Sawuerdeng
01 · Historical Records
Of the twelve basic movements of Sawurden current among the people, some derive from roping horses and rolling felt, some portray women looking in a mirror, painting their brows and plaiting their hair, and others imitate a horse's stride, a soaring eagle and the movements of other birds. From the early 1980s, Sawurden was commonly performed in the slack time after herding work, at family gatherings, and at major festive occasions such as the Nadam, weddings and hair-cutting ceremonies; today Sawurden has become one of the main square-dance forms used by the broad masses for leisure, entertainment and physical fitness.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Ejin Banner lies on China's border and is the largest banner by area in Inner Mongolia; its residents are mainly Torghut Mongols. Sawurden has no fixed venue, and the number, sex and age of the participants are all unrestricted; it is one of the foremost leisure and entertainment activities of the Torghut Mongols. Unlike other dances, it imposes no particular requirement on the fusion of rhythm, beat and melody with movement, or on their uniformity; performers may freely combine and improvise according to the dance routines and skills each has mastered. Sawurden takes many forms of expression, including solo dance, duet dance, group dance and lead-dance, and the formation may change freely. In performance the lower limbs often combine crouching and stamping, sidestepping and dragging steps, while the upper limbs combine the elastic pressing, pushing and pulling of wrists, shoulders and arms; the waist acts as the axis, the body bends forward and back with the shoulders pushed and the elbows propped, and both knees flex, extend and tremble with constant elasticity, so that the dancing is powerful, the springing agile, the feet slow and the hands quick, with a vivid dynamic quality in which the accented beats fall downward. Sawurden is commonly accompanied on the spot by one or more tobshuur players; the melody is plain and cheerful, and the rhythm is distinct, weighty and varied. For more than three hundred years this item has been widely transmitted in Ejin.
Arabjur and the Torghut migration
In 1698 the Torghut leader Arabjur led his people from the Volga to the Ejin river, forming the Ejin Torghut branch and bringing this dance with them.
Twelve basic movements
The twelve inherited movements derive from lassoing and felt-rolling, from women's mirroring and braiding, and from the gait of horses and the flight of eagles.
Crouching steps and quick hands
Legs crouch, shift and drag while wrists and shoulders press and pull, the waist as axis, knees springing, feet slow and hands quick on the downbeat.
The Ejin association
The banner counts two regional, three league and eighteen banner-level transmitters and an association of one hundred and five members active in research and teaching.
Naadam and the hair-cutting feast
In the early 1980s it was danced after herding and at clan gatherings, Naadam, weddings and first-haircut feasts; today it is also a square dance for health.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Sawurden is an amateur folk dance handed down generation by generation among the Torghut branch, one of the four branches of the Oirat Mongols, and is an artistic form integrating singing, music and dance. It is transmitted mainly in Ejin Banner of Alxa League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and is also found in Bohu County of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang. In 1698 Alabuzur, leader of the Torghut tribe, led his people from the Volga River basin to the Ejin River basin, forming the Ejin Torghut branch there and bringing the art of Sawurden with them. Mongolian Sawurden is the crystallized wisdom of the long-term pastoral production, life and artistic practice of the Torghut people; it is a component of Mongolian nomadic culture, marked by distinct ethnic and regional character, enjoying a broad popular base and possessing high historical, cultural and artistic value. It plays a positive role in promoting ethnic unity, strengthening cultural confidence and advancing social harmony.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Sawuerdeng · Sawuerdeng.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present the project has two district-level representative inheritors, three league-level and eighteen banner-level ones, and the Ejin Banner Mongolian Sawurden Association has 105 members. With support from the government, the inheritors actively carry out research, training, and work in schools and in communities, playing an irreplaceable role in protecting and transmitting this project.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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