Jianger, like a river that originated in Altai Mountain, flows down from distant ancient times, to the north and south of Tianshan Mountain, to Lake Baikal and Siberia, and to the kalmyk grassland in Europe. Its poems echoed in the depths of the grassland and in the yurts for a long time, nourishing the hearts of generations of Mongolian Weilat children.
More than 70 years ago, when a Han intellectual named Bian Yuan went to Xinjiang to take part in the revolution, he never thought that he would be arrested soon, let alone his adventures and discoveries in prison. It was 1935. He came to Xinjiang and was arrested and imprisoned by warlord Sheng. At that time, with him in prison, there was a taciturn Mongolian named Jin Man. During the long and hard prison life, Jin Man often sang a long "ballad" that was both like a poem and a song to kill time. The melody of this "ballad" is simple and beautiful, and the lyrics with distinct rhythm are sometimes low and sometimes high, sometimes weeping and sometimes cheerful. Soon, Bianyuan was fascinated by this ballad.
Later, Jin Man told him that the name of this "ballad" is "Jianger", which is a Mongolian epic with a long history. The part he sang tells the story of the greatest hero under Lord Jianger, Hong Guhun. Over time, Bianyuan secretly wrote down this story, and after he got out of prison, he began to sort out this epic with magical origin about the Red Valley in Chinese. 1950, Shanghai Commercial Press published Bian Yuan's epic "Red Girl", which was reprinted in Beijing by Writers Publishing House on 1958. This is the first discovery and record of the Mongolian heroic epic Jianger in the history of the Republic of China.
Now we know that Jianggeer is the best among hundreds of Mongolian heroic epics, and it is also the work that can best represent the development level of Mongolian epics. Together with Mongolian, Tibetan Gus (Sa 'er) and Kirgiz Manas, they are called "the three epics of China". "Jianggeer" originated from Mongolian people in Weilat, Xinjiang, China. It is also like a river that originated in Altai Mountain. Flowing down from distant ancient times, to the north and south of Tianshan Mountain, to Lake Baikal and Siberia, and to the kalmyk grassland in Europe. Its poems have long echoed in the depths of grasslands and yurts, nourishing the hearts of generations of Mongolian Weilat children.
The epic "Jianger" was first discovered in the world, but it was in the Volga River valley in Europe far from Wan Li. From 1802 to 1803, German Bergman went to kalmyk grassland to inspect the life, customs and oral creation of Kalmyk people. Everywhere he went, he heard kalmyk artists sing an epic poem called "Jianger" and was fascinated by its charm. So he just recorded those beautiful poems and many other oral works. 1804 He selected two articles and translated them into German for publication. At the same time, he also published his own research paper on this work and its singer. Since then, as a famous epic of kalmyk, Jianger has become famous in the western world, and scholars from all over the world have devoted themselves to its collection, collation, publication and research. When China began to collect domestic Jianger on a large scale from 1978, the study of Jianger had already become a mature international discipline with a history of nearly 200 years abroad.
Jianger is mainly distributed among Urad Mongolians in China, Mongolia and Russia. This is closely related to the migration footprint of the Mongols in Weilat in history (see the article "Blood stays at home" on page 34 for details). Chinese scholars generally believe that Jianger was first formed before the Willat people moved westward, then matured on the grassland of kalmyk, and then returned to China with the footsteps of Willat people returning eastward.
The epic "Jianger" is like a mirror, which shows us the history and culture of the Mongolian people in Weilat in an all-round way, including politics, economy, religion, folk customs, language and literature. Every theme, every theme, has profound cultural connotation. The seemingly simple story contains complex social, historical and cultural connotations. For example, in Jianger, it is often described that soldiers kill the python-Gus demon and burn its bones, then dig a 60-foot-deep black hole, throw it into a deep hole and suppress it with huge stones. This is a typical shamanism ghost ceremony. Until recently, Horqin shamanism still kept this ceremony. There are many steps in the ghost town ceremony. In the last stage, in order to suppress the monster, the shaman will drum into the wilderness, put the clothes worn by the patient and some personal belongings, that is, the items possessed by the devil, into the holes dug in advance, hold them down with big stones, tie them with black and white lines in the middle, and then curse the monster. Therefore, it can be said that the epic "Jianger" is an encyclopedia of the history and culture of the Mongolian people in Weilat, and this epic itself constitutes an expression of the cultural identity of the Mongolian people in Weilat.
