage labour and dispel fatigue; the better known are “Da Qiang Haozi”, “Fa Mu Haozi”, “Lianjia Haozi” and so on. Salar “hua'er” is generally sung in Chinese, but there are also hua'er sung in the Salar language and hua'er blended from Salar, Chinese and Tibetan. In the tunes and melodies of Salar “hua'er”, Turkic musical tunes and the Tibetan “la-yi” mode are ingeniously interwoven, with the addition of a certain amount of filler words, forming “lingci” and performing techniques different from those of other ethnic groups. Salar folk songs that circulate widely and have considerable influence also include “Yixi'erma Xiuer”, “Salar Saixibaga”, “Huangshang Awuni” and so on. Salar folk songs are generally pentatonic, and sometimes use the six-tone scale with the addition of altered tones such as the Qingjue; they have a strong individual character, and, being influenced by Tibetan folk song and by Islamic religious music among other things, they have formed an art style of melancholy and antiquity.
Baxi Guliuliu
It is said to be an original folk song of the Salar ancestors; it is a love song sung in the language of the ethnic group which praises the beloved by means of metaphor and simile.
Alima
It praises the differing dress of Salar, Mongol, Tibetan, Hui, Tu and other women, and so it circulates among many ethnic groups.
Agu Galaji
It has circulated for a long time and tells a tragic love story in the form of alternating singing between a man and a woman.
Widely known Salar songs
Salar folk songs that circulate widely and have considerable influence.
Salar hua-er tune names
The Salar hua'er tune names that the inheritor Han Yingde is skilled at; his singing has a distinctive Salar style.
Six genre categories
Salar folk songs fall into Salar yu'er (traditional love songs), lullabies, children's songs, work haozi, hua'er, ditties and so on; the better known work haozi are “Da Qiang Haozi”, “Fa Mu Haozi”, “Lianjia Haozi” and so on.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to their content and musical characteristics, Salar folk songs fall into Salar yu'er (traditional love songs), lullabies, children's songs, work haozi, hua'er, ditties and so on.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Salar folk songs give people encouragement and strength, vividly depict the traditional customs and folk tales of the Salar people, and embody their spiritual pursuits and aesthetic taste; they provide precious materials for the study of Salar history, folk custom, religion and society, they are a bond that maintains the feelings of the community and strengthens cultural identity, and they are a vivid testimony to cultural diversity and to the broad interaction, exchange and integration of many ethnic groups. Han Yingde (official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Salar, born in June 1967, a native of Xunhua Salar Autonomous County, Qinghai Province. At twelve he began to imitate Salar folk artists and sing Salar folk songs, and later, under the guidance of the masters Han Younusbao and Han Maocao, he learnt to sing such folk songs as “Baxi Guliuliu” and “Agu Galaji”; he is skilled at singing such Salar hua'er as the Salar zhi-ling, the Shuihonghua ling and the Balibajia ling, and his singing has a distinctive Salar style. In 2011 he recorded “Songs of the Salars”. He has also improvised new words for pieces such as “Crying at Marriage” and “Duxian Damuxian” and preserved them. Representative inheritor of Salar folk songs of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. He has taught the children's rhymes “The Tooth-Changing Song” and the “Scolding Song” to the members of the Salar children's art troupe, enabling them to sing Salar children's rhymes abroad. He is actively devoted to training successors.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Han Yingde 05-2175
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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