MUZI MUZIChinese Matrix

Songs of Tibet and the Northwest Peoples

Songs flung across the plateau, suites sung in the oases

Introduction

Tibetan mountain songs, layi and drinking songs, the folk songs of Xinjiang's peoples, and the Uyghur muqam

This record covers the folk songs of the Tibetans and Monpa of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and of the peoples of the northwest. Tibetan folk song (II-115) includes mountain songs, work songs, love songs and drinking songs, and layi (II-21) are the love songs of Amdo. Xinjiang has the folk songs of the Uyghur, Kazakh, Tajik and other peoples, and the Uyghur muqam (II-70), which joins song, dance and music and was proclaimed by UNESCO in 2005; the record also takes in Yugur and Salar songs and the Hui banquet songs. Old Tibetan manuscripts from Dunhuang of the 9th century already contain songs, and the Twelve Muqam are said to have been collected by Amannisa Khan of the 16th-century Yarkent Khanate.

Timeline

Mid-9th century to present
840 · OriginThe Old Tibetan Chronicle from Dunhuang (Pelliot tibétain 1286 and 1287), probably compiled in the 840s, is made up of lists, narratives and bardic songs, including a victory song linked to Songtsen Gampo: the earliest written record of Tibetan song.1072 · EvolutionIn 1072-1074 the Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari compiled the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, which preserves old Turkic verse in quatrains across the main genres (epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric and elegiac): an early record of the songs of the Turkic peoples of the northwest.1550 · EvolutionIn the 16th century Amannisa Khan (c. 1526-1560), queen of the Yarkent Khanate, is credited with collecting the Twelve Muqam. Each muqam has three parts, the great suite (chong naghma), the narrative songs (dastan) and the song-and-dance section (mashrap), nearly three hundred pieces in all.2005 · ImpactIn 2005 UNESCO proclaimed the Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, inscribed on the Representative List in 2008; the next year (2006) it entered the first national ICH list together with the Tibetan layi and the Yugur folk songs.
  1. 840OriginThe Old Tibetan Chronicle from Dunhuang (Pelliot tibétain 1286 and 1287), probably compiled in the 840s, is made up of lists, narratives and bardic songs, including a victory song linked to Songtsen Gampo: the earliest written record of Tibetan song.
  2. 1072EvolutionIn 1072-1074 the Kara-Khanid scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari compiled the Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk, which preserves old Turkic verse in quatrains across the main genres (epic, pastoral, didactic, lyric and elegiac): an early record of the songs of the Turkic peoples of the northwest.
  3. 1550EvolutionIn the 16th century Amannisa Khan (c. 1526-1560), queen of the Yarkent Khanate, is credited with collecting the Twelve Muqam. Each muqam has three parts, the great suite (chong naghma), the narrative songs (dastan) and the song-and-dance section (mashrap), nearly three hundred pieces in all.
  4. 2005ImpactIn 2005 UNESCO proclaimed the Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, inscribed on the Representative List in 2008; the next year (2006) it entered the first national ICH list together with the Tibetan layi and the Yugur folk songs.

Heritage Listings

  1. 2005UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanityproclaimed 2005) · inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008: Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang (China
  2. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-19 Yugur folk songs · no. 50 · nominated by Sunan Yugur Autonomous County · Gansu
  3. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-21 Tibetan layi love songs · no. 52 · nominated by Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture · Qinghai
  4. 2006National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage1st batch · Ⅱ-70 Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang (Twelve Muqam · Turpan · Hami and Dolan muqam) · no. 101 · nominated by Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Piqan · Hami · Makit)
  5. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-115 Tibetan folk songs (western Sichuan mountain songs · Madami mountain songs · Huarui · Gannan and Yushu folk songs) · no. 614 · nominated by Ngawa · Garzê · Luhuo and Jiulong · Sichuan · Tianzhu and Gannan · Gansu · Yushu · Qinghai
  6. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-116 Uyghur folk songs (Lop Nur) · no. 615 · nominated by Yuli County · Xinjiang
  7. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-117 Uzbek ashula and yalla songs · no. 616 · nominated by Xinjiang (Xinjiang Art Research Institute and others)
  8. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-118 Hui banquet songs · no. 617 · nominated by Menyuan Hui Autonomous County · Qinghai
  9. 2008National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage2nd batch · Ⅱ-131 Tibetan dramyin song with lute · no. 630 · nominated by Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture · Qinghai
  10. 2011National list extension3rd batch · Ⅱ-115 Tibetan folk songs (muleteers' tunes · Baingoin changlu) · Mianning · Sichuan · Baingoin · Tibet
  11. 2011National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage3rd batch · Ⅱ-148 Kazakh folk songs · no. 1078 · nominated by Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture · Xinjiang
  12. 2011National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage3rd batch · Ⅱ-149 Tajik folk songs · no. 1079 · nominated by Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County · Xinjiang
  13. 2014National list extension4th batch · Ⅱ-21 Tibetan layi (Nagqu) · Nagqu · Tibet
  14. 2014National list extension4th batch · Ⅱ-115 Tibetan folk songs (drinking songs) · Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture · Qinghai
  15. 2014National list extension4th batch · Ⅱ-116 Uyghur folk songs · Yining and Kuqa · Xinjiang
  16. 2014National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage4th batch · Ⅱ-160 Salar folk songs · no. 1254 · nominated by Xunhua Salar Autonomous County · Qinghai
  17. 2021National list extension5th batch · Ⅱ-131 Tibetan dramyin song (Kongpo) · Nyingchi · Tibet
  18. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · Ⅱ-178 Monpa sama songs · no. 1392 · nominated by Lhoka (Shannan) · Tibet
  19. 2021National List of Representative Items of Intangible Cultural Heritage5th batch · Ⅱ-180 Arou douqu songs (Tibetan) · no. 1394 · nominated by Qilian County · Qinghai