In a yurt with six hanas, a group of wooden boxes opposite the door are dedicated to Buddhist niches, and all seven Buddha lanterns in front of the Buddhist niches are lit. One column of incense was almost burned out, and the owner quickly lit another column. An old man sat in front of the shrine, his dark face covered with wrinkles. Holding a two-string plucked instrument called Taubshur in his hand, he sang a beautiful and touching epic with a deep and rich voice and piano sound. On the short round table in front of him, the freshly filled milk tea is steaming, and the Mongolian yurt is filled with the fragrance of milk tea.
Around the old man, and at the door of the yurt, men, women and children are full of people. They listened to the old man's singing, lost in thought and completely entered the epic world described by the artist. Everyone's mood fluctuates with the artist's singing, sometimes cheering loudly for the victory of the epic hero, sometimes crying in a low voice because of the hero's suffering. Outside the yurt, the night sky in winter is starry, and the heavy snow since autumn has turned the whole world white. Only the tall and dense pine forests in Altai Mountain are not buried by snow. Samsung moved to the southwest sky, and it was midnight. The song in the yurt continues. This is the scene of an ordinary Mongolian family singing "Jianger" in Altai Mountain. It is also a scene that has been repeated here for hundreds of years.
The epic Jianger is named after a hero. It enthusiastically eulogized the 6,120 warriors headed by the holy Lord Jiang Geer Khan, praised their struggle with all kinds of ferocious demons who attacked the beautiful and rich Baomuba country centered on the holy mountain of Altai, and also praised the love, friendship and feast of the heroes. For many years, these stories have been circulated through oral communication. The person who sings "Jianggeer" is called "Jianggeerqi".
"We have a place called Jiangerbai on Selma Mountain in the north of the county. Why is it called this name? " Old man Buyinta, a retired teacher from Prague Primary School in Meng Gen, Xinjiang, said to me, "A long time ago, there was an old man named Turbayir. He lives in poverty, and five goats are his only property. One day, five goats disappeared, and the old man was anxious to find them in the mountains. The old man was surprised to find that there were seventy kinds of rainbows in the middle of the Eye Lake at the top of the mountain. On closer inspection, it turned out to be the light from a pile of colorful pebbles. The old man picked up the stones one by one, put them in his arms, and 70 yuan * * *. When I came back, I had a dream at night. In the dream, an old man with white hair and beard told him that 70 stones of 70 colors you found were 70 jianger. You should practice singing well. Make sure to eat and wear warm clothes. When I woke up the next day, the old man Tubur could really sing 70 songs "Jianger". Since then, "Jianger" has spread among the Willa people, and the old man Turbayr has won the reputation of "an epic package that can sing 70 poems of" Jianger ". After his death, in order to commemorate this outstanding Jiang Erqi, people called his burial place' Jiang Erbai' and built an Aobao sacrifice. Those two lakes were still there two years ago. As for whether there is Aobao on the mountain, it is not clear. "
The above story is the widely circulated legend about Jianger Banner and epic Jianger. When Jiang Geerqi performs Jiang Geer, he usually adds a lot of impromptu jokes as an interaction with the audience, which is also the biggest difference between oral literature and written literature. Oral epic, its performers and audience are one, at that moment, the epic is alive.
When Ribar Bajad, the famous Jianger Chihu in history, was singing for Halachar Khan, an official of Halachar Khan wanted to embarrass Bajad and asked him, "Do Jianger and his gang smoke?" Bajad inserted a paragraph in a proper place: "In a beautiful pipe like Bailing, there are countless packages of ground smoke. In the smoke they spit out, waterfowl can't find swamps, and mountain birds can't find food. " Just after that, a Lama next to him asked, "Do Jiang Er and his gang have any temples to recite scriptures?" Bajad replied, "It's not there yet. Please wait a moment. " Then I went on to say. After a while, he said, "The Lama, the leader of chanting, chanted loudly and shook the pillar in the center of the hall. The Lama who knows the scriptures is in high spirits, while the Lama who doesn't know the scriptures is busy covering his ears. Disciples with good conduct are in high spirits, while those with bad conduct are in constant fear. The Lama's master of ceremonies blamed everyone, and other lamas muttered. "
This improvisation and interaction on the spot constitutes the most touching feature of oral epic. Some scholars believe that Jiang Geerqi was able to rap about the Yangtze River Geer for several days and nights, not by reciting the whole story, but by memorizing the whole structure first, and then mastering a large number of stylized phrases in the epic-that is, fixed expressions for specific characters, specific environments, specific occasions and specific plots. With these as the foundation, the rest is to rely on the artist's personal talent and live play. This is somewhat similar to western jazz music, some tunes and trends are fixed, and the rest are improvisations by musicians. Even the same artist will express different feelings every time he plays the same piece of music. Sometimes what the audience appreciates is not even the music itself, but the artist's performance this time. The epic "Jianger" also has such characteristics, so every performance of Jianger is a masterpiece that cannot be copied.
