Cultural Diversity and Identity of Ethnic Groups in West China and Beyond:
Reports on Oral Traditions along the Silk Road
(A Project Co-Sponsored by UNESCO & BIC of CASS)
Editor-in-Chief: Chao Gejin
A Brief English Introduction to the Present Project
Co-Sponsored by UNESCO & BIC of CASS
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From the hinterlands of the north, to the lush jungles in the south, from the coastal areas along Taiwan Strait in the east, to the top of the world in the west, China serves as home to 56 official ethnic groups. The largest group, the Han, make up over 91.59% of China’s vast population (the 5th census, 2002), and it is the elements of Han civilization that world considers “Chinese culture.” Yet, the 55 ethnic minorities, nestled away on China’s vast frontiers, maintain their own rich traditions and languages, and all are parts of multiple cultures in China.
Founded in 1979 by the approval of the State Council of P.R. China and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Institute of Ethnic Literature (IEL) is the national research center for the studies of ethnic traditional literature in China. In addition to Ethnic Literature as its main characteristics, IEL gives first priority to ethnic oral traditions and verbal arts.
IEL is a community of scholars, teachers, graduate students, and staff dedicating to understanding the process of ethnic literature across indigenous languages and cultures. The research spectrum of IEL includes: 1] the ancient and contemporary ethnic groups’ literature, written and oral, past and present; 2] theoretical concerns on issues of literary evolution; 3] literary relations among various ethnic groups with comparative approaches; 4] expressive cultures in combination with verbal arts of ethnic groups; 5] literary criticism, oral poetics and ethnopoetics; and 6] collecting, recording, transcribing, archiving, and publishing written/oral texts.
Since its establishment, IEL has run the gamut from the familiar genre of ethnic traditional literature to specific forms emerging in native regions and local communities. The study of ethnic oral traditions definitely qualifies as a top priority in IEL’s agenda. So far IEL scholars have devoted their fieldworks and researches in exploring into the living oral traditions in China, a country where, besides an abundance of epics, also possesses a profound tradition of diverse oral genres. By a meticulous evaluation of the endangered verbal arts in the circumstances when China entered into "The Western Development” in context of intercultural communications and overwhelming globalization, IEL has carried out a series of key projects to protect and preserve the oral and intangible heritage. As a result of a great deal of fieldwork and archiving studies, IEL has made an important contribution to promote the scholarship of epics, myths, verbal dueling, singing competitions, ballads, stories, folktales, and so forth; at the same time, our scholars who mostly come from ethnic groups and partly the Han have done a good job on studies for traditional inheritors such as singers, storytellers, ritualists, performers, and audience from a folkloristic perspective of protecting cultural ecology in their own native lands.
Noting the far-reaching influence of the activities of UNESCO in safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage, in particular the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore (1989), Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001), The Istanbul Declaration (2002), in August of 2002, we submitted two proposals to UNESCO Beijing Office to explore international cooperation in studies of ethnic oral traditions in west China. The first proposal aimed at organizing an international symposium to bring scholars together with local epic singers and storytellers comparing oral traditions, creating dialogues, and discussing certain critical issues on the common ground of seeking for various ways of preserving endangered ethnic verbal art. The second proposal was set forth for a 3-year-project, including field study and archiving research, which would span Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Tibet, and extend to Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan. Ethnic groups and communities in west China such as Kazak, Kirgiz, Uyghur, Salar, Tu, Yugur, Tibetan, Mongolian, Yi, Nakhi, Dai, Hani, Lahu, Dong, and Miao would be beneficial more culturally from this project. Since then we have built up a mutual understanding and been sharing common interests with UNESCO Beijing Office.
In order to respond to the emergency of the disappearance of the oral and intangible cultural heritage of China, as the first professional enterprise, the Oral Traditions Research Center (OTRC) has been established at Institute of Ethnic Literature (IEL) of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) on September 16th in Beijing. Mr. Edmond Moukala, the program specialist for culture of UNESCO Office Beijing, delivered his congratulating speech at the opening ceremony, "China has a rich cultural heritage, which is not only the pride of the Chinese people, but also an invaluable treasure for the whole world. The preservation of Chinese oral and intangible heritage (including ethnic oral tradition) is strategic to the development of a global culture. The establishment of Oral Traditions Research Center at the Institute of Ethnic Literature of CASS, marks a new step in the study and preservation of ethnic oral tradition in China, which is under increased pressure from rapid economic and social transition. We are confident that the Research Center will not only act as a guard for China‘s past 5000 years of civilization, but also play an active role in its evolution and future development. The UNESCO Office Beijing looks forward to working closely together with the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture and CASS in preserving and safeguarding our common heritage. I wish the Center and our collective effort much success.”
As the first cooperation between UNESCO and IEL of CASS, the present survey, piloting by the new Center, launched between September and December 2003. The most initiatives built on the existing basis of oral traditions researches at IEL. In our points of view, we hope it will be appropriate to call for more attentions to protection of oral traditions along the Silk Roads from international society, from multi-disciplines relating to the intangible cultural heritage in Central Asia, and from cultural decision-makers in governmental agencies both in China and in surrounding countries.
