Monba Sama Folk Songs
01 · Historical Records
Sama folk songs went through a long period from their origin to their formation.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
“Sama” is the Monpa word for folk song; it is also an important part of Monpa folk songs and a typical representative of Monpa folk art, and it is current mainly in Jiba Monpa Ethnic Township, Mama Monpa Ethnic Township, Le Monpa Ethnic Township, Gongri Monpa Ethnic Township and the Lebu Office of Cuona County, Shannan City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Cuona lies at the southern tip of the Tibet Autonomous Region, to the south-east of the Himalayas, and is one of Tibet's border counties. For thousands of years the Monpa people have created a splendid culture with their own labour and wisdom; they have placed their heroic achievements in changing the face of the earth, the fanciful thoughts that drift like spirit clouds, their ideals and aspirations, their happiness and suffering, into one poem after another, one story after another and one dance after another. Sama folk songs have accordingly become one of the important representatives of Monpa folk culture. According to legend Labure was the creator of Sama folk songs; all his life he brought people joy with his singing, and he became the god of song in Monpa legend. Tuibagali, building on the work of Labure, greatly enriched the content and the forms of Sama folk songs and made a positive contribution to their development. The celebrated poet Luosang Renqin Cangyang Gyatso was born in Cuona, was infected by Sama folk songs from childhood, and used the characteristics of Sama folk songs in his own compositions. Monpa opera, one of the eight great Tibetan operas, also absorbed a great deal of the musical elements of Sama folk songs and is performed in the Tibetan areas, where it is warmly welcomed. Sama folk songs have a wide range of subjects, rich content and many kinds, with a lively rhythm, flexible devices and strong expressive power; they are used above all at weddings, festivals, drinking parties and other festive and joyous occasions, and later gradually extended to collective productive labour, to long journeys and to other occasions. Distant artistic conception, ingenious conception, novel comparison, graceful expression and a plot that unfolds at length are the principal artistic characteristics of Sama folk songs. Its melodies are lively, clear and spirited, and are suited to expressing blessing, praise and prayer. The lyrics are mostly seven or nine characters to a line; the number of stanzas is not fixed, and they commonly employ devices of comparison, heightening and exaggeration, giving a vivid image, a strong power to move the listener and an easy resonance in the audience. Representative works include the Duet of Love Songs and the Song of the Gathering. Sama folk songs are the common lyrical folk songs of the Monpa people; they reflect the life aspirations and the aesthetic pursuit of the Monpa people and are an information bank of the ethnic history and culture.
Duet of Love Songs
Representative works include the Duet of Love Songs and the Song of the Gathering.
Song of the Gathering
Representative works include the Duet of Love Songs and the Song of the Gathering.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sama folk songs have three main schools, Mama, Jiba and Le, and are handed down from generation to generation mainly by family transmission.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present only a little more than twenty people are able to transmit the Monpa Sama folk songs in full, and rather more than fifty have mastered the folk songs well. Protecting this cultural heritage is of positive significance for studying the origins of the ethnic culture and for exploring the history of the eastern migration, for carrying forward ethnic music culture, for raising cultural confidence and for promoting cultural exchange.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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