"Jiang Er? I have only seen it on TV and have no special interest. " In Hargatu Village, Chagan Township, Hoboksar County, I met Ulan Zandeng, a little girl who was in junior high school. She told me this. Ulan Zanden now lives in the county, and now comes to the pastoral area to find relatives to play in the summer vacation. She told me that she likes watching TV when she is not doing her homework. Very 6+ 1 is her favorite program. Seeing that I kept asking her about Jiang Er, the little girl lost interest and took her mobile phone to take pictures of her uncle.
Although such convenient media as radio and television have spread all over the country, the epic Jianger seems to have lost its communication channels. Is the epic Jianger losing artists, communication channels or audiences?
In the past, every year from the first day of the first month to the third day or the fifth day of the first month, the living Buddha of Wang Ye, the maharaja, the Dalai Lama and other powerful people at that time exchanged New Year greetings, and then made or built special yurts in Wang Ye, and asked the famous Jiang Geerqi to rap "Jiang Geer" until the end of the month. They say this because they think that the hero of Jianger is the 8,000 incarnation of the Indian-born Buddha and has a record of subduing the python Gus (the devil). So inviting these incarnations into the palace in the first month can drive away all the monsters. On the other hand, rap "Jianger" is a good artistic activity, and the princes regard it as a kind of entertainment.
In the folk, whenever a Jiang Erqi comes to the village for the night and has dinner, the children in the village will come to him to rap Jiang Erqi. Children often doze off in the middle of listening, but adults don't sleep until the end. This is the rule. At that time, people thought that when singing "Jiang Er", the gods of mountains and rivers could come and listen, and singing "Jiang Er" could make them happy. In the past, the singing activities of "Jianger" had a certain color of faith, so the singing activities of "Jianger" were not only close to life, but also a part of life. Just like this, in the past, singing activities were very frequent, the venues were diverse and the audience was very enthusiastic. This is just suitable for the oral epic such as Jianger to be sung and spread.
Nowadays, with the development and changes of society, "Jianger" has long lost its obvious sacred position in people's minds, and singing activities are also considered to be far away from real life. People no longer invite Jiang Geer to sing because of practical problems in life. This result first disintegrated the audience base, so that the singing of "Jiang Er" and "Jiang Er" gradually lost its reason for existence among the people. The development of mass media and the globalization of economy and culture have accelerated the development of this momentum, and today's Jianger oral tradition is in jeopardy.
Junai's granddaughter Brigham now lives in the county seat, and the traditional nomadic life has gradually moved away from her world.
In recent years, with China becoming a signatory of UNESCO's Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, China has set off a new upsurge of protecting the Jianger tradition. Various localities have come up with specific plans and are taking various measures to protect Jianger's epic tradition. For example, Hebukesaier Mongolian Autonomous County allocated considerable funds for the construction of "Jianggeer" cultural base. These include the construction of Jiangerqi Palace, the protection of Jiangerqi's life, the cultivation of Jiangerqi, the establishment of Jiangerqi Theater, the construction of Jiangerqi Village and so on. At the same time, the Institute of Ethnic Literature of China Academy of Social Sciences also signed an agreement with the county government to establish a "traditional field research base of Jianger epic" in this county, with a view to mutual benefit and win-win. It is under the influence of such a big environment that more and more young people are beginning to re-recognize the value of this great epic that has always existed around them.
"When I was young, Zhu Nai was our neighbor. I will pester him to tell stories when I have time. He will inadvertently extract a passage from Jianger and tell it to me. This is a very attractive plot. " Sirqin, who lives in Naren and Booker Ranch, is now 24 years old and has been singing Jiangge with Zhu Naixue for 8 years. Zhu Nai, the old man she mentioned, is the most legendary and greatest Jiang Erqi of our time. He is 80 years old this year. "I graduated from junior high school in 1997. 1998, I officially started singing Jiangge with Zhu Nai. Someone told me at the beginning: What is the "Jiang Er" sung by the girl? I hesitated, and then I met the living Buddha who went back to my hometown. My father took me to ask this question. The living Buddha listened to our words, waved and said, where did you get those rules? If you want to learn, study hard and sing well. So I made up my mind. "
Sirchin told me that she has learned five jianger now. If it's really like what she said, it's not a small sum, enough to make her known as "Jiangerqi". When Junai taught her, those contents were not in the text version of the book. Not only that, the old man kindly forced her to develop her own singing method, because the old man thought the epic was still alive and growing. "It would be nice to work in the Jianger Cultural Palace under construction in the future," Sirchin said. "If I have the chance, I want to translate one into Chinese, so that Han people can come and enjoy Jiang Er together."