Situated on an ethnographic background, the target survey primarily has been carried out in Xinjiang Province where the majority of the population is of mixed Turkic-Altaic descent. Uyghur is the largest ethnic group along the Silk Roads. Mongol, Kirghiz, Kazak, Uzbek, Tartar, Tajik, Xibe, Russian, Manchu, Hui, and Daur are other strongly represented 11 ethnic groups in this region. Fifty percent of the population is Muslim beside Mongols. Different varieties of Old Turkic and Altaic are spoken. The Han are very much in the secondary, making up less than 40% of the population in Xinjiang. At a methodological level, the target survey takes a practical way to approach its cooperative objectives as followings:
·To respond to UNESCO’s persistent efforts to safeguard the oral and intangible heritage through exploring into the roots of expressions of human beings;
·To gain a deeper understanding of the currently emergent situation of oral traditions through a regional/intercultural assessment and examination;
·To enhance field studies on the oral and intangible heritage of ethnic groups through constructing a recognizable operating model in fieldwork.
·To encourage participation of individuals, groups, institutions, and communities getting involved in the management, preservation, protection and promotion of the oral heritage through building up a partnership in knowledge.
This survey report represents the collected expertise, experience, and wisdom of the participants and proposes strategies and suggestions for safeguarding oral traditions in a collaborative way. The survey brings together about 25 scholars working on ethnic cultures and oral traditions of Altaic-Turkic language branches, and also collates data from 6 correlated institutions who carried out regional surveys with solutions of the time for the implementation of nationwide investigation in the 1950s and in the 1980s, which focusing on general situation of folk literature and arts across regional boundaries. As the first output, 20 sub-reports in total have come into view with 9 case studies, and thus the final summary report merely represents the survey process and its critical results within the limitation of textual length.
As the survey shows the long standing issues and possible strategies for preserving and revitalizing the multiplicity and implications of ethnic oral traditions and verbal arts in west China and beyond, we become more aware of such a fact: this scope of diverse oral traditions is too wide to be sufficiently covered by one short-term project; it would require a series of field studies to prompt a long-term collaboration among institutions, scholars, communities and bearers of oral traditions. Another thing too broad for a small group of scholars is the systematic mapping in comparison with the declining dynamics of living oral traditions along the Silk Roads. Consequently, the present survey report primarily focuses on common trends and core issues in responding to the emergent disappearing of ethnic oral and intangible cultural heritage in west China.
Let us end this brief introduction by citing Dr. Professor John Mils Foley’s encouraging comments:
This is precisely the place where colleagues in China, with its great richness of living oral traditions among minority populations, can assume leadership. Chinese colleagues are in a position to do what no one else in the world can do: to experience, record, and study oral traditions of remarkable diversity on an unmatched scale. If in the coming years the Oral Theory can be tested across the enormous variety of traditions found in multi-ethnic China, the scholarly world will benefit significantly. (Foley 2000, 10~11)
We believe, with the substantive supports of UNESCO and CASS, the Oral Traditions Research Center will have a very central stake in promotion and protection of cultural diversity both for a fuller understanding of ethnic oral traditions in China, and for building up a commonly academic platform to maintain interregional/international discourse in the environment of globalization.
Chao Gejin
Bamo Qubumo
CONTENTS
Chao Gejin
Standing Our Ground from Bearers of Oral Tradition: In Lieu of a Preface
Chao Gejin & Bamo Qubumo
A Brief English Introduction to the Present Project Sponsored by UNESCO & BIC of CASS
Lang Ying
An Investigation into the Epic Traditions among the Kirgiz People
Adil Zhumaturdi
A General Survey on Manasqi: Focusing on Kirgiz Epic Singers
Bahtiyar Bawudun
A Survey of Uyghur Oral Literature
Raihan Kadir
Fieldnotes on Dastanqi: Uyghur Storytellers and Singers in Moyu County
Beksultan Kasey
Oral Traditions of the Kazak People
N. Gereltu
Mongolian Traditional Oral Genres and Epic Traditions in Oyirad Tribes in Xinjiang
Tong Jinjun
A Survey of the Xibe’s Traditional Oral Genres
Tohan Yisak
A Survey of the Kirghiz’s Traditional Oral Genres
Xiren Kurben
A General Survey of the Tajik People and Their Oral Genres
Huang Zhongxinag et al
Indigenous Oral Genres: Cases from Ethnic Groups in Xinjiang
Ma Xiongfu
Cultural Traits of the Hui Ethnic Minorities in Xinjiang: A Brief Introduction
Yasin Mukhpul
A Survey of Uyghur Oral Arts
Yasin Mukhpul
The Dolan People and Their Dolan Muqam
Asait Sulemen
Kök Mäshräp of Hami（Komul）
Lang Ying
Fieldnotes on Uyghur Mäshräp in Hami Areas
Zhong Lu
A Situated Fieldwork on Shamanic Culture of the Xibe People
Dilmurat Omar
Ethnicity and Folk Belief: A Survey of Shamanism among the Ethnic Minorities of Turkic Language Family
Yusup Isak
Praying for Rain and Ritual Songs among the Uyghur People
Huang Zhongxiang
Language Application and Its Developing Trends: Ethnic Mother Tongues in Xinjiang