Why is the heroic epic "Manas" renewed?

China News Network Urumqi, May 5 Question: Why is the heroic epic "Manas" renewed?

Written by Tao Jiaoke Zhu Jingchao

In May, the sky in Sumutash Township, Ahaiqi County, Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, was blue, the peaks of the Karatec Mountains were still snowy, the grasslands below the mountains began to gradually turn green, and the warmth of summer had crept into the depths of the grasslands.

On the grass of the Sumutash Township Racecourse, people from the surrounding villages sat cross-legged, singing "Manas", singing gently and sweetly, floating to the distant sky.

On April 4, the Falcon Cultural Tourism Festival was held in Ahaiqi County, with thousands of people singing "Manas", and the composer took the lead in singing to Shebek Ibrain (left). Photo by Tao Jiaoke

"Manas struck out, his sun-like face shining... From behind, he has the majesty of a white tiger; From the front, he has the power of a dragon; Looking overhead, he has the brilliance of the Divine Bird of Alepkara..."

This is a fragment of the new creator of "Manas" in Ahaiqi County singing "Manas" to Shebek Ibula, a chorus of thousands of people, the scene is spectacular and magnificent.

Traditional culture is renewed

The epic Manas is known by academics as "the encyclopedia of ancient life of the Kirgiz people", and embodies the cultural traditions, life experience and aesthetic taste of the Kirgiz people in the form of oral art. In 2006, Manas was inscribed on the first national list of intangible cultural heritage, and in 2009, it was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Manas has a deep and broad mass base. It is an indispensable element of the life of the Kirgiz people, and it has become an important part of the daily life of the local people, along with naan, mutton and milk tea. The folk singer who sang "Manas" is called "Manaschi", and in the long-term inheritance process, through the re-creation of the masses, especially the talented folk rap artists, the story has evolved greatly, the connotation and extension of the epic have been expanded, the plot and character have been enriched and vivid, and the scope of dissemination has become more extensive.

In the felt room, Kirgiz relatives and friends gathered around and sang "Manas" to cheer up. Courtesy of Ahaiqi County Financial Media

The oral teaching of generations of "Manaschi" in Ahaiqi County has enabled the Kirgiz epics to constantly add improvisation, constantly create, polish, change from short to long, and the content is rich and vivid.

The 50-year-old Shebek Ibrain is an ordinary herder in Haraki Township, Ahaichi County, and his grandfather is the most famous master of the township's rap "Manas". "When I was 5 years old, I started learning rap 'Manas' from my grandfather. At that time, besides grazing, singing Manas was the most important thing for me. Said to Shebek Ibrain.

As an intangible cultural heritage and a precious spiritual wealth of mankind, Manas also needs innovation and development on the premise of retaining its connotation, and constantly injects new vitality and vitality into it. In 2010, Shebek Ibrahim began to think about creating a new story of "Manas", and he focused his inspiration on people's daily life in the new era, new technologies, new changes in the countryside, marriage, love, family and other fields. Constantly thinking of new creative ideas and incorporating them into the "Manas" rap showcase, giving old culture a new look.

2023 Ahaiqi County Falcon Cultural Tourism Festival, beautiful Kirgiz girls on the steppe, singing "Kumzi" and singing "Manas" Photo by Tao Jiaoke

Like most Manas rap artists across Ahaichi County, Shebek Ibrain has a historical mission to carry on and promote this epic. He could chant for hours on end, without any textual manuscript prompts, casually, with vivid and fluent language, rich expressions, and full concentration.

The torch is passed on to the new generation

The population of Ahaichi county is less than 5,1, of which 3% are Kirgiz ethnic groups. Today, most of the folk artists who are familiar with the art of Manas rap and the text are old. Ahaiqi County has increased excavation, inheritance and conservation work. Up to now, there are 160 national inheritor, 2023 autonomous region inheritors and 3 county-level inheritors in Ahaiqi County. In March <>, the Manaschi, Falconry, Equestrian, Embroidery and Kumzi associations were established to better inherit and protect intangible cultural heritage.

9-year-old Tang Binke Tasitabek is gifted and intelligent, has been nurtured by his family since he was a child, and often learns from the old "Manaschi" artist. Every time Grandpa and Grandma sang "Manas", she sat on the side and listened with relish. "It's smooth to learn Manas rap now, I'm interested, it brings me joy." Tongink Tasitabek said.

In recent years, learning Manas has become something that many teenagers enjoy in Ahaichi County. Alimujiang Yusufu, 19 years old this year, said: "We have loved to sing Manas since we were young, and there are many people around me who study Manas, and everyone can sing some. ”

In 2008, the Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture established the Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Manas Research Center), which currently has 4 inheritors at the national level, 14 inheritors at the autonomous region level, and 5 inheritors with advanced folk art qualifications for intangible cultural heritage. In April 2022, the state held the premiere ceremony for the publication of the full Chinese translation of the epic Manas.

"Every year, all counties and cities in our state hold the "Manas" concert, the purpose is to promote the practice, exchange, mutual learning of inheritors, and expand the cultural space. At the same time, all counties and cities use winter and summer vacations every year to hold cultural inheritance training courses in cultural centers, schools, youth activity centers, township cultural stations and other places, and the inheritors of the older generation conduct intensive training for young enthusiasts who are interested and young people who are good at acting, and a total of 3200,<> people have been trained in recent years. Zaire Jumasi, director of the Center for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage (Manas Research Center) in Xinjiang's Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture, said.

Epic conservation has yielded fruitful results

Manas is not only the "soul" of Kirgiz literature and art, but also a treasure of Chinese national literature and art. In order to better protect this world-class intangible cultural heritage of humanity, experts and scholars have achieved fruitful results in epic protection after decades of perseverance and painstaking efforts.

Nowadays, the innovative development process of "Manas" is gradually accelerating, and modern art forms such as dance drama, opera, sculpture, and painting adapted from the "Manas" record book are constantly presented and interpreted. Manas Research Centers at all levels have been established, continuously improving relevant research databases and library databases, and using high-tech means such as digitalization to provide salvage protection for domestic Manas inheritors and inheritance works.

At the opening ceremony of the 2023 Ahaiqi County Falcon Cultural Tourism Festival, young people of the Kirgiz ethnic group perform dances. Photo by Tao Jiaoke

In 2022, the cultural department of Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture successively identified and named a group of state-level representative inheritors of Manas, and provided financial subsidies to representative inheritors of Manas.

Under the background of cultural and tourism integration, Kyzylsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture continues to adapt to the needs of the market and the development of the times, promote the high-quality development of intangible cultural heritage cultural tourism, and actively build the brand of "intangible cultural heritage + cultural tourism". "Combining intangible cultural heritage products with tourism not only expands the publicity carrier of epic culture and opens up a new way for the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, but also allows intangible cultural heritage to nourish tourists and local people, and continue the life of epic poetry in the new era." Zaire Jumasi said. (End)